It’s a test of endurance for horse and rider – tackling 100 miles of tough, tricky terrain in 24 hours. Gayle Ritchie chats to a Perthshire rider who’s completed the gruelling Cairngorm 100 challenge multiple times – and finds out about this year’s event on July 1.
Darkness was falling as Iain Paterson trotted through the ancient Caledonian pine forest, glow sticks lighting the way.
He and his horse, Primo, were nearing the end of their epic 100-mile endurance ride through the Cairngorms, and, while they were weary, their spirits were high.
They were in the heart of Abernethy forest, having set off from Glen Clova at 4am with the ambition of finishing the Cairngorm 100 race within 24 hours. They nailed it, completing in 21 hours – winning the 2017 event to boot.
However, it wasn’t just speed that clinched the pair the top title. The sport takes horse welfare very seriously – the overall winner needs to have passed vet checks before, during and after the ride that deem the horse to be in good health.
Relief and elation
“There’s something so magical about riding along in the half-light through this beautiful old Scottish woodland,” reflects Iain.
“You pop out at the top of Nethy Bridge and think, ‘good God, I’ve really done this’.
“There’s such relief and elation. You’re absolutely shattered but you’ve got this adrenalin high.
“Despite the fact you’ve ridden 100 miles, you and your horse come bouncing through the finish line.”
Top endurance rider
Iain, 27, is one of Scotland’s top endurance riders, having ridden for the national team seven times, and completed Race the Wild Coast, a 350km race over four days down South Africa’s west coast.
His family have run Tannasg Arabian stud in Dunning, Perthshire, since 2002, breeding top-quality Arabs and Anglo-Arabs (cross-breeds), for the endurance and sport horse market.
When Iain’s not working as an estate agent, he hangs out with his horses, riding at least 20km twice a week through the Ochil Hills, getting them fit for the next challenge.
It’s a sport that requires riders to stay light, so while he runs and rides, and, by default, engages in general ‘farm fitness’ around the stud, Iain avoids heavy gym-work.
His mum Seonaid, 58, and two sisters, Fionnghuala, 24, and Grainne, 20, are also keen endurance riders. They teamed up as a family previously to take on Cairngorm 10, and Iain, Seonaid, and Grainne are hoping to do this year’s ride.
Huge undertaking
The 2023 event has been scaled down slightly, from 100 miles down to 75 – still a huge undertaking – and Iain reckons it’s one of the very best, As well as the 75 mile challenge, there’ll be a 50 and 25 mile option.
Starting at Glen Clova, the epic, long route weaves through the hills to Braemar and Invercauld, before heading to Tomintoul and finishing up in Nethybridge. Essentially it traverses the Angus Glens, Aberdeenshire, Morayshire, and Strathspey – the heart of the Highlands.
A highlight, says Iain, is reaching what he refers to as ‘the top of the world’, near the summit of Culardoch, a Corbett northeast of Braemar.
You feel like you’re in Lord of the Rings
“It’s a long haul, up and up and up, from the Mar Estate. You’re in the middle of the Cairngorms, with not a soul in sight.
“There are big open skies, big open moors, and mountains for miles. You literally feel like you’re in Lord of the Rings.
“Your horse has done maybe 60 miles at this point, and you really start to marvel at what they’re achieving.”
Describing the ride as a physical and mental challenge, and a test of both the horse and the rider’s stamina, Iain says while Arabs and Arab-crosses excel at endurance, any breed is capable – with the right training and experience.
Experience of a lifetime
For anyone thinking of signing up, Iain promises it’ll be the experience of a lifetime – one that will take riders into parts of Scotland they’ve never been and test them like they’ve never been tested.
“It’s tough but amazing, and the scenery is mind-blowing,” he says. “Once you leave Glen Clova, you climb steeply over the Capel Mounth.
“That really sorts out horses and riders – if they struggle on that, they’ll struggle for the rest of the day.
“You then drop down, and after about 10 miles, you trot past a vet who’ll call you back if he thinks there’s an issue.
“They’re looking at you from a very early stage, because it’s such a tough challenge – they’re big on horse welfare.
“You then continue over the hills, to Braemar, and stop at Invercauld Lodge. Here the horses have their first vet inspection. They have to have a heart rate of below 64 bpm and they have to trot up sound.
“The vet checks their backs, their hydration, their metabolic status, and for any nicks, cuts and scrapes. They get an hour to refuel and rehydrate.”
From there, riders head over Mar Estate before dropping down onto flatter ground where they can make up time with a canter.
Tough section
The next section, heading north, is tough. “If you get it wrong, you’ll land up in a bog,” says Iain.
The route on to Loch Builg is true wilderness, so riders, in the middle of nowhere, don’t have any support, with cars having to travel for 13 miles off-road to reach the next vet checkpoint.
From Loch Builg, they head down to Tomintoul, and then into Glen Brown.
“At this point you really start to feel the distance,” says Iain. “The horse is starting to knuckle down and say, ‘this is a big one today, boss’.
“My horse Primo was really enjoying himself and powering on with this fantastic rhythm.”
Dropping into Glen Brown, which Iain says is “river crossing after river crossing – it’s really cool” – darkness is descending, so riders follow glow-sticks along the trail.
Crossing a gorge, they enter magical Abernethy Forest – unless they’re there too late, and it’s too dark, in which case they take an alternative route along the road.
There’s a really tough vetting at the finish, and despite some horses managing the 100 miles, they might be lame, which would instantly disqualify them from winning the overall award.
Sense of camaraderie
But as Iain says, it’s not about who gets over the finish line first. It’s about the experience of taking on such an incredible challenge, and embracing the strong sense of camaraderie.
The following morning, after a (hopefully) good night’s sleep, horses are vetted to monitor their recovery.
“Most of the riders are hobbling around, lame as anything, but the horses look amazing,” says Iain.
“The overall winner isn’t who finished first. It’s calculated on a points system, taking into account vetting, recovery, heart rate and so on. If your horse is crocked the next day, points will be lost.”
Love of horses and the Cairngorm 100
Iain has been riding since he was just two years old. He quickly got bored of doing “the usual Pony Club stuff” and was delighted when his mum took him on his first endurance ride, aged 10.
“We went across this moor in horizontal rain,” he recalls. “I think she thought I’d hate it, but I was hooked. It’s grown from there and I’ve worked up through the grades.
“I had a couple of cracking little ponies that were good at it, and when I was 12 I moved onto an Arab, the first my parents bred at our stud.
“Primo and I went through all the grades and competed as part of the Scottish team a few times. We went up to FEI level (the international governing body for equestrian sports) in endurance, and competed at two star level, which is 120km in a day.
“Then in 2017, I decided to have a crack at Cairngorm 100.”
Evolution of Cairngorm 100
The event has been running since 2015, with Clive Pollitt, based in Premnay, Aberdeenshire, at the helm.
Clive planned the rugged route after tackling the Tevis Cup 100-mile race in California, the oldest modern-day endurance ride, held annually since 1955.
“I used to ride a lot in the Cairngorms and knew the routes were do-able,” he says.
“The first ride, in 2015, was run on a wing and a prayer – but it was a success.
“Unlike most endurance rides, where riders have support crews with them all round the route, this is a case of the horse and rider dealing with large parts of the terrain on their own.
“It’s a huge test. The route takes riders into area they’d never normally go.”
The ride, on July 1, is a blend of well-established tracks and trails and some strenuous climbing across difficult terrain. There are six vet checkpoints along the way.
The completion time allowed for the 75 mile ride is 18 hours, while the 50 is 12 hours and the 25 is five hours.
The overall winner is chosen by a combination of the highest veterinary score, plus points for the final arrival place. There’s also an award for the rider ‘first past the post’.
- For more details see cairngorm100.co.uk/