What we learned from the Dress Rehearsal

Our dress rehearsal was... interesting.  Weather conditions were as bad as we could have expected and we got lost, but we still managed to arrive at our destination.  We learned a lot, though, we now know that we must :

1.  Carry full wet gear at all times if the forecast is any way bad.  Unfortunately the forecast is bad for the next ten days.... sigh
2. Wear gloves - otherwise we have no grip on reins when it's wet.  Martine must get rid of splint if necessary, as the gloves will not fit over the splint, or else get a smaller wrist support.
3. We must learn to trust our gut with respect to routes - we're usually right, even if the map appears to disagree
4. Bring something to cover the saddles with when we dismount during bad weather.
5. Remember to bring headache tablets
6. Martine has to bring reading glasses to look at the map (old age is a terrible thing!)

One thing that almost worked really well was photographing the relevant bits of the large-scale walking map and saving them on the iPhone.

The only problem with this was that when I tried to look down at the maps on the iPhone, the rain was spilling down off my helmet and onto the screen of the iPhone.  I'm really not sure what we can do about this - rain will fall, helmets will be waterproof and will spill water onto whatever is beneath them.  Any suggestions, anyone?

Our goal of 25km per day is quite achievable once we are fully fit.  At the moment, Martine's back is a bit sore and both of the horses seemed tired and stiff today when we rode them out.  Anne is remarkably well, despite her 24 hours starvation, and is ready for anything!
When we officially start Le Big Trek tomorrow, we intend to pace ourselves quite sensibly for the first three - six days.  After that, we will hopefully be capable of upping the pace and keeping a steady 20 - 25km per day.
Tomorrow, the plan is to ride from Céreste to St Amas, a small hamlet approx 7km North of St Martin de Castillon.  The next day, Friday, we will continue from St Amas, through Colorado Provencal, to Rustrel - a fairly short day.  The following day, Saturday, we have a long trek through mountains and forests as far as LaGarde d'Apt.  Sunday is a planned day of rest (ie packing and tidying up the house), and on Monday we will finally leave Céreste and relocate to Sault, 50km North of Céreste.

The horses did some serious rolling after yesterdays hack and rain - Flurry was a disgrace

GiGi wasn't much better

and Ugoline even joined in the fun

We did as much as was necessary to get the saddle and bridle on, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that they were all going to roll again once they were let out.

Today was our last day riding out with S and Ugoline... we'll miss them xx!