“We only do trail rides on weekends,” said Kunal Boyatkar of Pune Equestrians. It had all started as a random idea that has snowballed into a story idea for the magazine. Could you be man enough to take a Jeep Compass to places a horse could go? Questions and challenges, like a couple’s quarrel, should never be left unresolved. The Compass would have to prove its mettle by going on a journey alongside a horse. So, after an hour on Google and another one of squabbling with the team, I had tracked down Pune Equestrians. On their website they offered trail rides and camping.
As a child hooked on to good ol’ westerns that Hollywood churned through to the mid-1970s at a rate that could put an assembly line to shame, I remember reading an article on trail riding in Reader’s Digest. It used to be the go to rag for curious children looking for info beyond their world long before the ’Net became a worldwide web.
At the time, trail riding had seemed like a particularly adventurous thing to do. Riding through trails on horseback in the age of the automobile, somewhere in the wilds of Canada had an appeal that couldn’t really be put in words. I wondered if I would ever get the opportunity to go on a trail ride.
A quarter of a century later, with the iconic whistle and guitar tune of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly playing on the Jeep Compass’ 7-inch Uconnect touchscreen infotainment via Android Auto, I was chasing dust somewhere in the rocky hills behind Pune. I still can’t ride a horse but I couldn’t help admiring the muscled flanks of Rajvansh and Prince, the two stallions from Pune Equestrians, as they galloped ahead of the equally muscled and grand looking Compass that I was in.
“The Compass would have to prove its mettle by going on a journey alongside a horse”
“Rajvansh is actually descended from the same blood line as Chetak,” remarked Kunal casually as he pointed at the black stallion. It was a startling revelation and a strange coincidence. Chetak was Maharana Pratap’s warhorse whose formidable reputation was forged in the heat of battle. Innocuous things I had noticed on this trail ride suddenly started to make sense. Simple things like how the regal looking Rajvansh’s fearless presence had helped calm the more skittish Prince when we had boxed the horses between cars for the photoshoot. Not unlike the Jeep, whose elevation to an icon came on the back of a world war victory. As a matter of fact, the Compass too has an equally calming effect on its occupants.
Ensconced in the Compass’ plush interiors and cooled by that effective dual zone automatic climate control system, you never worry about how much this Jeep can take. Whether you’re in a Compass powered by the 2-litre Multijet II turbo-diesel with 170bhp and 350Nm of torque, like the one we were in, or the one with the 1.4-litre MultiAir turbo-petrol offering 160bhp and 250Nm on tap, you’re always assured of power when you need it. And you shouldn’t even ask if it can go off road. It’s a Jeep after all. Its Active Drive 4×4 System seamlessly switches between 2WD and 4WD, helping the Compass find traction when needed without losing efficiency.
Should you require more focused attention to your specific driving environment than what Auto mode can provide, there are Snow, Sand and Mud modes to sort things out. Rolling back on a slope isn’t a worry either with Hill Start Assist holding the brakes for the precious few seconds when you’re moving your foot from the brake pedal to the throttle pedal. This works brilliantly on gravelly and stony trails also as we found out trying to climb the same incline that Rajvansh and Prince had scampered up with ridiculous ease. Where the horses went, the Compass went too. Without a neigh of protest as we relaxed in the ski grey leather seats that held us in a cosy hug while you’re secure in the safety net of six airbags.
“The Jeep Compass continues to win every battle that comes its way. Perhaps, such is the power of legacy”
The ride up is lovely, thanks to the well-tuned suspension that soaks up all the inevitable shocks of a trail. The view from the top of the small windswept hill that was our destination, was absolutely fantastic. And it would be a lie to deny that we could ignore it. But soon enough we found ourselves looking at the Compass with a sense of pride. A pride of ownership that seemed to be an echo of what the riders seemed to feel for Rajvansh and Prince as they fed the horses some dry tufts of grass and wiped the lather off their flanks.
Born in the crucible of a war, with the aim of carrying the Allies to a resounding victory, the first Jeep was nimble, light and could handle any terrain. In a military world dominated by the horse till then, the Jeep became a fitting replacement. Soon enough, and deservedly so, the Jeep became a legend. And soon after the war, the Jeep gave birth to brand Jeep. A brand that cherished and incorporated all those wonderful facets into its products. It is a DNA that has never been diluted and continues to be at the core of every product that proudly bears the simple name and that iconic seven-slat grille on its face.
The world we live in today, no longer shakes to relentless artillery barrages. The battle grounds have shifted from bunkers to board rooms. Yet, Jeep continues to be relevant and nowhere is this more evident than in its latest made-in-India Compass. With it, you’re as ready for the urban jungle as you are for the world of trails and forests. And even though the wars of the past that paved the way for the arrival of the Jeep, may be over, the Jeep Compass continues to win every battle that comes its way. Perhaps, such is the power of legacy.