Saddlebags packed and ready to go

Ruth Hanson and her horse Connie are looking forward to the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust's...
Ruth Hanson and her horse Connie are looking forward to the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust's cavalcade. Photo by Sally Rae.
When it comes to the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust's cavalcade, Ruth Hanson is raring to go.

Mrs Hanson, who is taking part in trail boss Stu Moore's riding trail from Kimbell to Oamaru, has had her bags packed since last weekend.

"It's a bit like Christmas, waiting for Santa to come. I just want to get on and do it now," she laughed.

The North Otago woman, who is in her 50s, will head to Kimbell next Saturday with a group of friends and her husband, Stephen, who is backup driver.

The trail leaves on Sunday and will arrive at the Oamaru racecourse on March 5, meeting up with the other nine riding, wagon and walking trails for a parade at midday.

A family fun festival has been organised to mark the arrival of the Stake Ya Claim in Oamaru cavalcade, with a market, free children's entertainment and live music throughout the day, followed by a hoe-down.

It will be Mrs Hanson's third cavalcade and her horse Connie's first.

Her first cavalcade was from Kingston to Wetherstons, near Lawrence, in 2005, when she encountered a blizzard on the first day and it was so cold there were icicles down the side of the horses' eyes and manes.

Finishing in her home town was the attraction for doing this year's event and she reckoned riding into the racecourse would be one of the best parts.

Mrs Hanson has been mad on horses since she was a child - "I would have lived with them if I could have" - and her riding career began with a black pony called Trixie.

She has been getting Connie fit since November and she is looking forward to riding through some unfamiliar countryside.

The attraction of the cavalcade was getting away in the hills with a horse for a week, meeting other like-minded people and "having lots of laughs".

 

 

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