The Duke of Edinburgh Award

[Cazzabombazza]

Just wondering if anyone has done or is doing the DofE silver award. I'm thinking of doing it when I go to collage in September, with Horse Riding as my physical activity and thinking of doing my expedition on horseback Just wondering what anyone else thought/thinks of it

 

[live2ride]

I've done all 3 D of E awards , I did my first 2 expeditions on foot, and my gold on horseback last august. My gold expedition was the most fun I've ever had and it really helped that I did with a centre who runs D of E expeditions, and so provided horses suitable for long days of trekking and carrying the equipment, as well as providing saddle bags, and anything the horse may have needed.
These are the people I used : http://www.cantref.com/riding_centre/index.php?pg=40 , they also help if you don't have a group and can put you in contact with other people doing DofE
BUT I would make sure you research it fully to make sure you fulfill all the required fields for your expedition, also for the expedition I would recommend investing in a seat saver to minimise the ache caused by long days in the saddle
For my physical activity for all 3 I used variations of horseriding, so I could use it in all 3 awards, as you are not supposed to do the same activity everytime .

Hope this helps
L2V

 

[kins]

I say go for it!

I did my Silver DofE in year 11, and enjoyed it enough to go on and do Gold, which i'm just finishing up (now year 13). It's not difficult to fill in all the sections really - the Skills section can be filled in with something like Driving lessons (as long as you're over 17 obviously!), but when I also used it as an excuse to learn how to make pottery, and took guitar lessons, good fun! It's usually easy to find volunteering opportunities as well, and you only have to average around an hour a week so it's not too much of a commitment if you're busy. I did riding for Phys. Rec, which actually really helped my riding as I had to think of some goals to aim for rather than just mooching around like I usually do

I did all of my expeditions walking - there were 4 of them as you have to do a practice and a real expedition for each award. Did look into riding instead but didn't organise it early enough . However I did find a place called Cantref Riding Centre in Wales (google them - they have a website) which has a proper 'DofE' scheme set up, and can put you in touch with other DofErs if you haven't got your own group already . (I also came across another place called 'FreeRein' i think, but they don't have a specific DofE set up as far as i remember)

The expeditions are really tiring and it can be horrible getting caught in storms in the middle of a welsh mountain bog (!), but def worth it. I got lots of blisters from the walking, but if you're riding you'll probably be a bit better off - especially as the horse will be carrying all your gear, not you!

(oops.. bit of an essay, sorry!)

 

[Woodykat]

For my physical activity for all 3 I used variations of horseriding, so I could use it in all 3 awards, as you are not supposed to do the same activity everytime .

I did it like this too

We wanted to do the expeditions on horseback but in the end the logistics were just to complicated - planning a route is difficult enough without having to worry about if any of the rights of way are blocked etc, as well as having to find somewhere safe to overnight the horses - I'm not saying it's impossible by any means, just more difficult.

Even doing it all on foot though, we had a fantastic time, and we were only saying the other day that it was one of the best things we've ever done - I would wholeheartedly recommend it.

Even when we took the poles out one morning and the tent stayed up without them Bloody freezing!!

 

[kins]

Even when we took the poles out one morning and the tent stayed up without them Bloody freezing!!

Hah that brings back memories. We had a 'mascot' in the form of a toy chick who got left outside over night and, well...http://i53.tinypic.com/oqkksw.jpg

(linked as the image is a bit big!)

 

[jen_444]

Ive also done all 3 awards and LOVED IT! I really miss it! I did riding as my physical activity for all 3 and I also volunteered for the Riding for the Disabled for my service.
I did think about doing the expedition on horse back but as someone found above I also found it was too difficult to organise and get enough people together who wanted to do it. I did it while at school and in the end just did it on foot with all my school friends which was soo much fun. I got to do my gold expedition in the italian alps which was HARD but AMAZING!! Would love to go back and do it all again, especially silver award - that seem to be the most fun!

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[virtual]

We did our Gold expedition with Cantref. We were the first to do it there, before any schemes etc were set up - may be it was us to inspired them to start a partnership with D of E?!

However we also did Silver and the Gold practice expeditions on our own horses, which is very much possible. We had great fun - much more than walking! Infact I didn't do any of the rest of the Silver or Gold awards, just the expedition as they were loads of fun!

 

[teasle]

I did my silver on horseback and it must have been in 1970 !!! I still remember that ride and the wonderful time I had. Apart from my wedding day, it was one of the most memorable and enjoyable ocasions in my life.