Horsepower

Appropriately enough, shortly before my story 'The Black Horse' is published in a few days' time, I was able to pay a visit to the Horsepower show at The Helix, Falkirk (above), home of the famous 'Kelpies' scuplture.

From the hugely popular pony rides to the vigorous re-enactment of fight scenes by Outlander stunt riders (left), there was something to interest spectators in a wide variety of non-competitive equestrian endeavour. The occasional shower failed to dampen the enthusiasm, though it probably added to the takings in the sales and refreshment tents.

Heavy horses were at work logging, pulling agricultural implements, and on the towpath of the Forth Clyde Canal (right).


The grand finale in the main ring was the hugely popular jousting tourney (below).

We have to remark that not every competitor displayed perfect chivalry.  A certain amount of cheating seemed to be going on, none of which had the slightest connection with the large bag of gold allegedly deposited for safe keeping with the judge by the eventual victor.

A large crowd had a very good day. Many thanks to the organisers and participants who deserve much credit for ensuring everything went well.

White Horses of The Camargue

Many of us dream of visiting the Rhone delta, the sparsely populated area of southern France known as The Camargue. Like many other dreamers,  I imagined I was going to take lots of photographs of lovely white horses running out of the surf.

Truth to tell, that sort of picture has to be staged for the photographers by the traditional cowboys of The Camargue. The horses do not actually spend their time playing on the beach. Why would they?

So unless you're very lucky, you have to make do with a misty photograph of grazing horses taken through the window of a tour bus. A bit like the one on the left.

The most important town of the region, Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, of which I hope to write more later, has an off season population of below 3,000 but a summer population of 50,000.  There see to be innumerable  trekking establishments where you can ride the white horses amongst the salt marshes, winding your way between the many lakes and observing the fascinating wildlife.

To a person from northern latitudes, egrets and flamingos count as exotic, so it is astonishing to see the wild birds that flock to the reserve at Pont de Gau. I hope to write at greater length about that wonderful place too.

For now, however, I have still my dreams about what Camargue might have been like, if only I had been on my own and not surrounded by a crowd of other tourists such as myself!