Mammoth trek goes on for Buckie woman after dramatic rescue

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Leanne and Candy – continues trek after mountain rescue called out

A BUCKIE WOMAN sparked a major rescue when she became “lost and disorientated” during a charity bid to trek from Buckie to Edinburgh with two ponies.

Leanne McDonald was ten days into her attempt with ponies Tinkerbell and Candy that was aimed at raising awareness of equine grass sickness.

However, when they reached the Cairngorms on Sunday the 46-year-old became disorientated – and had to walk the ponies to a height of around 2500feet to allow her to use her mobile phone to raise the alarm.

The Braemar and Tayside mountain rescue teams were called out as a result and managed to locate the 46-year-old just to the north of Pitlochry.

Now a recovered Leanne has continued her trek, determined to complete the challenge that has already raised over £2300. Her bid started when Candy suffered from chronic grass sickness two years ago, and while the pony has recovered she still suffers problems – although fit enough to undertake the trek.

On her fundraising page Leanne outlined the difficulty of the challenge: “To walk from Buckie to the Dick Vets College in Edinburgh is roughly 300 miles,” she said, adding: “We set off on May 23 and we are expecting it to take us a month to cover the distance.”

Leanne assured people that Candy was doing “amazingly well” and charming everyone she meets: “The recovery can take 18 months but she is well on the way – she is kicking butt out of grass sickness for her and her four pals who she sadly lost to the illness.”