Trec Adventures at the Raid du Centaure

Two Red Kite members took part in the high adrenaline competition in France this year. Orienteering 100km over 2 nights, TREC doesn't get more extreme than this! Kate Gillam and Diane Dickson competed and were supported by fellow Red Kite committee member Mary Bray. This was to be Kate's sixth time and Diane's first. Here are the daily reports from their activities.

Day 1 - Feb 26, 2025. [KG edit]

Kate and Diane flew Bristol/Paris landing 21:10, then Paris airport really put their navigation skills to test. T2 under construction and the hire car company had been moved with little or no signage and no person to ask. We walked, dazed and tired already, phone in hand, back and forth, back and forth over the 1km long Terminal. Plenty of time to pace count you could say! Once in the car, things did not get better, the motorway was thick with traffic and lorries that monopolised the road, screaming horns, nearly pushing us into the Seine on several occasions. Don't they ever go to sleep? A question a villager might well ask of us in a few days time. Several times we found ourselves exiting the circular when it was not required. Diane driving, Kate navigating. Diane was not impressed. Eventually we arrived at a little, shuttered, cottage in the countryside, behind a tall iron gate at 2 a.m., just south of Fontainebleau, key in a lock box. We were asked to creep in quietly. All the dogs started barking. We stifled giggles. Why are we whispering in the house?

Meanwhile Mary, late joiner to the party, was driving herself out solo and supposedly fast asleep on the ferry. The four other GB riders also went by ferry. The following day, we took a leisurely drive through the French countryside admiring all the amazing farmsteads and villages with their ancient buildings and beautiful use of wood. Sorry no photo! We drove straight to the venue in Gorre, a picnic lunch on a bench by the tall and striking church and then orientation, already checking for likely exit points. Into the woods comparing unmarked paths with our map and phones and vice versa. Would we come this way? It seemed highly likely.

Quick haul at the supermarket and then we checked in to our next lodging for the next 2 nights in Cussac. It was very well kitted and comfortable.

Mary arrived safely, navigating the French highways tout seul with no problem, ahead of all the others at their luxurious accommodation at the Ribierre about 10 km from the venue (I think).

Feb 27th, 2025

Today our intrepid explorers met the horses that they will be competing the Raid Centaure with. (KG. edit)

No rest for the wicked, we were asked to head over to the venue to meet Jean and horses

at 8a.m. and help put up their corrals. The horses, in the mile long white lorry, come from Sommant Horse Team. Both team of horses and owner, Jean de Chatillon, come to each Centaur, Jean being a chief organiser or route checker or both and indeed one of the founders of the Centaur. He kindly offers horses for hire. Kate and other GB riders have hired from him three or four times before and know some of the horses quite well as they see them year after year. They are always well prepared and suitable for the job. Later in the year the horses are used for Endurance or Trail rides. Visit the website if you are interested in the rides of various lengths and locations. Since Brexit it has not really been feasible to take our own horses.

The horses are pre-allocated, Diane gets Ardween (previously ridden by Kirsty at Alsace. Kirsty's second favourite to Azeeb) and Kate has endurance horse Alabonheur (a new one to us), both forward going and happy to go first or second, both seeming very fit. All GB riders together spent a few hours grooming and trying on our saddlebags with their saddles. There was quite a bit of swapping about, my lovely comfortable saddle had no D rings whatsoever. Can't have everything. Eventually I was kitted out with a numnah with built in back pockets and I managed to get my pommel bag to tie on with good old binder twine. Important to put no weight across the withers.

I packed 2 litres of drink (orange juice with added salts, and 1 litre of water), marmite sandwiches, a waterproof pack full of spare headtorches, batteries and a powerpack and 2 times cables of each type! First aid on me and the horse, hoof cast (all the horses are shod) and lots of string and a multitool. A place to store maps while not in use (we have had 6 maps for one night in the past). I think that is it. So much easier when forecast is dry.

Finally we set off on the horses for an explore and to pace count. Eventually I managed to get my horse into the 40/60 count (joke!). The horses were very eager and threw in a few spooks and leaps and bounds to keep us alert.

Later we met with the others for more walking, orientation and familiarisation.

February 28th, 2025 [Edit KG] We checked out of our Cussac Airbnb and moved to smaller studio accommodation, Le Poitiers, 5km away and as close as we could get to the venue. Most of the other riders stay with their corralled horses camping in vans and even tents, like Trec. As tradition has it, we pulled straws for the beds. Diane won. Mine, a little single, was set-up in the tiny kitchen on our request to have separate rooms, Diane got the more luxury double bed! The hosts said they would try to keep animals and three children quiet. We didn't hear a squeak. We wanted to be as close as possible to the venue, cutting driving time to a minimum, in order to try and snatch as much sleep as possible in between vetting, map drawing, rides, dinner etc. The others stayed put at the Ribierre.

We were asked to ride the horses for at least an hour again in the morning to stretch them and settle them. Diane also needed to change her saddle and rework her saddle bags as she had not been happy with them on Thursday check. Another morning was spent doing this. We finally made it back for the afternoon nap at about 2pm - just over 2.5 hours for a sleep before the vetting which would lead into the start and maybe no other time to sleep for two nights. I managed about 30 minutes to an hour. Then it was time. Hearts in mouth we set off for the vetting. All horses passed. Our start times were up. 4 individuals, 22 pairs and just one team of 3. Usually pairs and individuals are divided more equally.

Dot and Hilary, Galloping Circus Scotland at 23.14.

Kate and Diane, Galloping Circus Galles at 00.10.

Caroline and Kirsty, Galloping Circus England at 01.48

The times pulled out of a hat, we were very spread out and highly likely we wouldn't see each other on the trip.

Diane and Kate getting to know their horses, trying kit and a local explore.

Between vetting and dinner we snatched another half hour rest and then headed for the civic centre for competitor briefing, dinner, map drawing and depart. We were surprised and amused to see the three 'padres' of the Centaur, Jean, Sebastien and Fabrice, mount the stage dressed as friars.

The intro was in French and we were quickly non-plussed as usual. Cinda, one of the stalwart checkpoint or ticket judges came to our rescue and quietly translated. The Spanish also struggled with the French and also had a translator at hand. The main drift was, that there were no footbridges to be ridden over at any point. Wish I had understood why we were being told that. I imagined little tiny footbridges. Later we passed over a wide bridge, too late to realise that it was dangerous and not the correct route. We couldn't risk going back over it. Instead we rode round and round someone's garden. A light came on. Quick out of here! We came into the check point the wrong way. Dinner was buffet style, pate and salad, followed by a country pie with sliced potato topping, a huge tray of cheese and lots of rustic French bread. Wine for some, not for me, my eyes were already heavy. Then the scrum for the maps! We manage to get just enough to copy although there was not a moment to spare for Dot and Hilary, first out. Diane and I only just managed to complete in time for our midnight start. This time only three A4 maps. Much easier to carry and deal with in the map cases. The witching hour arrived, Diane and I found ourselves out in the dark dry crisp cold air, quietly stealing the horses in from the corral with flashlight, tying to lorry, tacking up, one piece of kit after the next dragged from the car, and then, down to the noisy start, met with Fabrice videoing, phones sealed and stashed, then the count down and we were off. The way out was easy, a wide track to the road, down to the familiar roundabout, turn right and then, south into the woods. But where exactly? There was no obvious way in up the bank, we went up and down the road, feeling foolish and slightly panicked, eventually selecting a place to enter with a slight parting of the branches and a faint path, near enough to the pace count. 100 meters on, we hit the ticket, Mauvais! Pourquoi? blah di blah di frenchy frenchy. Only two riders got it correct out of the 60 odd. We were back on the road and looking for the next scramble in to woods off piste, we entered, thought we had gone the wrong way, then it was the right way, lights came up behind and we were quickly overtaken by the next set of riders (a previous champion) and luckily dragged along until the next thrash through woods and ticket, here we had to dismount to hand over our 'carnet' to a rightly rather nervous controller. The horses were swirling everywhere along with the bright lights. We let the other riders go, our nerves settled and we were alone again in the darkness, but now more relaxed and we got the next few twiddles correct and quickly gained in confidence. We were not going to get lost! The route seemed more similar to an L4 Trec, the forests smaller, so the technicalities were twiddles or parallel tracks just that 10 meters over as opposed to never ending trees with bears and wolves. We narrowly missed some, but at least we were finding them, and a couple of times we went 'gardening' (off piste) when we shouldn't have. There were some high speeds, 10, 9.5, 9, 8. Nothing much below for ages it seemed. We came into the breakfast control, getting the twiddle correct, just as it got light. There was Mary's smiling face greeting us. She pointed out where we should tie the horses, Natalie, Jean's partner, then took over, rugging them and giving them a big grain breakfast. We went off to find ours. Eggs cooked to order, hot coffee, somewhere to sit. It was getting cold fast. Too soon our names were called for vetting, we grabbed the horses and ran up and down the road. Jean was vetting here. Horses were fine. This was the 10kph speed, or was it 12kph ? He shouted at us to make haste. Frosty white everywhere. We rode on and on, not seeing many other riders until we finally entered the last check point at about 13.30. Thirteen and half hours in the saddle. Not so bad. Well better than the 19.5 hours of Alsace.

We rode back , looked after the horses, water, feed, grooming off all the sweat so that they were ready for the next night. Headed back to the airbnb as quick as possible to get as much sleep in before the next vetting at 4.30pm and start of night two. I passed out for 30 mins or so, before being rudely awoken and told that it was time to get to vetting and that we must walk the horses for 20 mins before to make sure they were not stiff for the trot up. Night two was similar to first night, although I can't remember the food. There was a hiccup with the printing of the maps and we had to wait a while for map 2, which arrived 60 mins late and so gave us no time to return for a sleep, instead I took my sleeping bag and dry robe and settled down on the stage used previously by the friars. I managed about 20 mins with very strange dreams. Diane tried various places, but couldn't sleep. We set off at 1.20am. and completed the route at 7.30am. Not too many errors of route, but once again, over thinking the easiest of sections cost us dearly in time. By the end, I was thinking more of completing than worrying about little twiddles of route. Diane was suffering from various ailments including her knees which had not taken kindly to the continual high speeds, trotting and cantering when we could. The final checkpoint came up suddenly a few kms off the venue, so that was a nice surprise and we came in from the correct direction to boot! We had completed!! We had finished and we were still alive! Unfortunately I slept through the results and awards and have still to try and get a copy of the detail results to see how we fared on Night 2. By the time we returned to the venue mid afternoon, the horses had gone and the organiser was just pulling out of the venue. No sign that such a momentous occasion had occurred at all. Well perhaps it was all just a midwinter's night dream.

March 2nd, 2025

Delighted to announce that Kate and Diane have completed the Raid Centaure ! Congratulations!

Results from the Centaure En Limousin 2025

Kirsty & Caroline 8th Duo (Bravo, you two! KG)

Kate & Diane 11th Duo

Dot & Hillary retired

Congratulations on great placings and to you all on competing in Raid du Centaure.