But today we rode to Denholm.....240 horses and riders.....the weather was glorious, extremely hot for the horses and riders, but a wonderful day for a picnic and everyone waiting in Denholm!
We headed out towards Bonchester Bridge as we had done on the first Ride Out but then turned towards Ruberslaw...here you can see Ruberslaw in the background behind Robin and Dibbley.....
Bess and myself...
Guess where we were going next?
Lots of difficult gateways and tricky paths, we all made it eventually...but not right to the top....around the other side as we started to decend we travelled through a small wooded area with fallen trees made into jumps for the horses...we could here the wooping and hollering of the young boys and Men as they travelled through in front of us...it was obvious that someone had fallen but no one was hurt and it was taken in fun...then it was our turn....Robin went first and Dibbley cleared all four jumps...then Me and Bess jumped the first three clear, but pulled out of the fourth as it was just a bit too big for Bess after that big climb, still Bess did very well for a small cob!!!
From the top of the hill, my what a view, we could see the village green covered in cars, then we travelled back down the ancient volcano. The crowds of people lining the streets was unbelievable, very humbleing....when I say thousands...well they were ten deep lining the streets all the way around the square and down to the river where the horses rested, drank water, maybe had a roll and ate grass while we met up with friends and family and again enjoyed our picnic!!
Just look at the crowds waiting to cheer everyone back into Hawick, the Fife and Drums lead us in....
Here's Robin and Bess....
Then as usual, the Cornet, Right and Left Hand Man and the Acting Father carry the children aloft back around onto the highstreet and again sing the Hawick song on the Tower steps....
Fabulous pictures. I now live in Lincoln England but I am from Hawick and Denholm and I was trying to explain to a friend how amazing and special the Common Riding is and how excited I am already for this year even though it is still months away I clicked on your page as I really miss the hills and the picture of Ruberslaw brought back really happy memories thank you x
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