It’s May, it’s madness.

which is why this months column finds me riding on top of Blackborough Hill in the Cheviots enjoying the most magnificent view of a stone age hill fort in a hail storm aboard one very keen Master. I have my companion Tricia riding Kismet beside me as I write a risk assessment for one of the Cheviot rides!

Between May 19-31 nearly 40 events take place across the Scottish Borders showcasing the region as ‘Scotland’s Horse Country’. Most of the guided rides are booked up well in advance and I am always struck by the trouble the ride leaders go to ensure that their paying guests have a safe and memorable experience.

The thorny question of risk is always to the fore when we in the BHS plan so many public events, it is a matter of risk management and we always take careful and well timed decisions in the assessment of risk and to reduce uncertainty, doing everything that is reasonable and practically possible.

Furthermore most of our ride leaders have a stock of local folklore stories ready to tell to illustrate their particular route, the festival really does showcase the Borders which is a colourful blend of dramatic battles, aristocratic mansions, rich literary heritage and rolling green hills. Talk about doing a promotion job for Borders Tourism!

The rides I am leading are quite steep so we are trying to ensure that all the horses and ponies entered are fit enough and balanced enough to ride in a group both up and down at a sharp gradient.

Credit must go to Polly Fraser for plotting the route with a fine tooth comb! The views will be stunning and so, I’m sure, will the after-ride teas provided by Angela Freeland Cook from Cliftoncote.

And this point brings me to another matter – the pleasure of taking your horse on holiday to one of our Horses Welcome venues which I really cannot highlight enough.

Tricia and I needed to do the risk assessments for two rides in the Cheviots so we booked our selves and our horses into the quality assured B&B at Cliftoncote in the Bowmont Valley and we have all four of us had a marvellous time.

The geldings loved their grassy upland paddock with a view just as much as we enjoyed our comfortable beds and full Scottish breakfast. I think it takes a special type of host to be equally hospitable to man and animal!

There is something magical about taking your horse on a short holiday and sharing an adventure and the riding on South of Scotland Countryside Trails is rewarding beyond measure. ‘The boys’ enjoyed the change of scenery as much as we did and already we look forward to our next outing. People should use www.horseswelcome.org and check out the many possibilities for an equestrian short break.

The variety of events that constitute the 9th BHS Borders Festival of the horse is quite breathtaking. This year you can learn your native ponies off by heart at Ayton Castle, become a horse whisperer in the wise and tender care of Peter Neilson, witness spectacular equestrian theatre with Les Anis D’Onno and savour sustainable forestry and see man and horse working in perfect harmony with the horse loggers or share the wonder of the new born foals on an evening with the heavy horses at Gilmanscleuch near Ettrick. The imagination and breadth of subject that the festival encompasses is immense and all credit goes to Ann Fraser founder and manager of the Borders Festival, ably supported by the BHS Borders Festival committee.

The BHS has a new logo and strapline ‘Fulfilling Your Passion for Horses’ well nowhere in the UK do we do that better than in the Borders for a fortnight in May!