A visit from SSAFA

This week we've had a group here at Calvert Trust Exmoor from SSAFA.  Their name means "Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association", they are a charity that was set up under a Royal Charter from George the 5th.

I had to ask Teddy who George the 5th was, apparently he was king of England a long time ago and also granddad to Queen Elizabeth the 2nd, who is the Queen right now. I've not met her, but I did meet her cousin, Princess Alexandra when she came here a couple of years ago.

So anyway SSAFA has been going for a very long time, Teddy says since 1926, and they provide help and support for British Forces families.  We've had a lovely group of young people and their volunteer helpers here this week, they have all been to see us here in the stables and done some riding with the bigger horses and ponies. 

Some lovely SSAFA young people

I also got to do some of my agility work with them, which as you know I love doing! I've had a great time this week meeting lots of different new friends. 

I also did some jumping this week in the outdoor arena which I always love.

I do love jumping!

I like to show that I can do all the things the other bigger horses can do even though I'm tiny!  I think people are often surprised that a small Shetland pony like me can be so agile!

Brin's had a Haircut!

My buddy Brin looks a bit different today than he did a few days ago, he's has had a session with the clippers with Louise and Kerri.

He has had his mane ‘hogged’, which means he has his mane clipped off to make him look smart.  Brin said he really likes having his mane hogged becuase he doesn’t like people touching it when it is long.

I think he must think people are trying to pull his mane out when they touch it! I like having my mane stroked, but Brin doesn't.

He also has his legs clipped to keep him looking stylish.  His legs get REALLY hairy if he doesn’t have that done! 

Brin's smart new look

Poor Henry has been suffering badly with his Sweet Itch this week.  I heard Nicky say he is going to spend a few nights in and not go out in the fields to give him a bit of a rest from the flies.  I'm pretty sure I saw Henry smile when he heard that, he really hates those pesky flies!

Pilgrim goes Camping

Earlier this week I got moved in to the field by archery and I wasn’t sure why, but then Teddy told me that there were some guests doing something called camping in my other field!

He said this is where humans come and put something called a tent up on the grass, and then they sleep inside it overnight. Sounds a bit like a stable to me! 

As none of the other horses in the stables have never seen anything like this before I felt it was my duty to investigate and report back to everyone.

So this is tent!

Abi and Lynn led me up to the camping field where the tents were, and I had a good look around and inside the tents.

In I go!

I was pretty impressed but I don’t think I'd fancy staying in one overnight, I much prefer the freedom of my paddock.

So, what's in there then? 

I must go now as I can hear my name being called to go and do another of my amazing agility sessions; see you all soon. 

Playtime with Jack

Because I'm doing so much agility over the summer the stables staff thought it would be nice if I could have a bit of a break and do something different. On Wednesday afternoon Abi took me for a long walk around the reservoir with one of the guests so I could stretch my legs a bit more. I found this very exciting so I thought I would show off some of my moves. Of course everyone enjoyed watching me perform!

I've also been in the arena with Jack and Teddy to have a bit of play, as I have to go in my own separate field during the evening so I need some time to catch up on the gossip, otherwise I will have nothing to write about!

Come and play Jack!

I was in quite an energetic mood that day but all Teddy wanted to do was have a rest, luckily for me though Jack was keen to have a play. We also had a good grooming session and it was nice to be able to have a chat with Jack as we don’t get to meet very often.

Having a nice chat with Jack

Flippin Flies!

The last week in the stables we had loads of groups in, which meant all of us horses have worked really hard. This also includes me of course; although I don’t do any ridden work I've done lots and lots of agility. I do love showing off my abilities to our lovely guests!

Not only has it been busy it has also been really hot and the flies have been out in force. This makes it  a bit difficult for us in the stables as it gets too hot to work in the indoor arena but going outside means we get lots of bites from the flippin flies! The good thing about this though is it means we get to have a cool down with the hose pipe once we have done all our work!

Visitors from Jersey

Just recently we had a lovely group of visitors staying with us from Jersey. Even Teddy didn’t know where that is! 

I heard the stables staff chatting and they said that our guests are all part of Jersey R.D.A., who provide riding for children and adults with disabilities on the island of Jersey. 

On Saturday morning they all had a horse riding lesson, they were quite excited to be riding horses a bit bigger than Toffee and Darcy who are two of the ponies they ride at R.D.A.  After a bit of getting to know us horses they played a game of chase with Abi to practice steering. Some of the riders used special reins with loops on to make steering easier.

The group also did some grooming and learnt about the parts of a horse.  The mums even got to have a ride which the children found very exciting!  They took lots of photos, some of which are in the gallery on their website.

The children all went for a ride on the track in the afternoon, down towards the reservoir and round the woods.  Everyone loved this as they hadn’t done it before. 

On Sunday morning they did more riding and then some carriage driving with Hendrix, he said they loved driving round obstacles and it was great fun.

All the children also spent some time with me in the morning and I showed them all how brilliant I am at doing agility, then at lunchtime the children all helped to feed us our hay.

Sunday afternoon was spent building an obstacle course in the outdoor arena. All the riders had a go at riding around the course which was made up of steering along the sneaky snake, riding through a wiggly worm, staying inside the circle of doom, stopping in the penalty box and walking across the black hole! All of this was done while avoiding the scary bear and using lots of imagination!

Lots of smiley faces receiving their certificates! 

At the end of the afternoon everyone got together to have a presentation of certificates and rosettes. I know all us horses and ponies and the staff enjoyed the whole weekend and judging by the smiles I saw I think all our guests from Jersey had a fab time too!

Film Crews Galore!

Hi everyone it’s your favourite horsey spokesman here. We had a very busy week last week with film crews galore!

Firstly we had Martyn Sibley here, making a film for the Visit Britain "Access All Areas" series all about Exmoor, so of course they wanted to include Calvert Trust Exmoor in the film!

Then the next day we had some visitors here to do some filming for Forces TV. They came to the indoor riding arena gallery and watched Safari and Brin being ridden during a centre group session. I know Brin loved being on camera, he told me he felt like a movie star! 

Watch the film on Forces TV

Safari also enjoyed showing how good he is at his job by trotting around the arena with his rider. Hendrix also got in on the act; he never misses an opportunity to get involved! 
He was giving one of our guests a carriage drive in the outdoor arena and also ended up on the film. 

Hendrix showing off for the camera!

I think that I must have been busy taking some of our guests for a stroll to find some nice grass, I'm sure I would have been first choice for the camera if I had been out doing agility when they were here at the stables! How could they possibly resist me?

I would have liked to have prior warning though so I could have been pampered and made to look my fabulous best! I must remember that for next time…