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The term "Pony Trekking"
is well known to most....... |
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.......but
did you know it originated in Scotland? |
The man who first coined
the phrase was Jock Kerr Hunter who served in the Royal Navy in World
War II.
His experiences in the Service convinced him of the benefits of outdoor
pursuits for young people and his employment
after the war as chief
technical officer in the Scottish Council of Physical Recreation
(forerunner to Sportscotland),
gave him the ideal opportunity to put his
beliefs into practice.
Included in his
portfolio of outdoor training courses for young people was recreational
riding.
Jock was aware that the mechanisation in agriculture was increasingly
making the
Highland ponies redundant on farms and crofts.
Sadly in 1950 they were worth more dead than alive.
The only solution was to find them a new role.
Jock enlisted Ewan
Ormiston,
owner of the Balavil Arms in Newtonmore and owner of a string of ponies,
to join him in
an experimental course in which young novice riders could learn the
basics
of horse care
and ride out into the surrounding countryside.
The SCPR gave Jock the necessary encouragement to stimulate interest in
getting the young people
of Scotland involved in this healthy new sport and the idea was an
instant success.
Sadly Jock died in 1985,
but his lasting memorial is the continuing success of the pony trekking
and equestrian tourism sector in the land he loved so well - and
throughout the world -
a little known fact as a first for Scotland!
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Thanks to
George Tait for this article
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