15/11/09
Calendars - the 2010 calendars will be available here shortly - please email if you would like to place an order.

14/11/09
The BBC paid us a visit a little while ago and we recorded Open Country to be broadcast today - I will add a link here later when it is on iplayer.

26/09/09
The last weekend of the season, the horses are coming into their winter coat and the days are growing shorter so there isnt time for them to cool down and dry off before the evening chill sets in.  As it happens neither of us are really fit enough to attempt a Milford weekend so we sit by while Jo, her boys, Blaze, Jenny & Kaiser come to visit the yard.  A lovely autumn day and an opportunity for Jo to do some driving practice.

25/09/09
I am let off for the day from teacher training even though I have to complete an assignment by 4.00pm.  All the time I have spent investing in researching mobile IT has paid off today so I can have a driving lesson with Jack as well as completing the assignment.  I cant imagine anyone else has had the opportunity to sit in such a heavenly location to do battle with the vagiaries of ICT.  My third lesson driving Jack.  It feels so good to be finally taking the reins.  Really it has been too long between lessons but that is how life is. 

I feel sorry for Jack.  I hadn't picked up the difference between "Trot" "Trotting" and "Trot on".   In dressage, Steve reminds me later, there is a working trot, an extended trot and a collected trot.  I hadnt recognised the nuances.  Poor old Jack was doing exactly what I had been asking of him.  He had been responding to the commands I had given and I hadn't realised.  So next time it is "Trotting" instead of "Trot" and a nice tone of voice, not the demanding one I was using - undoubtedly a consequence of the nerves and stress but worth making the effort to relax at least the tone of voice and be friendly even if I am not really relaxed yet in control of a tonne of horse, however good natured.  A good lesson.

20/09/09
Avon Heath Country Park Heathland Festival

A new venture for both the park and us.  A new challenge for the boys.  After all the struggle to keep the horses calm yesterday, today's challenge is to get them to walk.  

Part of the service we offer is to travel at a trot.  It's good, sustainable exercise for the horses and good training for competition.  As our season draws to an end we are beginning to look forward to our Autumn exercise.  Stephen bought a Charlie Pinney hitchcart and plough earlier in the year so that we can begin to use the horses for land work as well as road work.

Land work means the horses need to walk, this is a totally new thing for Rupert and Obadiah and having a day to walk around the country park was a good opportunity for them to practice.

It was a lovely day.  The rides were full, the horses got the hang of walking and at the end of the day Jo got to drive the bus for the first time.  Stephen sprang the opportunity on her but she rose to the challenge and managed the tight corners and narrow paths without a problem.


11/05/09
So far, May has been a busy month.  We have had two Driving Club events at Dorking and Rockbourne and two bookings, our first venture into the Forest tracks and finally, the Milford Trial which went really well even though it was blooming cold!  See the blog for details....

11/04/09 
Another day stolen from the weather - we didnt manage to complete our Milford Trial this week, but moving Laura's Birthday from Friday to Saturday worked and we had a lovely day out with them all.  See the blog for details.  We are still waiting for the weather for the Milford Trial so do check back to see how we are getting on.

31/03/09
March has been a month of preparation and work, putting things together for our new adventure at Milford-on-Sea, dissertation for me (is it really three years since we first talked about doing this? Amazing!)  More training for Jo, MOT for Steve and the lorry (it passed first time!), moving for Jenny, so a busy month behind the scenes.  As April and the longer, lighter days arrive with the clock changes, we are really gearing up to get things going in competition and on the road.  The image on the right is the draft proposal for the Milford/Keyhaven route.

28/02/09
The fates were with us today, it was a little chilly but the sun graced us with her presence and we had a lovely day taking the Trotmans around Ringwood to celebrate Barbara's birthday.

14/01/09
A New Beginning for the year, a challenging start, what is it that makes car drivers think they gain something by overtaking one horsedrawn vehicle when another is in front of them?  It was great to see Sultan and the boys out together and a great start to the new year.