In July 2020, founder Louis Hall hired a Highland/Connemara pony called Irelanda and set off down the length of the UK on a journey to remember Leo, a dear friend, who died of Cystic Fibrosis aged 26.
The 1,147 mile journey took 57 days and raised over £36,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Louis named the ride ‘The Big Hoof.’
Since the day Louis and Irelanda left John O’Groats, The Big Hoof has raised over £80,000 for other charities and has travelled over 4,800km in 5 different countries. Over 500 strangers and friends have joined the rides for reasons of grief, escape, forgetting, beginning and adventure. The charity has now evolved into an accessible facilitator for individuals from all walks of life, creating healing journeys in the outdoors.
‘The Big Hoof has become something far beyond what I ever thought it would be; the highs and the lows have been dangerous, invigorating and unique. But one thing that has been made vividly clear to me since the very moment Irelanda and I trotted away from John O’Groats, is that this is not our journey. The Big Hoof has only been made possible by every single thing and every single person that has spared a step, a thought and a penny for me, Irelanda and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Hope has a life force of its own and it does not discriminate from where it comes: howling farmers, screaming children, dogs, cats, caterwauling aristocrats, soothsaying tinkers, kleggs, vets, Storm Francis, Saint Francis, witches, dragonflies, clowns, writers, jugglers, farriers, builders, badgers, artists, dead badgers, roof-thatcher’s, saddlers, hippies, fire fighters, bogs, sink holes, charging cows, falling trees and all those dregs and drops of whisky, wine, Perry cider, Guinness, ale and peaty water in between; even the cursing drivers, the cattle grids, the blind lorries, the impassable rivers and the insatiable winds and rain; whether they like it or not, this journey belongs to all. Suffering is for everyone, no matter what background you come from, and suffering is an intrinsic part of what allows us to be wholly free, human and complete. Giving hope, however, is a choice, a powerful and wilful choice made in our freedom; The Big Hoof was ignited, sustained and loved by nothing but the warm, glowing acts of kindness and hope. Restrained the same by the sun and the moon, our decisions in between make us who we are; every person that has been part of The Big Hoof, in any way, shape or form, has decided to be a hero for those who need heroes most. May the big hearts keep getting bigger. This country is a place full of roofless love and selfless generosity, some people just need a reason to show it: The Big Hoof will do.’
Land’s End, September 2020