Guest Blogger Hendrix 2: My Thing

Things are pretty good here at Calvert Trust Exmoor; I’ve had my breakfast & a good groom so I’m now ready to do my thing!

What is my ‘thing’ you might ask? Well, my number one job is carriage driving, I’m usually the first horse the staff think of using when a carriage is needed. I do also get ridden which is fun, but I’m best at driving plus it’s what I’ve done the most.

What you might not realise is that to ‘pull’ the carriage I’m really ‘pushing’ into my collar & when I’m going downhill I have to hold it back with my strong ‘bottom’ muscles! It won’t surprise you to know that I’ve built up a few extra muscles in the last year or so. I’ve even gone up a rug size!!

People are also surprised how much weight I can ‘pull’ – in fact I can pull much more weight than I can carry!!! I Bet you didn’t know that!  

Will tell you more next time - bye for now!

Guest Blogger Hendrix

Hi – it’s Hendrix speaking to you from the stables at Calvert Trust Exmoor.  My mate Pilgrim said he’d like me to chat with you guys out there via his blog.  Not done anything like this before, but I’m up for any challenge…..if the little man can do it, so can I!

He said to tell you all about my job in the stables & keep you informed on ‘all the gossip as it happens!’ – No problem as nothing happens here without me knowing all about it!
I Will tell you more another time as I’ve got to go; it’s lunchtime &there’s pile of hay with my name on it waiting for me!!   

Me keeping an eye on everything that happens!

My next guest blogger will be [drum roll please!]...

I’ve made my choice for my next ‘guest blogger’…

It's Hendrix!

he’s very keen & we both have a lot in common;we’re both young, good looking, full of energy & love driving!!! What more could you ask for! Watch this space!

Who's Neddy?

I’ve realised when I was telling you all about my carriage driving yesterday (The 3 S's) I mentioned ‘Neddy’ but didn’t explain who (or what) he is!!

Neddy is what the staff call the ‘training’ aid that looks like a horse’s head – (mind you I saw it a while back & it doesn’t look like any horse I know!!!)

Neddy!

Anyway, ‘Neddy’ lets people get an idea of how to steer a horse for riding or driving before they do it for real.   Sounds like a good idea to me…….BUT not as good as the real thing of course!!

Who should I choose?

I’ve been thinking…

...it might be about time to ask one of the others to do my blog again. Several of the guys have said they would ‘like a go’, it’s just a case of making sure they do a good enough job!

I’ll have to make sure they keep up the high standard set by yours truly so I must choose carefully!!!

Or why not drop me an email to help me choose, by letting me know which one is your favorite?: pilgrim@calvert-trust.org.uk  

The 3 S's

I’ve just had a really great day helping some young people learn all about carriage driving!!
To start they had a practice on ‘Neddy’ then watched my harness being put on; they were quite good at remembering what each bit is called, like the breast collar, driving pad & breaching. (I'm not sure I know which is which, but then I've never had to put my own harness on!!)

We worked outside, which was really cool, and once they knew the 3 S’s (that’s stop, start & steer) they took me round a course of cones & had a feel of trot. It was great to give them their first experience of carriage driving. Must tell Hendrix all about it tonight!

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Good news…Pixie is back in my field!!!!

Although I really like Teddy & Bruno, Pixie is my very best friend & I’m sure she thinks the same about me!  Had a great time catching up with all the gossip then we chilled out over some tasty grass.   

Indoor Agility

I did more agility work today; nothing unusual in that I hear you say.

BUT what was different is that my agility course was set up in the indoor school. how cool is that!

It was great fun, the folks working with me did really well & I think they enjoyed themselves.    A few had never done anything like horse agility before but picked it up very well.   

Job well done by yours truly…..  :-)