In Green: Two Horses, Two Strangers, a Journey to the End of the Land

An incredible account of the journey of one young man and his horse into a very old Europe, written in lush, comic prose that evokes classic writers such as Cervantes, Laurie Lee and Bruce Chatwin.

Abandoning temporary jobs and all ideas of a career plan, twenty-three-year-old Louis Hall decided that he needed to take a very long ride on an unknown horse on forgotten mountain paths. Channelling Don Quixote, he was unprepared for most of the dangers that faced him and Sasha, the resilient and patient sixteen-hand bay Arab he first meets in a castle near Siena. 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.

A glorious piece of rich, romantic travel writing that takes the reader along old paths, into ancient villages, sharing rural homes and stables of farmers and shepherds in the Ligurian Alps, Pyrenees, Basque country and Galician coast, from a brilliant new talent.

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.