I drove Leo today

Leo Walker

Leo Walker

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Sadly my beautiful walnut carriage didnt fit, I could have had it adjusted but it turned out my gimpy legs meant I couldnt get in the flipping thing anyway! :lol: So the hunt was on for yet another one! I was a bit smarter about it this time and actually thought about what I wanted and needed. And today this got delivered:

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Reinforcements were quickly summoned and Leo was woken up from his afternoon nap and marched to the school.

My friend gave him a quick twirl round on the long reins to check our brakes and steering were intact

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My OH did some practicing without the horse :lol:

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Hes a fidgety horse in general but the second his harness is on he will stand for hours. Which was a good job really as it felt like it took me hours to get it right, well right as I can unsupervised!

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And then was off! Very sensibly we did this while they were sawing logs, chucking trees about and moving things with the crane but he doesnt care. We long rein him through that all the time, and he thinks we are all bananas but gets on with it anyway :)

https://www.facebook.com/vickie.aldus/videos/vb.606503666/10154922436838667/?type=3&theater

He looked so comfortable with it all we even had a little trot

https://www.facebook.com/vickie.aldus/videos/vb.606503666/10154922428978667/?type=3&theater

Then because he had been so absolutely foot perfect I got in and for the first time ever I drove my own horse! And yes, I know I should have a hat on, but I never thought I'd be getting in myself so soon and I couldnt get anyone elses to fit

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I've got a lesson tomorrow so my instructor can tell me all the things I have done wrong and tell me off for doing it without her. But it was worth it! I am so, so, so pleased with my bargain Facebook auction site pony. I took a hell of a gamble with him but hes paying me back in spades :)
 
He is quite literally made for this job, so im glad you had a great time. Can't wait to hear about your lesson.
 
Well frankly that carriage looks a darn sight more practical and most importantly comforable, the other one was very pretty but ;)

Well done :D, to both of you and OH of course.
 
Pinkvboots said:
Well done that is a very smart waggon and I just love your little cob nothing stopping you now I think he was a very wise buy:)
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Can't agree he was a 'wise' buy, but he's sure as hell paid off as a 'great buy', and taking the risk and seeing them come good is soooooooo satisfying! Well done LW.
 
It looks like you had a great time. Look forward to further updates as it will be nice to see how you are getting on and also see what might be possible with my lad.
 
Hugely jealous. I think this could be the way forward with mine, given I'm too heavy to ride him and have totally lost my brave pants. May be asking many questions over the holidays.
 
Come over and have a go with Leo. You arent a million miles away. That goes for anyone else as well :)

I wasn't that bothered about driving really until the first time I actually drove and I loved it. I honestly prefer it to riding. And there is so much you can do. You can just amble about or you can show, or do driving trials, or just meet up with people for group drives. I have never met a nicer, more welcoming group of people either. I'm stewarding and dressage writing the next two weekends. I've driven lots of other peoples ponies and have open invitations to visit lots more.

I've done more with the pony and more horse stuff in general in the last 3 months than I have in the last 5 years!
 
Well done, I used to love driving my mothers std shetlands as a teenager, but got such a rollicking for cantering obstacles in the home paddocks - as she only did private driving singles/pairs :redface3:
The support from local groups is great - looking forwards to seeing more of him driving LW :cool3:
 
We had a lesson this morning which went brilliantly. We just need to keep doing little bits, building him up slowly but she thinks the next time she comes in a fortnight that we can venture out in the big, wide, world!

My instructor drove him first and he got to do a bit of proper trotting

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Heres my OH learning about steering and contact. Hes not a very smiley bloke but I'm pretty sure I can see a hint of a smile there!

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Leo has the patience of a saint and is being incredibly tolerant of us learning. Hes even shuffling along with my OH accidentally hanging off his back teeth! The noise you can hear is the workmen throwing full size trees out of the lorry into the chipper less than 10 feet from the edge of the school.

https://www.facebook.com/vickie.aldus/videos/vb.606503666/10154924760633667/?type=3&theater
 
Hugely jealous! Looks so much fun... I have a vision of you going shopping and parking him in a Tesco car park somewhere!'
 
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