In Green - An Evening with Louis D Hall (and his horse!)

Come with Louis' on his journey on horseback through ancient villages and rural lives, tracing old paths from the Ligurian Alps to Galicia.

I need to ride now, to explore, to uncover more life; to reach strangers, to feel danger and to learn; to share this old, slow way, with man’s patient, most forgiving and most loyal friend – the horse.'

In his mid-twenties, restless in the routine of a city, Louis D. Hall found himself wondering how to create the life he wanted to lead. Inspired by Don Quixote, he decided to fulfil a childhood dream – to make an uncharted journey on horseback.

After finding his horse Sasha in Italy’s Apennine Mountains, the pair set off and headed west for Cape Finisterre, ‘the end of the land’, unprepared for most of the dangers – snow, storms, wolves – that faced them. He was even less prepared for the lessons that both Sasha and the young woman who joins them part way taught him about life's potential and its complexities.

Join Louis on this glorious piece of rich, romantic travel writing that will take you along old paths, into ancient villages, sharing rural homes and stables of farmers and shepherds in the Ligurian Alps, Pyrenees, Basque country and the Galician coast.

Louis will be riding to the event on his horse who will be available for hoof signings and carrots after the event.

The evening will be donating all proceeds to The Big Hoof - a Scottish charity that organises long-distance treks, with horses at its heart and a clear focus on mental health: Free and accessible to everyone. Their aim is to improve mental wellbeing by inviting and inspiring people to go outdoors, using the horse as a vehicle for connection.

About Louis D. Hall:

After growing up in Scotland, Louis D. Hall went on a trip to northern Mongolia, aged 18, in search of the Tsaatan tribe. It was on this trek that he first encountered the connecting powers of the horse. He then embarked upon a 1147-mile ride down the length of the UK, which raised money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and laid the foundation for The Big Hoof, a Scottish a mental health charity that creates long distance rides. Since his 110-day journey across Europe with Sasha, Louis has been working for NGO Insulate Ukraine. He lives between Kyiv, Oxford and Amsterdam.

Reviews:

A classic adventure narrative in the vein of Patrick Leigh Fermor and Robert Louis Stevenson: this is a life-changing, continental trek on foot and on horseback that captures the clarity, freedom and desperate joys of long distance travel and the closeness and intimacy of the herd. Romantic in so many senses of the word – a love story, a wilderness quest, a kaleidoscope of European culture and language' Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment

'An incredible journey, complete with all of the elements of real adventure; joy, despair, challenge and surprise. And a deep sense of meaning – this is an exploration of the interior every bit as much as it is one of the exterior. A book that will inspire many an odyssey!' Leon McCarron, author of Wounded Tigris

A young man with an old soul takes on an ancient journey by horseback across Europe. This is a striking debut that will transcend its time: an emotionally taut, beautifully written book for eternally restless romantics' Sophy Roberts, author of Lost Pianos of Siberia