After leaving Ben Nevis we drove through the Scottish country side past Loch Lochy (OMG we were so dumb we thought it was Loch Ness!) and then the mighty Loch Ness! We arrived in Findhorn that night and met Caitlin (Gordie's niece), Ali (his sister) and Jonathan (her husband). After a veggie spag bol we went out side to meet Caitlin's three horses, Amos, Afric and Milo! Amos turned out to be around Lochy's height and looked almost exactly like our old Darby!(Minus the stripe and the old age!). He is and pure Exmoor pony and as I found out later is fast like my bestest pony ever (aka LOCHY!). Any way I liked him heaps (But not as much as Lochy or Darby).

Afric (af-Ric) was a dapple grey Eriskay (e-Risk-A) pony and dear little Milo was the cutest little miniature Shetland pony in the world! We found that Caitlyn's friend Esther had a white-grey Highland pony called Corrie in the same paddock with Amos, Afric and Milo. We had desert and went to bed in Caitlyn's room.

The next day was Burgie International Horse Trials(!) like three miles down from Caitlyn's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mum and Dad drove Abbey, Caitlyn, Esther and I to the trails where we saw the local RAF (Royal Air Force) training boys in their really funny uniforms trying to direct traffic ( Dad almost ran the smallest one over!). Then we walked to the main arena and saw of all things DOG agility. There were hundreds of dogs basically every one had at least one dog! Back home our pony club and the riding club don't even let dogs on the grounds! That shows you that even highly strung one & two star cross country champs can deal with a few puny dogs!!! Mum even saw a lady buy two ice creams, one for her, one for her dog. These peeps are crazy about their dogs! Anyway we walked around the stands until 11:30 (Am) when the one star cross country started! I tried getting photo's for the first and second horse but they were blurry, so I got some films of the horses jumping (I don't know how to put them on youtube). My favourite one star horse was Silent Whisper a chestnut (the only one on the course) with a blaze. After CC* event ended we walked to the competitors stables and met the horses who all loved some good quality patting and scratching. In the second stable we met Longwood (Woody for short) who became my two star favourite! We had a Ice cream and then the CC** event started and we watched Longwood go over his course. Then watched some show jumping.

When we came home we rode our own champions! Amos and I, Milo and Abbey, Mum and Corrie and Caitlyn and Afric. Gordon was there and helped Abbey with her wild mount! Milo took off with Abbey on his back and while Abbey held on for dear life we all cracked up laughing, the look on her face!

The next day we rode with Esther on the beach.

We went galloping along the sand taking turns riding the bigger ponies. We let Milo off the lead (Big Mistake) and the crazy little pony went Waco! I was riding Afric and was busy telling Abbey to slow Corries and Afric is one moment trotting quietly and then BUCK(!) BUCK(!) and I fell off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It didn't hurt but I just could not believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had sand all down one side of my jeans! Any way while I fell off every one was watching Milo rearing and bucking and having heaps of fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

So I hopped back on my dear Amos rode with the others back to Caitlyn's.

We dressed up in the Boutique (a exchange clothes place).Abbey wore this silk night gown and a big furry hat and a horrid purple coat also made out of silk!

The next day Caitlyn had a day off school and we taught Amos and Afric to do liberty. Esther came back from school and did work with Corrie while we rode. Abbey rode Amos ( Milo stayed behind to keep Corrie company.) and Caitlyn rode Afric until we got to the beach and I rode Amos back. Caitlyn and I rode up to the fence of the RAF base and then galloped along the grass under the power wind mills back to where we met Abbey and then went back to Caitlyns.

Write More Soon

Frances

When we were first planning the trip and told Gordon we were coming to visit him he asked where else we would visit and whether we were likely to visit Findhorn. I had heard of Findhorn and knew it was supposed to be a magical place, fairies and the like... but also a beautiful garden so I said why not, a nice balance after all the Buddhism and Hinduism of India and the girls are always complaining that adults just don't believe in magic anymore. So I read the Findhorn Garden book to find out more about it but I never realised that Gordon's sister Ali, is married to Jonathan Caddy, son of the original founders, Eileen and Peter (along with their friends Dorathy, ROC and Sir George). Eileen is the one who heard the inner voice that told her to create Findhorn and Peter gave up his influential job as manager of a fancy hotel to carry out the directions. Dorathy was the one who spoke to the spirits of the plants, ROC (Robert Ogilvie Crombie) was the one who spoke to the elementals (earth spirits) and I cant remember Sir George's role. Anyhow they created the community of Findhorn out of a sandy old caravan park and it became one of the most famous organic and eco aware communities in the world, holding workshops and advising on both the environment and spirituality, with involvement at UN level. Only Dorathy is still alive at 91 but Findhorn lives on and Eileen's writings are in the Scottish museum of heritage.

Anyhow that's not what Gordon had in mind at all!! Ali and her daughter Caitlin are into horses and have one of the rare Eriskay ponies and a couple of others and have also become keen on Natural Horsemanship of which there are few instructors but they do know a girl who is working on her level two and has been giving them some good help. Gordon figured that we could go stay, do some riding and pass on a few tips. And so we did. The girls were thrilled by all the horsey stuff. I particularly enjoyed the ride to the beach. Gerard and I also enjoyed Findhorn!!

Johnathon gave us a tour of the beautiful buildings and gardens that have and are being built. We went sailing on Johnathan's little boat, Gordon came up to meet us there and we had lots of good food and tales.

Then the blooming van insurance caused some more 'dramas' meaning we had to stay on another couple of days and we ended up being there for the summer solstice... So we made a midnight visit (its still light at that time in Scotland!!) to the stone Sanctuary – a circular stone building cut into the side of the hill with a grass roof and unusual windows.

Inside there is a bench/seat around the wall with a sculptured rock in the centre on which sits a flower encircled candle. We didn't see any fairies or fauns but it was a magical moment with the candle on and the beautiful quiet of the gorgeous building. We could see magic in the heart and soul that people have devoted to the place, and Johnathan, Ali and Caitlin are certainly Faer folk. Once again it was so lovely to find such special people in the world.

Camille

Find horn is so pretty. The caravan park had beautiful flowers all other over the place it was so cute and homey looking. Oh it was so annoying when Milo ran off. I had to hang on for dear life and Frances and the others just laughed!!!!!! not funny at all =( . I also cantered him on the beach (once and only once)it was so hard to cling on and rrrrrrrrrrr my legs where soooooooo! Sore! But apart from that. Milo was so totally mine! 

RMS

ABBEY