Having never ridden here before but heard good reports of the going I was looking forward to this ride. Given a late vetting of post 11.30 on the Saturday we had a leisurely start to the day even making our sarnies that morning. Destiny travelled well and came off the trailer in a calm manner so we went to vet in just his headcollar and a rope. There was a slight queue, one of the vets was lost on his way there, however Destiny was more interested in eating grass then anything else so behaved impeccably and vetted with a heart rate of 44. So back to the trailer we went and tacked up then set off. Destiny was a little on his toes through the 2nd field and managed his first ever bucks under saddle, he soon settled and was very happy behind a pair of dark bay cobs, who we over took when they stopped to crew shortly after leaving the park. 

We were then on our own for the level road crossing, his first ever which he tackled admirably. However I was grate full when he decided to play up about crossing the small stream that another rider came along and gave us a lead and over he hopped. The two of us then stayed together, including missing a turning through inattention and finding ourselves at check point 1 which was not on our route. So we back tracked found the arrow we had missed and carried on, our company kicked on for home as she was not on a novice and wanted to make up some lost time. We carried on to the first crew point and took a couple of sloshes then moved off again by ourselves heading towards check point 3, on the way some sheep in a field on the opposite side of the road ran away from the gate they were standing by which was enough of an excuse to make Destiny whip round, we stayed together thankfully and carried on to checkpoint 3 and then the second crew stop at checkpoint 5. 

From here we headed down a track towards the second railway crossing and due to two trains coming there were several of us queued up waiting to cross when the marshals knew it was safe. Then we were heading for home in the company of Margaret Mckiddie, Carolyn on her new horse and one other lady's whose name I never did find out, sorry. The route home involved crossing a few ploughed and tilled fields which was another new experience for Destiny before arriving back at the venue and having a lovely canter across the field before the corralling field and the finish where we met Steve and a couple of slosh bottles. I hopped of and walked back to the trailer undoing his girth as we went then took his saddle off and sloshed a few bottles over him out the heart monitor on and then washed his legs and face. By the time I had finished his heart rate was in the 40's so we vetted, passing with a heart rate of 46.

We settled down to eat our sarnies while Destiny ate his food and drank while we waited for his paper work and sorted out the next days entry, then left for home with our 2nd ride succsesfully completed. 

Below are my heart rate monitor and GPS readings for the Saturday.