Riding Marwari horses

I mentioned in my last blog post that Pushkar is the sort of place you could easily while away a few days in. Just as well really because Di has been too sick to move on so we have spent a record breaking four nights here (our longest stay in any one place was two nights prior to this). I have been filling my days exploring the town - managing to resist the urge to do any shopping due to lack of space in my bag - swimming in a nearby hotel pool, and having an ayurvedic massage. This is an invigorating type of massage that is supposed to restore your mind and body – apparently Camilla is currently in India at an ayurvedic retreat, although I imagine her experience to be somewhat more expensive and plush than mine!

This morning, I decided to go on a horse ride to explore the surrounding area. You are never sure what to expect when you book these things. Riding on the back of a moped through the streets of Pushkar to get to the stables was quite a fun way to start the day (it made a pleasant change to be on one rather than dodging them which is what any normal day in India involves!). I have to say when I arrived at the “stables”, I was so unimpressed by the horses and the appalling tack that I almost had second thoughts about going. Particularly as I wasn’t even sure that the horse they led out for me was actually sound. Anyway, I decided I would ride the horse a little way and see how it felt. As it was just me and a guide, I would just turn round if I didn’t think the horse was okay.

I’m glad I went as it meant I got to experience riding a Marwari horse. They have the strangest inward turning ears such that when their ears are pricked, the tips touch each other. They also have a very unique gait (the horse wasn’t lame, this is how they move). They don’t have a trot, but the pace in between walk and canter is fantastically comfortable. Since getting back from my ride, I have done some more research on these unique horses. They are a rare Indian breed that is essentially a cross between the native Indian pony and an Arabian horse making them incredibly hardy. The comfortable fast gait makes them brilliant for covering long distances in the desert with ease. Apparently, Marwari horses performed at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee too. So all in all, overlooking the badly fitting tack, it was a very enjoyable ride through villages and farms, and then into more desert type scenery and sand dunes. My horse might not have looked anything special, but she was fit, fast and fun.

Onwards to the blue city of Jodphur tomorrow – so called because of the milky blue colour of the buildings in the old part of the city.