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Post by rabatsa on Jul 25, 2010 19:45:13 GMT
The week long drive/ride that we are doing for Ebor Vale RDA started today. Cookie pony is keeping a short blog www.justgiving.com/cookie2010/eurl.axd/4132a0af35b93347ba052fb5b558c707 What she does not mention is that Danny her co parter in work decided that today would be a go slow day. I was clapped out after doing the first 9 miles in 2.5 hours, keeping him going was hard work. We put him under saddle and he has gone fine for the rest of the day. It was Cookie who has had time off and is being worked through developing a spavin that has been a little star. Lets hope that she pulls out sound in the morn. We stopped for lunch at North Ferriby RDA - who might have got days wrong as they were going to be having an open day. Instead it was all locked up and we had to climb over their fence to go to the loo. Tonight the ponies are being well looked after at Rowley Manor Stables. They have had a good wash down and were tucking into large nets of hay when we left them. Tomorrow is another long day going through the middle of Beverley and visiting two RDA groups, Bishop Burton who will send someone to the front entrance to meet us but as they have the pony internationals there at the moment we are not allowed down to the stable area. Hull and Holderness are putting us up overnight at Lelley which is out past Burton Constable towards Spurn Point.
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Post by happyhorsedriver on Jul 25, 2010 20:49:00 GMT
Good luck hope all goes well and the weather stays nice for you will be having a look at the blog each day
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Post by happyhorsedriver on Aug 7, 2010 20:54:41 GMT
How did the drive go? The blogs were very entertaining ;D
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Post by rabatsa on Aug 8, 2010 7:59:05 GMT
The drive went well. The bits that did not make the blog - pony spooked at a crash barrier? ??! and jack knifed the carriage on a main coast route, scaring quite a few car drivers going both ways - stopped traffic until we were sorted. The wagon going at the speed limit round some blind bends and coming upon a walking carriage. Oops smoke and burning rubber from his tyres and a groom suddenly in the front of the carriage yelling GO GO GO. The arguement about route when the support car wanted the ponies off a main road onto an alternative route which was two miles longer and the ponies were knackered. We still did 31 miles that day. The overnight stop that had forgotten we were going. The group we were visiting never turned up and we were locked out, after saying come at a set time and we will make an event of it. Another group which had not passed the word to anyone we were going, but their instructor still managed to give us coffee and buns. The girth galls due to a rider failing to stretch the ponies leg before setting off and sore lips due to same rider having steering problems. Getting soaked to the skin including socks and then yours truly being the only one to clean the leather harness at the mid day rest, everyone else went into a house to dry off and eat. Maybe I should have left £1,800 worth of new harness until the end of the day? I did leave the saddle! All in all not a bad time and not much went wrong. Would I do it again - Yes, but with a different combination of ponies and people. It is a mistake to use two follower ponies as when tired the lead one was trying to nap. We did have a leader pony as reserve but the riders voted against using him as despite being 14.1hh he has a 12.2hh trot. My idea of just using him for the driving fell on deaf ears, so we used a pony I would not want to do it with again. It would have been nice to have raised our target amount of £8,500 however we think that we have raised £5,000 which will help with the £12,000 annual running costs.
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Post by happyhorsedriver on Aug 8, 2010 12:19:12 GMT
Well done great effort on all accounts think you all deserve a well earned break after all of that it sounds like it was a very eventful drive/ride
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