 Tandem & All!
November saw the start of the very popular indoor sessions: for our club these are brilliant sessions with something for everyone! Old hands (and old hooves) had a play with setting up a tandem. Newer hands (or hooves!) could have a go, play around and just generally get themselves going in a supportive safe environment! And it’s not all one way traffic – that’s the good thing about horses – they always have something to teach each of us! Lol…
Why not come along to our next session in December? With added mince pies?!
October, Swannay Drive
One carriage, 2 riders and one long reiner gathered at Hunchaquoy for a drive out. Brilliant sun shine shone down on us as we headed up through Queena and then onto the main road when we split into two groups. The carriage headed down to the palace direction and headed along the Barony road round the Kirbister hill coming back to Hunchaquoy. The riders and long reiner turned and headed Swannay direction and did the loop heading back to Hunchaquoy. Both groups arrived back within in minutes of each another so untacked and chatted then headed indoors for food. A great end to the driving year, now back to indoor fun.
September, Orphir Drive
Luck was on our side today as it was only dry for our drive. Rained before and afterwards. And what says more about a drive than coming over the brow of a hill and everybody saying 'Oh Wow!' 2 carriages and one rider enjoyed the day and we stopped mid route for a toilet break and to have some soup. A super route that will have to be on the 'must do again' list.
August Aberdeen trip
6 members and 4 horses from the club headed off on the Aberdeen boat on Mon 13th. Sadly the glorious weather from show week had turned sour and our journey down was the roughest that anybody had experienced before. We weren’t sure who was happiest to arrived down at Aberdeen the horses or the folk but it was super weather there and we spent most of the first day getting our land legs back. Some of the horses stood transfixed at the height of dochans (trees) that were all around, never having seen them before. We stayed an Jane MacInness place just outside Aberdeen and it gave us some great places to drive out and the chance to see the wonderful collection of vehicles that she had. Competition day was on the Tue where we started with dressage followed by cones. We gave it our best effort and came away very happy with our scores but didn’t stand a chance against the other competitors who were doing this on a more regular basis. Everybody stopped for a barbecue and we had a chance to mingle and meet the other folk. Many were delighted that we’d made the effort to come from Orkney. Sadly Jane also announced at the barbecue that they’d been holding it for around 27 years and it was time for someone younger to take on the challenge of holding the event so we’ll watch with interest to see if it goes ahead next year. As the light began to fade we all strapped on our carriage lamps and went for a drive around Jane’s fields. It was only as we were un-tacking back at Jane’s shed in pitch black that we had our first rain. Thankfully by morning it was dry again and we set off for a nearby forest to have our last drive in Aberdeen. We worried about flies being a problem in the woods but a cool breeze followed us and we enjoyed the whole drive immensely. Only one small glitch with the map reading but soon sorted out and then after getting back to Jane’s we let the horses rest up before the journey home. We gave our thanks to Jane and Ewan for putting up with us and said how we’d enjoyed our whole trip. Mercifully the boat journey home was next to perfect and helped to end the whole event on a good note. Lots of photos and videos of the event are on our facebook page.
July 1st - Carriage Show
We were at the Dounby Show park again this year for our show which is proving to be the perfect place with so much room to set up show stuff and great indoor facilities. We had the showing class at 11am and was delighted to see the judge take the time to wait for one pony to get the steam out of his lugs and judge him also. We then moved onto the cones course which had some super twists and turns. Grooms also got the chance to drive this course which always creates some fun. One groom had never even sat on a gig till that morning and did the course at walk. She was delighted with herself. We stopped then for a bite to eat and give the horses a rest. The weather was a little on the foggy side and it lifted and fell all day, perfect for keeping the horses cool and us from overheating in all our finery! Next was the Handy Pony course and we'd found the yellow pipe and had it as a loop that horse and carriage had to drive under. Quite funny to see the horses ducking as they go through! And we were kind to our grooms this year and only had them get out of the gig once to walk along some pots and get back into the gig without stepping onto the ground. Long legs were an advantage here!
The results from the show were;
Showing,
1 Geoff with Billy and Jethro 2 April with Kitty 3 Sharon with Apache. 4 Ruth (Millar) with Meg 5 Toni with Amassis
Cones,
1 April with Kitty 2 Sharon with Apache 3 Gina with Jethro equal 4 Geoff with Billy and Jethro and Ruth with Meg 5 Toni with Amassis.
Handy Pony,
1 Suki with Jethro 2 Sharon with Apache 3 Gina with Jethro 4 Ruth with Meg 5 Toni with Amassis 6 April with Kitty
Grooms cones,
1 Mandy Cromarty with Jethro 2 Katrina with Kitty 3 Fiona Cormack with Apache
Everybody had a wonderful day and some super photos were taken. You can go to our facebook page to see all of them. A huge thank you must go to our judge Jane Peace and everybody who took along food and helped set up and take down the show stuff. Roll on next year.
May 19, Tankerness Drive.
Couldn't believe our luck with the sunshine on this drive out, so different from last year. One poor carriage had managed to loose all it's cushions while being transported to Deerness but with a bit of thought then used the cushions from a car to sit on! (Seats were later recovered safely in Harray.) So 3 carriages and one long reiner set off to enjoy the views. 2 carriages made it to Rerwick head while one carriage had to head back to base due to brake problems. But it meant there were more folk from base to load up all the food and deliver it to the carriages waiting at Rerwick head. Everybody unhitched and chilled in the sunshine while enjoying a hearty spread of homebakes and goodies. Some folk took a moment to walk around the war buildings while others headed off in the carriages to finish off the route they'd picked for the day. A most enjoyable day and I think will be on the calender for another year.
Kirkwall drive, 8th April
Considering the slightly damp conditions today, every one of us had fun. 2 gigs set off and did their own routes around Kirkwall. One even went in through the Tescos's car park, their not saying if they stopped to buy anything! And another long reiner joined me which was wonderful as it was more experienced with town sights and gave Kasia a big boost as we went round. Now lets all pray a bit harder for the sun to come out on our next drive.
see the Library for further writeups and adventures of the club events.... something there for everyone!
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