Horse Life Stories - Moses

Hello again everyone, here is another of my Horse Life Stories series, this time is my new friend Moses.

Love Pilgrim xx

Moses has been with us just a few months, having joined Calvert Trust Exmoor earlier this year.  He is 6 years old and stands at 14.1 hands high, and is a traditional Piebald gelding, although he has had a haircut which makes him look a little more presentable!

Moses

Before coming to join the team at CTE Moses lived in Ireland; he was broken to pull a carriage at 3 years old and soon started working as a taxi horse pulling a carriage around the city of Cork.

Moses did taxi work for just under 3 years; working in the city Moses has seen lots of different things and is used to a busy environment.

In 2015 Moses was bought over to live in England, he lived on Exmoor at a quiet farm. His new owners buy and sell horses for a living so this wasn't going to be a long term home for Moses. 

whilst he was living there Moses was driven around the country lanes and over the moors; he says that it was certainly a lot quieter than the city life he was used to! Moses has also done some riding work and enjoys nothing more than a hack over Exmoor on a warm sunny evening.

In August of this year Calvert Trust Exmoor was looking for a new carriage horse to join the team. After looking at lots of different horses, Moses was chosen to come on trial and see how he fitted in with the rest of us horses. 

Moses had a month’s trial where he was ridden and driven so he could get used to his surrounding and a bit of a quieter way of life.  After Moses month of trial he decided to stay, and is carrying on with lots of training and work to get him fit for next year's season.

Moses loves lots of attention and enjoys been groomed and pampered, he even likes to give the stable staff a whinny first thing in the morning to say good morning!

We are sure once our centre guests start to get to know Moses in 2016 he will become a firm favourite and will be giving carriage drives here for many years to come.

Pilgrim's horseshoe icon was created by stolkramaker from Noun Project

A Special Job for Hendrix

Hi everyone, I hope you have been enjoying all the "Horse Life Stories" I've been posting about all my lovely horse and pony buddies here at Calvert Trust Exmoor.  This week I want to take a break from the life stories to tell you about the special job that Hendrix had on Sunday.  

On Sunday morning I was in my stable munching my hay quite happily when suddenly Hendrix appeared with Richard.  I thought this was a bit strange as usually I am the only one around on a Sunday morning because all the other horses and ponies have a day off in the field. 

Hendrix had his rug taken off and was given a really good groom.  hen Nicky and Richard pulled the two wheeler carriage into the yard and started to decorate it with shiny stuff…

Decorated with shiny stuff!

…I wasn’t sure what was going on so I asked Hendrix.  He said at this time of year he has an important job to do with his carriage on two Sundays and today was the first one.

I watched as Nicky and Richard then decorated Hendrix with loads of shiny stuff too which Hendrix told me is called tinsel.  If you ask me it looked a bit scary! They also put a very sparkly plait in his tail, sparkly hoof oil on his feet and then put his harness on with extra bells and even some lights! 

I must say I thought he looked amazing when he was ready for his big moment.  Soon after he was ready a man arrived with a big beard and a red suit on which looked very warm and cosy (I would quite like one!).

I asked Hendrix who he was and he rolled his eyes at me and said “Santa of course!!” Now I do remember Teddy telling me last year at Christmas time that Santa is the lovely man who brings us special treats of apples and carrots.  He delivers them on Christmas Eve and we get to eat them for our lunch on Christmas Day. 

I was quite excited and thought we might get some apples and carrots from Santa but Hendrix said not today. 

Nicky drove Santa in Hendrix’s carriage around the centre and took him to give out presents to the guests who were staying in the centre for the weekend.

Everyone thought Hendrix looked great and he said he got lots of fuss. He is already looking forward to doing it all again next Sunday. I bet the other horses laughed at him when he went back in the field though because he still had sparkly hooves!! 

Pilgrim's horseshoe icon was created by stolkramaker from Noun Project

Horse Life Stories - Jack

Hello again folks, here is another of my 'horse life stories', this time its all about Trojen, or Jack as he is better known at Calvert!

Love Pilgrim x

Jack is a traditional piebald gelding; he stands at 14.2 hands high and is 12 years old. Jack is black and white in colour, Just like Bertie, only very slightly taller and a bit younger.

Jack

He is described as traditional, which just means he has lots of hair.  Jack has a very long mane and he also has lots of long hair on his legs! On a horse long hair on the legs is called feathers.

Before coming to Calvert Trust Exmoor Jack lived a very long way away, he grew up in Scotland just outside the Cairngorms National Park. I bet it was very cold up there, maybe that’s why Jack likes to be so hairy! 

Jack lived in a private home where he was used as a riding horse, Jack and his rider loved exploring the beautiful countryside.  In 2010 Jack was bought by a riding school in North Devon, it was a very long journey but Jack soon settled to life in Devon and began working in the riding school taking lots of happy holiday makers hacking around the farm. 
He was a very good boy and took riders of all different abilities, even people that had never been on a horse before. 
After working in the riding school for a few years Jack was sold again this time to a private home to be a riding pony, Jack loved it as he got lots and lots of attention. After a short time his owner thought Jack would be a perfect pony to help out at Calvert Trust so he came to live here.


Jack is on loan to us from his owner Karen, after a month’s trial Jack joined the team here in February 2014.  Jack loves to be ridden and lots of people enjoy riding with him. Jack is used for our centre group lessons and also private lessons, he particularly loves going out for a ride with all the other horses.

Jack also enjoys being used for the stable management session’s as he’s very gentle and will stand still for hours for guests to brush his mountains of hair. He looks very handsome when he’s all brushed, but he always rolls in the mud as soon as he gets to the field!

Pilgrim's horseshoe icon was created by stolkramaker from Noun Project

Horse Life Stories - Bertie

Hello again folks, here is another of my 'horse life stories', this time its all about Bertie and his amazing quest!









Love Pilgrim x

Bertie was born in 1999 and is now 17 years old.  He's a piebald cob gelding and he stands at 14.1 hands high. Piebald is horsey phrase; it just means Bertie is black and white.

Bertie

Before Bertie lived here at Calvert Trust Exmoor he had quite an exciting life; he was imported from Ireland as a youngster and lived in the Welsh hills at Plas Equestrian. 

When Bertie was old enough he started his training to be a riding horse, training alongside the endurance horses at Plas Equestrian. This training made him the perfect horse for Bertie’s first adventure!

His rider Becky had always dreamed of travelling internationally by horse back.  Becky planned a trip that was not only going to be great fun but also raise money for a wonderful charity.  The route was London to Tokyo, covering 15 countries, 15,000 miles and lasting for 4 years! 

Bertie and Becky

On April 1st 2009 Bertie an Becky set off from London, sometimes sleeping under the stars, sometimes stopping off with people along the way who had heard of the wonderful adventure Becky and Bertie was on. By the fourth week they had made it to France, and with a few ups and downs they travelled through France, stopping off to explore the local areas. They even managed to visit Belgium via a a slight unplanned de-tour!

By week 18 they had travelled 1,083 miles and had been staying in Besançon, North East France for a couple of weeks.  Becky  had a slight re-think, and now wasn’t planning to ride the whole way, she decided to convert a cart into a caravan.

Whilst staying in Besançon Bertie learnt how to pull a carriage, and soon they were ready to set off on the next stage of the trip.

By the 25th week they arrived in Switzerland, having  completed 1,526 miles. On their travels through Switzerland they encountered some horrible weather, so rather than carrying on Becky and Bertie set up camp to explore the local area.

By week 29 they had travelled through Switzerland and covered 1,712 miles, but Becky had fallen ill and this was where their journey had to end. Bertie and Becky returned to the UK towards the end of 2009, what an amazing adventure they had both been on.

Bertie joined Calvert Trust Exmoor in the winter of 2010; after a month’s trial to introduce Bertie to his new surroundings and all the new experiences he would face Bertie was ready to work. He was soon becoming a fast favourite with the centre guests and our regular riders.

Although Bertie is now 17 years old he loves to play with the other horses and can quite often be seen winding us all up in the field! He especially loves to play with Milo as he is a youngster and will play back, unlike some of the others who get a bit fed up with him!

 Bertie has been here 5 years now and he is wonderful at everything he does, he has given many guests fantastic experiences and we’re sure Bertie will be here for many years to come, making people smile.

Pilgrim's horseshoe icon was created by stolkramaker from Noun Project

Horse Life Stories - Hendrix

Hello again, here is another post in my 'horse life stories' series, this time its my stable mate Hendrix.  

love Pilgrim

Just like Rooster and Brin, Hendrix also had a different name before he joined us here at Calvert Trust Exmoor.

Poor old Hendrix is actually called ‘One too many’, but he says he prefers his Calvert Trust name and I think I agree!

Hendrix is 9 years old (he was born in 2006) and is a traditional gypsy Vanner pony, standing at 13.2 hands high. 

He's black in colour and has a big white blaze down his face. The other distinguishing thing about Hendrix is he has different coloured eyes, one is blue and the other is dark brown. The name for a blue eye in a horse is a wall eye and it certainly makes him stand out.

Hendrix grew up in Worcestershire on a working farm so from a young age he has always had lots going on around him.  He was broken to ride and drive at the age of 3, doing lots of hacking around the farm and pulling a small cart up to the village. This was all good earl experience for Hendrix, ready to carry on with the rest of his training when he got a little older.

At 4 years old Hendrix came to live at Calvert Trust Exmoor, after a month’s trial he officially joined the team in March 2011.  Although Hendrix could already be ridden and pull a carriage he had to start lots of new training to get him used to life here at the stables.

The job Hendrix needed to do the most was to be a driving pony so the stables staff started off by long reining and lunging with Hendrix to get him used to his surroundings and a bit fitter; its quite hilly round here compared to farm he grew up on!  

Hendrix then progressed on to carriages, starting with the 2 wheel carriage, and showed that he could work well with guests.  He also started to do lots of ridding, bringing a bit of variety to his life.  Now Hendrix is the main carriage horse here; he can pull either of the carriages and does lots of riding too.

This year Hendrix has also done a bit of extra work away from the stables. For his first outing he went to try his hoof at dressage at a local show, we were all very impressed as Hendrix and Kerri came away with a first rosette!

Hendrix also went on holiday for a few nights to Devon County Show where we were 2015 charity of the year, each day Hendrix and a team of instructors put on demonstrations to the public in a big arena, showing everyone what we do here in our centre group sessions. They took the four wheeled carriage and demonstrated wheelchair accessible carriage driving.

Hendrix in action at Devon County Show 2015

Hendrix is quite a character and loves to play with the other horses in the field, he can also be a little cheeky in the stable and bang the door with his hoof if he wants some attention or thinks he needs feeding again! Hendrix is a huge favourite here and a very special member of our team.

Pilgrim's horseshoe icon was created by stolkramaker from Noun Project

Horse Life Stories - Rooster

Hello again, here is another one of my horse life stories series, giving you a bit of an insight into the life history of one of my stable mates. This time its Rooster.  

love Pilgrim 

He's known as Rooster here at Calvert Trust Exmoor, but when he was born in 1994 he was called "Lively Lord". at 21 years old he is the oldest horse here! He’s chestnut coloured and stands at 16.2hh. Rooster is a Thoroughbred which means he was bred for racing.

Rooster in our indoor arena

Rooster's life here is a lot quieter than his previous job, as he was a race horse. He was born in County Down in Ireland.

He raced his first race when he was 4 years old, his trainer was Mr R Ferguson, and Mr B R Hamilton was the jockey and they finished 5th! He continued to race in Ireland both on the flat and over hurdles for another couple of years.

In 2000 Rooster was bought over to England and lived in Kent.  He continued to race point to point, and had some success, winning his first outing at Godstone and his second Penshurst. He continued to race for another 8 years; his last race was on the 27th January 2008.

At the age of 14 Rooster retired from racing, he had worked hard and needed a bit of a quieter life.  He was very lucky and landed on his feet in a private home on Dartmoor, where Rooster and his new owners enjoyed hours of hacking through the beautiful countryside. Rooster says he loved this as he could still have a gallop and stretch his long legs! 

In 2013 Calvert Trust Exmoor was looking for a new horse to come and join the stables team. Rooster’s owners saw the advert and thought this would be the perfect job for him. After a month long trial Rooster officially joined our team; we are very lucky to have Rooster as he is on long term loan to us, and we really appreciate his owners lending him to us.

Rooster is a huge favourite here, not just with staff but the guests too; it’s not every day you can say you've ridden a race horse! Rooster does a lot less galloping now but still loves to work, so he gets a wide variety of different riders.

He is especially good for people who need to ride a narrower horse, he is used in lessons for guests staying at the centre and for private lessons, and he is even trained as a hoist horse.

This requires the horse to stand and be very patient for a long period of time (what a huge contrast to the start of his carer!). This year Rooster has even had a go at doing dressage, he was very good and even won a rosette, although he did get a little excited when he was warming up with lots of horses he didn't know. Perhaps he thought he was going racing again!

Rooster loves being out with the other horses and chases any new horses around to show them who's boss! We hope Rooster stays here with us for many years to come.

Pilgrim's horseshoe icon was created by stolkramaker from Noun Project

Horse Life Stories - Brin

Hi folks its Pilgrim here! sorry it's been a while since my last post, I've been super busy with our lovely guests!

I thought you might like to find out a bit more detail about my friends in the stables, so I'm going to write a series of posts, one for each of them.

Here's the first one, about my friend Brin;

Brin (or should that be Picasso?)

Despite being known to all his friends here as Brin, he is actually neither Welsh, nor called Brin! He was born in 2005, at Lionheart Stud in Warwickshire, and his name is really Picasso.

Brin’s colour is bay roan, his father was a lemon and white stallion and his mother was a piebald mare. He stands at 16.1hh, which means he is 16 hands and 1 inch high. 

Just in case you don't know horses are measured from the ground to the top of the withers, which is the ridge between a horse's shoulders. A hand is equivalent to 4 inches, so Brin is 65 inches high (5 ft 5 inches, or 165 cm).

Brin was bought from Lionheart stud as a foal, and brought to live in sunny Devon by his owner Rosie.  He grew up on a quiet farm just down the road from Calvert Trust Exmoor where he lived with his 2 best friends Cloud and Dandy who were both Shetland ponies like me!  No wonder we are such good friends.

He was broken to ride and drive when he was 4 year old, and has always been very gentle and laid back, possibly a little too laid back at times!

Brin joined us here at Calvert Trust Exmoor in 2012. To start with he came on a 6 month loan, but he got on so well with all us that the stables staff arranged to buy him, and he's been with us ever since.

Brin is not the tallest horse here but he most certainly has the biggest build, he’s a gentle giant!  He's great at helping lots of different people here; mainly during lessons for centre guests as he’s very steady.  Brin is also trained as a hoist horse as he’s so laid back and patient; this is one of Brin’s favourite jobs as he gets to stand still! 

Brin also loves to go out hacking in the woods; although he’s a big horse he can be a bit of a wimp sometimes especially when it comes to tractors! 

Although he is trained for carriage driving Brin doesn't do any driving here as he’s too big to fit in our carriage, but sometimes he gets to harrow the riding arenas to make them level. Brin tells me he enjoys doing this as its a different challenge to just been ridden and is another way of keeping him fit and healthy. 

As well as being my big friend Brin is also very friendly with Teddy; being so laid back he actually gets along well with all the other horses and ponies here. He's a very special member of the team and has given lots of people a great riding experience. I hope Brin is able to keep doing his job here for many years to come.