‘It Won’t Happen To Me’ The famous last words that ring through your ears….

It’s 10am on a stunning Saturday morning and you’ve loaded all ‘requirements’ into your besties lorry, a ‘high five’ as you pass one another. ‘Road trip’! I am so excited, beyond words, first time for everything, let’s do it, our first ride on the beach, the suns out, just perfect!

As we leave my yard I pull out my phone and snap a video and share to the social media world- ‘road trip with the bestie, Coalman and Sammie on board, winning!

I’d managed to find time in the busy season to bath Coalman yesterday, battling with a hosepipe that for some reason is tied to the fence with bailer twine, ideal, yep, although the hose now doesn’t reach my horse and looking at my watch I don’t have time to argue with this peace of bailer twine….. ‘Coalman move’! Trying to shove 450kg of hay munching ass over just one step, that’s all I need! You know the one…. Frustrating, yet enough to make you giggle and hard!

Standing back, proud as punch after making do with half a bottle of the mother in-laws shampoo and some Fairy Liquid, Coalman finishes up his pamper session with a chill out in his ‘WeatherBeeta Cozi Dri rug’. Although I’m the first to admit I wouldn’t let Coalman loose in a stable of shavings with this beauty on, I’m amazed at the absorption rate! At this moment another few photos are snapped and shared to social media…. Except rather than captioning ‘he’s so handsome’, I should have said, ‘you have no idea of the struggle I’ve just gone through to get this far’!

Two gleaming horses on board, owners glammed up to the nines, were off to the beach and to top it off we’re having photos taken to remind us of the fun filled day, equestrian dreams right?

We’ve made good time, anticipating an hour journey, we are doing well, the motorway is clear, all windows open, hair blowing and some content horses. The occasional hysterical moment of my favourite ginger bestie or ‘team ginge’ as she prefers catching my attention and saying ‘hot’…. Do you regret rocking jeans my dear?!

Short lived, the moment of ‘is this really happening’, we were 4 miles from our junction and only 8 miles from our destination. Grid lock! Stand still! Nothing!.....

‘Oh god, this isn’t good’

Climbing out the front and opening the rear doors, two VERY hot horses are looking at me with lethargic eyes. Despite the constant access to water, they were both hot! And getting hotter! Spongeing them down was no option as they would simply cook! We couldn’t unload them as heck we were halfway down the M5, but we had to do something! So we rang 101.

Within 20 minutes I looked in the side mirror and to my relief saw the flashing lights we were craving to see! Both myself and the bestie had lost all ‘glam’ look, sweating messes with two equally as sweaty horses on board, relief waves through! Our horses are being rescued!

‘Risk to life, not yours, the horses’ the officer says as he instructs us to tuck in behind two other lorries, he’d collected on route to picking us up.

I couldn’t even count on my hands the amount of times stranded drivers gave us hand gestures, it was embarrassing, yet hugely satisfying, cruising down the hard shoulder with a convoy of lorries and head up by a police traffic car, before ending up on an open stretch of the M5 with not a single person on it…. The closed section.

Reaching the junction was heaven, the wind blowing again, the horses sounded much more settled and the sweat beads were a little slower down our foreheads...Minutes later and we’d arrived at our destination… The beach!

A call to our photographer made the decision that the beach would be cooler than attempting to make our way home, the horses certainly agreed! Coalman off first... My heart starts to settle when he calmly walks off, has a leg stretch before trying to decide whether the sand was edible. Sammie off second…. A brief leg stretch before dropping to the sand for the ultimate itchy scratchy. Sand EVERYWHERE! ‘Chlo did you bring your grooming kit’?! Our photographer was amazing and amongst us we decided to postpone the shoot, allow the horses to cool off and head home once it was cooler and the traffic had cleared. Of course, a couple of wandering moments were captured, which I treasure. But when the time came the only person that needed wrapping up was me… in Coalman’s ‘WeatherBeeta Cozi-Dri rug’, all the way home resembling a drowned, sand covered reflection of my former self at 10am this morning. How many rugs can you use for horse and rider? I have at least one and I love it!

So, my show and travelling essentials are-

-Double the amount of water containers you think you’d need.

-Electrolytes for the horses.

-Grooming Kit

-Hay

-WeatherBeeta Cozi-Dri rug, to help dry both horse and rider!