R.E.V.E. Walking while Travelling with Horses

15 February 2022, R.E.V.E. Walking while Travelling with Horses, Steppe FM

"This newsletter is a two-part idea, but the second part, which is yet to be written, will come out soon!"

The trip :

The full team, ten of us. Three dogs: Jehol, Moustache & Poncho, three horses: Koko, Patate & Pap's, four humans: Marie, Akim, Rico and me, Alexis. We have been together for three weeks now, and two weeks traveling on the paths along the Turkish Mediterranean. This trip within a trip is like a dream. We have left the wonderful but harsh region of Cappadocia to find ourselves in the mild Mediterranean climate. We walk along the coast on inland roads. The horses carry most of the luggage, follow us easily on the lead and bang their shoes against the rare stones. The dogs are ahead of us. They are free-range, run in the fields, go hunting and know the recall or the position to adopt when there are few cars. And we walk, usually under the sun, with a very small backpack. In fact, we discover Turkey at an even slower pace than when we travel by hitchhiking or cycling. A pace that leaves plenty of room for thought, discussion and contemplation of the landscape.

Landscapes :

We usually hike in the sunshine on dirt roads lined with fields of orange, lemon and olive trees. Backward in the Turkish countryside, backward in time, as if the sound of hooves reminds us of a thousand years ago. Sometimes we take narrow paths in the heart of the mountains sloping down to the sea. These trails are much more technical: choosing the best passages for the horses, being careful with rocks, branches that could damage the luggage or worse, unbalance the horses. But they are also the most beautiful passages that take us to the heart of pine forests, to the top of imposing cliffs and where we become aware of the safety of the horses' steps, of their impressive strength when they jump a stream or swim across a river.

We first left the impressive deltaic plain of Dalaman, which had welcomed us, to now ride in the mountainous region of Dalyan. We cross landscapes between pine forests and scrubland where the grass already overgrown by goats is becoming scarce.

Inter-species relationship :

We have had our horses for three weeks now, not those of others who sometimes let us ride them, take care of them... but ours. Our three horses, we are in charge of them, responsible for them. We have to take care of them as best we can, we try to understand them, to respond to their needs, to train them so that they respond to our needs. This closeness with the horse is a new space to discover and explore. It is not the same as with a dog, which is always looking for our attention, which is completely tied to us. Every day the relationship between humans and horses evolves. While at the beginning we didn't know what to do but tried our best, now we are starting to understand some keys, some signs that make us understand their needs or their emotions like stress, hunger, fear or on the contrary tranquility and mutual listening. Several times we have already stopped for several days, and during these days of rest, it is the occasion for us to train the horses to the first principles of ethology that we have learned. To get them to listen and sometimes even trust us.For example, whereas at the beginning Koko was frightened, almost rearing up every time we blocked her path with our arm, she now stretches her lead to the maximum to seek our company (the hand signal is no longer a threat). And then, among the many exercises, we taught them to stop at the same time as us, to respect our vital space (our bubble), we tried to "ride along" (i.e. to make them turn in a circle at the end of a lead to make them work, to pass the gaits) and each day we noted progress in spite of our small skills in this matter. Now our three horses form a small herd, they give us their foot without grumbling, they know the time of the grain, and several times I even had the opportunity to slump against Koko already lying down without any other reaction than a quiet chewing.

This interspecies relationship, which is still in its infancy, is a world to be explored and we still have a few months of travels with Koko, Patate & Pap's and then there will be the trip to Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. And yet, already, I, or even we, feel a link, an inexpressible connection between humans and horses.

The welcome of the people :

How can we talk about traveling on horseback without talking about welcoming people? We have only been traveling for a fortnight and yet we already have many examples.

People passing by on foot or by car are amazed, smile at us, ask us questions, honk at us, ask us if they can take pictures of us.

The other day, when we asked to sleep and graze the horses in a fallow field, a lady offered us her mother's unoccupied house to take a shower and cook. Then the next day, after seeing the weather and the deteriorating conditions, she offered us to stay there as long as we wanted. We stayed there for five nights. Five nights sheltered from the rain and the storm, the horses, tied in long ropes, graze the green and fat grass sometimes in the field and sometimes under the orange trees to protect themselves from the wind or the rain. When we go out with the horses, to train them, to make them graze elsewhere, a bunch of kids assist us, hold them, give them the grain...

And then the other day, we were hitchhiking, to go and buy some grain and restock in town, a lady, the one who had picked us up, gave us, or rather forced us to accept, money for the dogs and horses. She was on the verge of tears, thinking it was a wonderful adventure involving horses, dogs and humans.

It's only been two weeks since we started the trip, and even less time if you take into account the incredible number of days we didn't move for all sorts of reasons, and yet, the famous welcome of the travelling rider is no longer to be proven!

The bivouac :

4:30 pm is the time when the search for the bivouac begins. We have about an hour and a half before the sun sets but there is one important criterion: the pasture. Yes, the horses eat at night, and they each have 12 meters of rope between them and their stake, in other words, each of them needs a circle of 450 m²... and it's not so easy to find a meadow in the middle of nowhere with fat grass and no obstacle (like a simple shrub) where they can get tangled up. So of course it doesn't happen every time, sometimes you have to tie them up shorter, move them before going to bed, in the night, when you wake up, or buy hay from the local farmer and carry it to the next bivouac.

However, once the spot has been found, the camp set up, how to explain the magic of having a teepee, the dogs running around, the humans busy with their tasks: looking for wood, preparing grain, making food... (the pictures probably speak for themselves). And once the night has fallen, a circle of humans forms around a good fire while listening to an adventure podcast (like ours for example!) or music, we hear the dogs licking the bottom of their bowls, the horses finishing their grain or lying down or rather slumping on the ground. And our legs, happily sore from the day's walk, carry us one last time to the teepee, where we listen to the sounds of the forest or clattering hooves as if our horses were dancing on tap shoes.

Bonus !