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Zorbee the Horse has been voted No 1 in Vincetastic's Top Ten Animals on Twitter!
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To follow Zorbee on Twitter go to Twitter.com/longhorseride or search for Zorbee the Horse on Twitter.


And here is a photo of the star himself in Food on the Face mode.

If you feel inclined to follow my two-legged tweets go to twitter.com/meganlewis49 . At the moment this will give you notice of when I post videoclips on Youtube. Unfortunately I will not be able to tweet when I am travelling in China from April to July due to oriental obstruction, but hopefully will be able to do so again from Kyrgyzstan..

JOURNEY MAP from Guyuan to Jiayuguan

View Great Wall Aug - Oct 09 in a larger map

Rain Rain Go Away

After three months of almost entirely dry weather in China, I have really arrived home to Wet and Windy Wales! For non UK residents who are unaware of the battering and swamping from gales and floods we have recently been suffering, this has been the view from my bedroom window for much of the last two weeks. Luckily I managed to wean the last little colt foal just before the weather set in with a vengeance, and he is now dry and warm in a stable.

Added to this I have been laid up with a nasty bout of flu which partly accounts for the gap in posts. But I am feeling much better, and today was interviewed by old friend Shan Cothi for her show on BBC Radio Wales. Below is a link to iplayer recording if you are interested - it should be available for the next week. The interview is towards the end of the programme.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00nzvf3/Shan_Cothi_22_11_2009

Another delay

Li Jing has just emailed me to say he will be flying back to Moscow this Thursday July 16th to see his family and sort out his visa, and will not be back until August 1st. Apparently the dental work he was undergoing in China took longer than expected and of course he has not seen his wife and child for about eighteen months, since he set off to ride from Votkinsk to Beijing.

As I do not want to waste time hanging around in Beijing when I have plenty to do at home and will be away for several months in any case, I have changed my flight from July 16th to July 30th. The expected restart date for the ride is now August 5th, and Wutzala plans to organise a press conference and party for the weekend before.

At least I will get the full recovery period of three months recommended by the doctors. And will be able to go the the Royal Welsh Show, which I have not missed for many years!

So What Did Happen the Day I Fell Off?

The problem with the lack of detailed maps in China is that it makes it difficult to venture far from the beaten track, and we have been invariably forced to follow the main roads. However, on the fateful Monday (27th April), we were leaving the hills behind us and nearing the flatter grasslands of Inner Mongolia. This also meant that we were able to get off the main road and ride along lovely little earth tracks to the side, occasionally passing through little rural villages. Above is Li Jing riding the thin horse and leading Hei Feng for the first time.

We passed a large area of marsh where a pair of lapwing were flying - here is Li Jing with the horses. Bajiu was having a lift in the trailer!

We stop for a rest roughly every 10 kms and are sometimes inspected by curious villagers. Here I am providing entertainment for some cheerful ladies in my guise as Mrs Darth Vader. They were particularly fascinated in playing guess the foreigner's age.

Below is the last photo I took of Zorbee about 15 minutes before I fell off - butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

We had already covered about 20 miles and only had another 8 miles or so to go. I was too relaxed and not concentrating when Zorbee suddenly took fright and shot forward from beneath me - no doubt panicking more when I was taken by surprise and lost my balance. I was catapulted backwards onto my right shoulder and head. I have no recollection of hitting the deck, but suddenly realised to my surprise that I had not only fallen off and was on the ground, but had actually hurt myself - this is the first time in 50 years of riding that I have ever broken anything falling off a horse!

We carry a walkie-talkie, so Li Jing had summoned the 4x4 within minutes, and luckily we were just coming to a town with a hospital, so it was not long before I was being X rayed. It showed up the snapped collarbone (which I had realised) and broken ribs (which I had not), but not the punctured lung. So I decided as there was little that could actually be done, it would be better to brave the 7 hour drive back to Beijing where there was likely to be better medical care.
The horses were settled in a nearby racecourse before we set off. Back in Beijing I initially went to the SOS International clinic, and then on Wednesday to a Chinese hospital where they diagnosed my punctured lung, before ending up in the excellent Beijing Family Hospital once I was sure the insurance was sorted.

I also realised the day after that I had a tender patch on my head where I must have landed - I have no doubt that my injuries would have been far more serious, even fatal, if I had not been wearing my Charles Owen ProII helmet.

No Skiing in the Lake

Here is a photo of the Lido Park with my hotel the Rosedale in the background. This is where I go every day to shuffle round like an OAP. But you are one, I hear you cry. The lake is rather small and scummy, but has delusions of grandeur, if you look more closely at the notices around it.

Assuming it is water skiing that is being referred to, one wonders how anyone could get up enough speed to be successful. Are the culprits suspected of using pedalo power?

I have now worked out my satnav route plotting system. To access it, go to http://www.thurayalocate.com/ Enter username Rowena Gulland, and password MeganLewis, then go to My Locations and open the map window. I have just plotted the location of the Rosedale hotel. My location was in fact about 50ft further west of the location shown on the map - I was sitting sedately in the hotel grounds, not cavorting on the roof. Remember this offset for future reference.

Mainly Medical Matters

This is me recuperating in Ed Jocelyn's flat a couple of days after the accident and before I was admitted to Beijing United Family Hospital. Umpteen thanks to Ed for letting me move in while he was away, and to Kath Naday for sorting it all out at a time when I needed all the help I could get. As a couple of doctors commented, I look much better than my X rays demonstrated. The fabulous flowers and fruit are from well wishers including the Chinese Equestrian Association - and more arrived when I was in hospital! Many thanks to Wutzala, Kubi, Harry Tse, Xinlian and the rest of the crew.

You can see my right shoulder looks decidedly droopy due to snapped clavicle - it was a relief to get it pinned up a week later when the hospital/insurance had finally wrangled out whether I would be operated on in China or the UK. I was very well looked after before, during and after the op by the doctors and nurses at Beijing United, and would like to thank surgeon Dr Chen Hao Hui (surgeons can be called Dr in China) and his team for all their kindness.

The tube is draining blood from my punctured right lung into a little plastic box that had to follow me everywhere for a few days. The lung has been the biggest problem as it has meant I have not been allowed to fly home until receiving the all clear from doctors, insurance and airline - hence continual frustrating postponements. The latest is that as from next Tuesday I will no longer need a medic to accompany me on the flight with oxygen, so I can fly home then.

However my insurance company Sportscover Direct have been very helpful, and are paying for me to stay at the very comfortable Rosedale Hotel until I leave.

Unfortunately I have also been told I will need 2 - 3 months to recuperate which is a bit of a blow, but at least it will now give me time to sort out some things such as my satnav route plotting on Google, video clips, and the podcast facility on my voice recorder. For the moment, I have just worked out how to text to my Twitter profile, and will try to practise a bit before I am back on the road. My user name if you feel the urge to follow me is meganlewis49.

And at least I can type more easily now - will post more about the day of the accident later on, so keep on reading!

Operation

Had an op on wednesday to pin my snapped collarbone back together again. Hoping some of tubes (for antibiotics, painkillers etc) will come out today so can move around more freely. Unfortunately all this palaver means that my recuperation period will be longer than I originally anticipated - even more of a pain! Still difficult to type, so will end here.

Rain, rain

On Wednesday night we stayed in the delightful traditional village courtyard house where Wutzala keeps his horse (N40 32' 28.15" E116 00' 53.74") - a little haven of peace. We arrived early and were able to relax, do our washing, catch up with emails, have another HOT shower etc - it is imperative to take advantage of them whenever one can as it may be the last shower one gets for a while! The horses were happily crammed into a little brick shed looking onto the yard - here they are tucking into maize stalks. L to R, Zorbee, Baijiu, Hei Feng, and the unnamed thin horse. He is travelling everywhere in style in the trailer. Woke on Thursday to the sound of rain drumming down. However it soon turned to drizzle, and we set off to the north. Wutzala led us through the mountains on a small dirt track clinging to the side of the hill, and up to a gap through an ancient stone section of wall dating from the Spring and Autumn period. It should have been a wonderful scenic ride, but unfortunately the mist was so thick we could not see anything, and Bajiu, who I was riding, got over excited and pulled all the way - not relaxing. However at least I now know the horses are fitter than I thought. We had an exciting interlude when Zorbee (who I was leading) got a branch stuck in his tail and charged off back down the track - as I also lost him on the main road on Wednesday, Li Jing tactfully suggested he do the leading from now on.

After a superb late lunch (washed down with Wutzala's home made hooch) in a small one donkey town reminiscent of the Wild West, we trotted on to our hotel for the night. This transpired to be a deserted ex AK47 factory (!) with abandoned Soviet style residential blocks set round a small lake hidden away in the forested hills. To my amazement, the horses were led through a couple of little doors into a huge empty auditorium which was to be their quarters for the night. Once a hall for Chinese dignitaries, now a stable for foreign devils.

We stayed in the ancient 1950s hotel which no doubt once housed visiting Russian weapons experts - it had seen better days, and although it had wood panelling, hot shower tanks, TVs and Western bathrooms, the only things that worked (happily) were the flush loos. Even the bedside lights had no bulbs. We stayed in solitary splendour on the top floor, and discovered in the morning that we were locked in until the caretaker arrived! It would have made an excellent location for a zombie movie.

The horses in their unusual stabling, complete with stage - we could not persuade them to give a song and dance act. Below - me on Zorbee sporting my new white Michael Jackson gloves bought this morning for £1.50 in a kind of Chinese Old Curiosity Shop. You can see I look like a creature from another planet, and together with Li Jing we attract a lot of curious stares.
Today Li Jing and I only rode about 16 miles - but WEST at last! Wutzala still appears to be on a mission to send us via the North Pole, and we are constantly being pressured to ride north via Inner Mongolia, although it is likely to add over a month to the journey, assuming we do not freeze to death on the way.

The horses are going like bombs - I think the feeding is getting through to them and they are certainly all on their toes. It is difficult to take photos as I go along as there is a bitterly cold wind sweeping down from Mongolia (!) and the horses insist on going everywhere at a trot. Hei Feng and Zorbee are both pacers, but I have not got the hang of keeping Zorbee at it yet.

We had an extra bit of entertainment when we found an enormous white mule bearing down on us at full gallop, having pulled out its tether - superman Li Jing managed to catch it and tie it to a tree someway down the road where one hopes its owner will eventually have found it.

Li Jing with Hei Feng and Ba Jiu braving a long noisy tunnel - it was much darker than it looks in the photo.
Now staying at N40 43' 17.84" E115 49' 8.43"

Wan is ill

Tai qi on horseback- Li Jing does his morning exercises Photo above - on the road. L to R Me, Peng, Li Jing (unfortunately with pole sticking out of his head) horses L to R. Zorbee, Bajiu, Hei Feng, Yura.


Our driver Wan is ill, so Peng has just taken him off to be met by his family. As this means Peng will have to drive, it complicates matters with riding the horses, so Li Jing has decided to swap his fast horse for the thin Shandan horse we left at the Yihe stud - it will make things easier to handle and at least we can always trailer it if it is finding the work too much.
Annoyingly we are now riding east towards Yanquing as Wutzala has apparently organised a press photo shoot in scenic country to the north east - it will probably add about a week onto our journey but hopefully we will ride up to a northern branch of the Great Wall. Tonight we are staying in a small guest house and Li May and I are sharing the family kang (sleeping platform) with the proprietoress - only £1 each a night.

Hei Feng - Black Wind

Yesterday we decided that the older unnamed bay horse which Peng led on Saturday was too thin to cope with the demands of the ride, and we decided to swap it and have another go with the wild black horse. As a result we bundled the thin horse into the trailer and whisked it off back to the Yihe stud, who must be wondering when they will ever see the back of us. Mr Wang who trains the horses at the stud is a sort of Chinese Monty Roberts, and with his help the black fiend was subjected to a crash course. He soon discovered he had met his match and in spite of rearing, spinning and kicking he was bridled, saddled, ridden, shod and loaded onto the trailer by the end of the day!

He is now officially part of the team and thus now has a name - Hei Feng which means Black Wind. He still has to be handled extremely sensitively, and had another spinning and kicking fit today, but Li Jing, Peng and Wan all rode him without major incident.

Staying in an ancient looking hotel with TV, comfortable beds, western style bathroom with HOT shower, all for £2 each a night.

February Fun in the Snow

(This post was published late!) Snow has been falling all around and Dyfi our sheep dog has been bounding everywhere in seventh heaven. However it has meant more work for me trundling wheelbarrows of hay out to the field in front of the house for welsh pony stallion Cwrtycadno Cymro and his two mares. Thankfully I don't need to worry about the ponies down by the river as they have two big bales to keep them happy.
















I am only left with the little Welsh filly foal now, as friend Sarah Ollis has bought and collected Cwrtycadno Pahang - a lovely big bay colt by Welsh cob Maesmynach Flyer out of my endurance arab Silver Sea Gem. He is destined to follow in the hoofprints of Cwrtycadno Zeus, another part-bred Sarah bought from me a few years ago. Zeus has had a very successful endurance career, and last year was winner of the Cairo award for the best part-bred arab in EnduranceGB's annual awards. after his half brother Cwrtycadno Keltic Star the year before. So Pahang has a big act to follow!

Arrangements for the ride have been progressing well thanks to Irish lawyer David McNeill who has helped to negotiate an agreement with the Chinese Equestrian Association. And the British Equestrian Federation have agreed to help out with contacts in the countries we pass through as well as publicising the ride on their website.

However we are still desperately looking for some financial sponsorship to help cover the costs of running the China section. Any suggestions gratefully received!