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!