Adventure ~ Healing ~ Connection
We promote adventure and wellbeing through the power of the horse
Our journeys support charities with a focus on mental health, wellbeing & child welfare. We have raised over £90,000 for charities in UK and Europe, and have travelled over 5,000 km in 5 different countries.
We promote routes new & old, encouraging accessibility, community & sustainability. Our longest journey, 2,800km from Italy to Spain, pioneered the first recorded horse trail across the Ligurian Alps.
For a taste of what our journeys are like listen to journalist and anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota’s ‘Open Country’ piece as she joined us on our recent ride across Scotland. Listen on BBC sounds
‘Our conversation traverses the moving backstory behind his first adventures; becoming an architect of your own reality… the humanising nature of suffering; creative connection through movement… the humbling relationship between man and horse, and what it means to be a pilgrim…'‘
BBC Radio 4 ‘Highlands with horses’
Latest podcasts about The Big Hoof
Every year we travel 200 miles for a given cause. The FareWays journeys are wild, inclusive and travel through the most beautiful parts of the UK. Have a listen to the BBC Radio 4 short documentary about our 2023 trip across Scotland. In May we journeyed across the Highlands in support of two suicide prevention charities, raising £7,500. 14 participants and 60 primary school children joined.
You don’t need a horse, just a good pair of shoes and a willingness to do some good. Join us on our September journey around Loch Tay, open to all.
FareWays
Hooves and healing - riding to wellness
In May, The Big Hoof team rode into Dunfermline town, Scotland, to meet folk from inner-city areas to introduce them to the horses. Two weeks later, we hosted a group at the farm to garden, ride, enjoy the open spaces and make some delicious fresh pesto! All in collaboration with the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust.
‘The horses’ impact in just a couple of hours was remarkable, even for those who were wary of getting too close. It was lovely to be able to facilitate this session especially as it turned out to be such a big hit. There were smiles all round, and a feeling of real achievement for the group….’
The Big Hoof is currently supporting Insulate Ukraine
After spending three weeks in Izyum, in the Kharkiv Oblast of eastern Ukraine, The Big Hoof have teamed up with NGO Insulate Ukraine. This UK based organisation has pioneered a glassless solution to one of the greatest issues faced by the devastated communities of eastern Ukraine: windows blown out by the war. emergency home-built solutions to replace windows blown out by the war.
Events…
Burns Night 2025…
On 27th January, The Big Hoof celebrated their annual Burns Night evening at The Caledonian Club, London. With over 124 guests in attendance, the evening was one that captured the family spirit of the charity. Alongside the whisky, dancing, haggis, bagpipes and auction, participants from our rides and folk from the charities we have been supporting said a few words. Next dinner is planned for 1st Feb 2025.
With thanks to Ardnamurchan Whisky, Bombay Sapphire Gin, Bladnoch Whisky, Renais Gin, Fera GB, Blundstone Boots, X Muse Vodka, Five Kingdoms Brewery.
Talks
Founder of The Big Hoof, Louis Hall, will be giving a ‘Microlecture’ at the Royal Geographical Society on 18 October. This year The Big Hoof team have given tow talks for the Kendal Mountain Festival Tour and at two schools. The talks focus on what it was like to create the first conclusive horse trail across the Ligurian Alps, riding 2000 miles through Europe on horseback, charity journeys and how accidentally discovering a tribe in Mongolia started it all!
