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!

----------------------

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…..  :-)

A perfect day for a drive!

Another fantastic day for me here at Calvert Trust Exmoor - I drove along the track beside the reservoir again & it was brill!!

I found it easier too; the hills didn’t seem quite so steep & I loved trotting along the track.  Plus it wasn’t raining, a perfect day for a drive!

I love my job!!

Being clipped for go faster stripes!

I’ve noticed some of the others have had part of their winter coat taken off, mainly from under their necks & belly. It looks very smart & no one has complained of being cold – but it got me wondering why?

I thought the best one to ask was my mate Teddy…
…he seems to know the answer to just about everything!
He’s also had some of his winter coat removed; it’s called being ‘clipped’. He said "with some of my coat clipped off I can work so much better & my big warm rug keeps me toasty in the field".  He then added, "I think I look rather smart; I call it my go faster stripe!"

Teddy having his belly clipped!

This has got me thinking; I wonder if I will be clipped as I’m doing more work now? I quite like the idea of having a go faster stripe; it might help me when I have my ‘race’ with Hendrix’!

Photo Shoot

Yours truly has been very busy…

I had a ‘photo shoot’ this afternoon; well not just me as some of the others got involved too! It’s nice to have a few new photos for my blog & the Calvert Trust Exmoor website.

 

Over the tyre

Perfect Parking (even if I say so myself!)

It was too wet to use the seesaw, but I had lots of photos on all the other bits of my agility course. I did some driving as well; it’s important that I keep practising especially if I am to stand any chance against Hendrix if we have a driving completion.

 We’ve not set a date yet...

...I think I’ll keep quiet for now & keep working on my turns!!

Working on my turns!

Rug Magic

Saw Brin coming in from his field………just as I thought his rug is now covered in mud & lost all its shine!!
Mind you he doesn’t care…….he told me that he’s quite happy; his rug’s keeping the rain off his back without him getting too hot!

Big Brin in the Arena

I’ll tell you something quite puzzling about our rugs;  Whenever we come in with wet rugs in the morning, they are always nice & dry when we go back out into the field!!

I don’t know how they do it, but I can tell you we are all very pleased that they do!

In praise of good teeth!

The vet checked my teeth today: not the most fun I’ve ever had, but the he was very good & took the time to make sure I was all right. One of the staff was with me too, so I got plenty of praise while my teeth were being done & when he’d finished. 

I Told Teddy about it and he said that all the horses at Calvert Trust Exmoor have their teeth checked regularly.  He said it’s ‘an important part of keeping us horses healthy as our teeth are growing all the time’. 

He also reckoned that if we didn’t have our teeth checked we could have problems eating! That got me thinking, if having my teeth checked means that I can eat what I want when I want, it’s ok by me!

Stop Press: I'm In Print!

Stop press!

Do you remember my blog post about becoming an author? (I'm an author!)

My article is now out, in the October /November issue of PosAbility magazine! (http://posabilitymagazine.co.uk/)

It looks like this!

Why not rush out and get one now, and turn to page 51 to read my story!

Driving me round the bend

I had a chat with Hendrix…….do you remember me saying that his main job is driving?   He told me that this year has been great as he’s done a lot more driving; I know he loves his job & I have heard the staff say how good he is (although I haven’t told him that!)

One of the things he likes is driving round a course of cones, especially when the turns are tight & the gap just wide enough for him to get through!!

He said it’s even more exciting now as there are different coloured balls on each set of cones………he has to get round the course without knocking them off!!!!

Sounds really cool & great fun; I can’t wait to have a go at this too! Maybe Hendrix & I can have a competition sometime…….but I will need to practice a bit first!

Me practising to beat Hendrix!

My New Rug

Hurray!!

As I hoped in my last blog, (Replacing my Mini Skirt!), I've now got a picture of me in my new rug:

Handsome fellow, aren't I!

Replacing my mini skirt!

Brin got his new rug today & I know he’s very pleased despite what he might say about not feeling the cold!    He looks pretty cool in it too…

….it’s all clean & shiny at the moment, but I bet it doesn’t stay like that for long!

BUT the best news is that I got a NEW RUG too! whoopee!!!!!

I did hear a while ago the staff say something about my rug being a bit short for me; I think they said something about it looking a bit like a ‘mini skirt’.  I don’t know about anything about a skirt, but my tum did get a bit chilly at times!  

I’ve definitely got bigger muscles from driving and I’m a year older, so maybe that’s why the other rug seems smaller. Anyway, my new rug is great!

I look rather dashing in black with a touch of colour round the edges; so the weather can do what it likes as this ‘mighty atom’ will stay warm & dry!

Hopefully I will have a photo soon to show you!

I’ve just had the best day ever!!

I’ve just had the best day ever!!!

As you may guess, I did some more driving. BUT the best bit is that I drove on the track by the reservoir!!!!!
Of course I’ve done this before, but not for ages and ages. It was great to go somewhere a bit different; and having the challenge of going up & down some pretty steep hills! 

In fact it felt a bit easier this time, of course I’m stronger than I was & much more experienced too!  Must tell Bruno all about it tonight!

Update……I asked Teddy what a ‘heavy weight’ rug was (Teddy knows everything of course!).  He told me it’s just a thicker rug for when it gets really cold; let’s hope Brin doesn’t need it anytime soon!!

The last shoes post for a while ...(I hope!)

I’ve got new shoes!!!!!  They feel great and now I’m ready for anything…..let’s hope I do some more driving so I can test them out!

Bruno told me that he and some of the others (including Teddy) went for a ride by the reservoir. He really enjoyed himself and I could see how it had put him in a really good mood, so much so that he let me share the same bit of grass while we chatted!

As it’s got a bit colder all of us are wearing our rugs in the field…..well everyone that is except Brin!   

He reckons it’s because he doesn’t feel the cold; but I heard the staff talking about getting him a new rug…….something about his other rug being a heavy weight?   Not quite sure what that means!

I wish I could have a new rug……..

Shoes (again!)

Have you noticed how the subject of shoes has come up in my blog a lot in the last few weeks? Not sure if it’s something to do with the weather or just ‘one of those things’ as Teddy put it.

Anyway……guess who’s the latest horse to have ‘shoe trouble’?  Yes, you’ve guessed it – yours truly!!!!

Being plastic my shoes are very quiet so they don’t make a ‘clonk’ sound when they are loose; (Bruno told me that’s how his sound when they’re loose!)

Anyway, I knew something wasn’t quite right & I expect the staff have booked me in to have new ones very soon – can’t wait!