La Route Du Poisson Heavy Horse Relay
Friday, October 07, 2005
The Hilton Herbs' sponsored Heavy Horse Driving Trials team made the trip to France again last weekend for the bi-annual Route du Poisson (Fish Run). This colourful event, involving 1,000 people and over 300 heavy horses, re-creates the journey which used to take place carrying fresh fish from Boulogne to the restaurants of Paris. Each team has one vehicle carrying a crate of fish covering the 360kms trip, with pairs of heavy horses changing over on a relay basis during a 24-hour period.
The coastal venue of the event is Le Touquet where some of the associated events, like the Marathon, take place and the start of the Fish Run is Boulogne, where Boat Pull on the beach takes place. Each team selects one or more pairs for this event and the aim is to pull a boat loaded with sand for a designated distance along the beach. The Boat Pull is held late in the evening under floodlights and draws a huge crowd.
In previous years the British team has acquitted itself well without figuring in the higher placings. However this year a more finely-honed and experienced team went determined to put up a good show. Hilton Herbs provides the usual backup with clothing, herbal products, and veterinary support. Team vet as in previous years was Sarah Coombs-Girling, better known for her expertise in the endurance world. Working on her own as colleague Rod Fisher was unable to travel Sarah worked tirelessly to make sure the horses were able to cope well with the pressures and that any incipient problems were nipped in the bud.
People and horses tried their hearts out, despite problems such as one of the teams getting "wedged" on the one of the Marathon obstacles, and the British team finished the weekend in 3rd place overall when the event finished at the racecourse at Vincennes. This is the best result to date and reduced the British camp to near-hysteria. Hilary & Tony Self, Directors of Hilton Herbs, were thrilled with the result and paid tribute to everyone who had made a contribution, however small to this terrific result.
