If you’re looking for inspiration this week, look no further than English horsewoman Jane Dotchin. She’s been riding the same 1,000-km trail from Northumberland, England where she lives to Inverness, Scotland every year. And did we mention the trek takes seven weeks and she’s been doing this since 1972? And that dear Jane is 82 years young!?
Dotchin rides her trusty 14-year-old Irish cob mare Diamond while her disabled Jack Russell, a female named Dinky, sits snug in a saddlebag during the annual journey.
Dotchin, who was recognized by the British Horse Society with its Exceptional Achievement Award in 2020, is vision impaired and currently sports an eyepatch. She ran a riding school throughout her life and according to an article in the Hexham Courant newspaper who covered the award, “She also epitomizes sustainable horsemanship, having lived off-grid, working by hand in her fields to care for her horses and relying on her own intuition rather than high-tech riding gear.”