More about shoes... again!

These plastic shoes might not sound as good as the metal ones but they are very comfortable & they are staying on!    This means that I am able to do loads more, guess what; I did some more driving today, Yay!

After I warmed up in walk & trot, I did some circles & changes of direction; a couple of the circles were my best ever!  Then I was asked to trot figures of eight through some cones – with the turns getting tighter each time!   It was great fun & my driver was so pleased with me that I got another treat – a juicy apple this time!


I do love driving……..

Driving again yay!

Good news….did some driving today & I was brilliant! I ran through my paces & showed off how good I am at turns & changes of direction.  The lady who drove me was very pleased; so much so that I got a treat in my feed bowl when I’d finished!  Yummy!

Bring on the newbies!

Hi there everyone, it’s me again, Pilgrim: AKA the mighty atom! – keeping you up to date on what’s going on at the Stables at Calvert Trust Exmoor.   


I’m looking forward to meeting lots of new folks this week. Not only do I like showing off my agility skills but I also love it when they pick me a tasty salad.   I think it’s the best reward possible for a hard working Shetland – don’t you?


Earlier today I spotted the big fella (Brin) in the opposite field…..he seems to be getting on very well with the other horses, which is great.   The other day he was ridden by one of the staff in a group session; I heard he did really well & enjoyed himself.  This is all part of his trial to see if he will fit in with the rest of us – I hope so!

Here comes the Vet...

We had a vet inspection at the stables today –it has to be done every year for something called a 'licence'; whatever that is! All of us were walked & trotted with the vet watching very closely; I showed him my best paces & I’m sure I saw a smile on his face when I’d finished!


We all passed the test, so we can carry on helping our guests have an exciting time here at Calvert Trust Exmoor.  What a good end to a busy week – I think we all deserve the weekend off!

Escape!

Quick bit of news……we had a break out this week! One of the other horses, called Teddy, managed to knock over the top rail of the fencing & got out of his field! I saw him the next morning lying on the grass by my field, as cool as you like, and looking very pleased with himself.

Our Escapologist!

I know for a fact that this isn’t the first time he’s done this and I bet it won’t be the last! He’s now in the same field as me; so the staff must think that my fencing is stronger. Maybe if he breaks out again I can come too - the grass does look tasty on the other side of the fence……..

Neighbours, everybody needs good...

I’ve got a new neighbour in the stables; – he’s in the stable next door and although I’ve only seen his head, I can tell that he’s a lot bigger than me!


He’s called Brin and is currently on a month’s trial at the Calvert Trust Exmoor stables. 

Bryn in training

Brin’s only a bit older than I am & I’ve heard he’s very playful, just like me!    Have yet to meet him, but looking forward to saying hi & finding out more about this big guy – will keep you posted of course!

Pilgrim's Beauty Sleep

Had a great weekend; spent the time eating, rolling around in the field &chilling with my friends.  Now it’s back to work and a chance to show another group of guests my famous agility skills.  I think I’d get bored in the field all day every day so it’s good to come in to the stables after a few days off.  I also like to catch a few zzzz’s when it’s quiet and my stable is the best place for me to catch up on my beauty sleep.

Back to driving; YAY!

Stop press….. I did some driving today!!!!  It was great; we did loads of different things like bending cones & changes of direction. Heard the lady who drove me say how good I was and how much I have improved – cool!  What else would you expect from yours truly?

Busy busy...

Had a busy week, I've done a bit of everything; agility, showing the guests where to find the sweetest grass for a ‘salad’ and being a perfect gentleman. The weather has been varied, so a lot of my work has been in the yard so we stayed dry.  This suits me as my summer coat doesn’t keep the rain out quite so well.


The only thing I’ve not done is any driving. :-(

I miss my carriage

Because I keep losing my shoes I’ve not been in my carriage for a few weeks and I miss it. Hopefully now my shoes are ok I will get back to being driven; I was getting really good at it and I don’t want to get out of practice!

contact me!

Stop everything, I have some very exciting news!!


Thanks to all you lovely people reading this, (and of course because of my excellent skills as Equine Spokes Horse), the blog is so successful I have been given my own email address!


You can now contact me on pilgrim@calvert-trust.org.uk.

I'm so excited I don't think I am going to be able to sleep! looking forward to hearing from you soon!

New Shoes! (again!)

Do you remember a few weeks ago I was having some trouble with my metal shoes? (here: New Shoes) Well you’re not going to believe it but the other shoe came off! 

To be fair to Clive, my farrier, he has to stick them with special glue rather than use nails, and it seems that the metal shoes just won’t stay on!

This means that I’m now back in my plastic shoes – they’re OK, but I really liked the sound I made trotting down to the field! I suppose with these plastic ones on I can creep up on the others and give them a playful nudge; surprise surprise!

Nudge!

I'm back!

Hello again everyone, I’m back again to keep you up to date on the ins & outs of my life here at the Calvert Trust Exmoor.
I thought Maxwell did ok on the blog, what did you think? 


He does seem to take things a bit too seriously though! To be fair he does work very hard & I liked the way he clearly explained exactly what he did; there were a few things that even I didn’t know!!!


Anyway, all is well here in Devon – it’s been raining again but from what I hear it’s like that everywhere at the mo.  At least my summer coat has finally come through; the winter coat is great for keeping me warm but does nothing for my figure.  


Got to dash……..duty calls!

Pilgrim

Guest Blogger Maxwell: 5 I like driving in my... (carriage)

It’s my last working day for this week and today I did some more driving with the guests. 


You might think that they just sit back and enjoy the ride, but in fact they can help to guide me by working with my driver. A set of reins is attached to my pad and this allows them to help control my speed and direction. You might think that I wouldn’t be able to feel this but I’m quite sensitive and responsive to their actions. It’s fun having 2 drivers as I think it must give me an edge over the other horses when we play games!


Now I'm looking forward to a relaxing few days eating my way around the new field, and exploring every corner for tasty morsels.

Guest Blogger Maxwell: 4 more eating!

A very busy day; I was ridden on session instead of pulling the carriage, but I don’t mind as I like a bit of variety.


Once everyone was on board we went out into the outdoor arena which I like working in, It’s much bigger and has some great views of the reservoir and Exmoor in the distance – I sometimes like to look out at it when I’m waiting for my turn!


And I had a nice surprise when we finished work; me and some friends were taken to a new field with lots of luscious grass!  Wizard and Hendrix were very excited and played about to start with; however I got on with the important task of eating!

The view from my field!

Guest Blogger Maxwell: 3 Yum, apples!

Hello again, it’s Maxwell here, keeping you in touch with all that goes on here at the stables at Calvert Trust Exmoor!


I’ve just got back from a lovely drive along the tracks close to the reservoir. Rather than taking a guest I had 2 of the staff in the carriage.  I think they wanted to practice driving outside and I am an ideal horse to do this with.

I love pulling the carriage!

I got very warm on the drive but was rewarded with a nice bath when I got back, and even better, I was given a huge apple core as a thank you for being so good, which was delicious!

Guest Blogger Maxwell: 2 more about me!

I thought you might like to know exactly what my job is at the stables.  I am ridden by people of all ages and sizes as I am not too tall but quite strong.  I’ve heard the staff say that I have a smooth pace so that my riders don’t get bounced about too much. My riders don’t need to do very much for me to understand what they want me to do – I’m really quick to pick things up.
I am also trained for the hoist, which means that I stand very still while my rider uses a buzzy thing to help them get into my saddle.  This is a very important job and I am proud that I can help folks in this way.  Not all of the horses at the Calvert Trust can do this!
Another job I do is pulling the 4 wheel carriage – I share this role with 2 others, Bruno and Hendrix.  I love trotting round the arena and hearing how much the guests are enjoying it; I think I must look rather smart!
I do the same exercises when pulling the carriage as I do when I’m ridden, although moving round the cones is a bit harder with the carriage!  




I’ve had a busy week; with a mix of being ridden and driving the carriage.  It’s been really warm and therefore I get rather hot and sweaty; thankfully we all get washed down with cool water before we go out into the field.Bliss!
I am really looking forward to a couple of days off so I can focus on finding the sweetest bits of grass.  The grass has started to grow a bit quicker and I think I know where to find some rather tasty fescue.  Have a good weekend everybody – I will ‘blog’ again next week.