15 August 2004
Ruby at Raisbeck
Ruby is coping unbelievably well with her transition from "pasture ornament with occasional rides on the fell" (hills and moorland) to " carriage pony".
I drove her on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, each time going a little further, scaling up from a mile out and back to nearly two miles out and back. Yesterday however I was helping (making contacts and stewarding) at the Fell Pony Society breed show; nearly 200 ponies from all over Britain were there, competing for our breed's top honours on its home ground in Cumbria. I knew it was going to be a long, hot, satisfying but tiring day so I agreed that David and Chantallamy should work Ruby while I was away. They drove her to Gaisgill and back, down into Tebay village to the motorway roundabout, and then into the truck stop among the wagons and coaches! David's phone call, reporting this morning, was almost lyrical - not only does she learn fast and want to work with you but she is "bomb proof". For me, that was her last big test - if she will stand all that big traffic and the weekend motorbikes, she is ready to come home. (Shame I am back at work Monday! but it's only for a week and then I have a whole 2 weeks off when we can play.)
This morning (nursing my sunburn from the day at the show) I turned up early at David's buildings to get Ruby ready to go out. She had eaten all her hay, and whinnied to me when she heard the gate - "I am starving to death in here, bring me food!" I brought her out of the box and put her on the "chock" where we yoke up, and gave her a handful of hay to settle her while I brushed her off. She has lost a lot of weight and is beginning to muscle up, so the quality underneath is starting to show through!
I made some adjustments to the harness (no bad thing with an impatient pony!) - changed a couple of the Swedish hooks for stronger carabinas where I've had to extend breeching straps, and adding short chains to the carabinas on the trace ends. Everything is more flexible for fitting now and though the harness would win no prizes in the show ring I am content that it is strong enough for its job and is adjusted as comfortably for Ruby as I can manage, until she is slim enough to try a full collar. My biggest collar (a 20" x 8") sat 6" up her neck when I tried it on Friday, and she was extremely puzzled by the whole business but went along with it as usual - only doing a small levade as we swivelled the collar at her throat the first time!
I phoned Chantallamy to come and ride with me. We yoked Ruby up and checked everything for fit; the shafts now have room to swing a little either side of her, which is a very promising sign that the work and the restricted grazing are doing their job. Ruby was delighted to go out and danced around as we opened the sliding door and the gate. We walked a short way to settle her, then moved up to trot and away she went, ears pricked and stiff as horns, up the first of the gentle slopes and down to Lynn's stables. She held back the carriage at trot without fussing. However, as we drove on towards Raw End she started to wander about the road, and the ears were distinctly saying, "I am fed up with this route. I would like to get into the hedge and eat the ash leaves. I came this way yesterday and the day before and the day before that. I know we are going to turn around somewhere and come home the same way, and it's boring." With some horses, this would have sparked a major resistance. Fair enough! She couldn't know that we had a longer and more interesting route planned! Ruby expressed her opinion, but we over-rode her by simply insisting, gently but firmly, and she fell in with our wishes and went on pretty smoothly although you could tell she was still feeling miffed. (This is a "pony mare" condition, occurring when she doesn't agree with your orders!)
We reached Gaisgill, where the slow, quiet and narrow Old Road meets the New Road, which is straight and fast; she stood sensibly and waited for a gap in the traffic, into which we could cross and turn smartly right for a hundred yards before rejoining the Old Road as it goes to Kelleth. Here, she was on new ground - and her attitude completely changed. Gone was the "miffed" expression; she went into the collar with a will. It's a mile-long steady pull up from the River Lune at Rayne Bridge to the turning for Raisbeck, and she trotted the whole way eagerly, taking in all the new sights and sounds. Chantallamy and I just sat and grinned at the energy she generated. "You didn't tell me we were going to somewhere new! Wow, this is good! This is exciting!" We walked up the next long slope through Wain Gap, and then walked and trotted alternately over the shallowly rolling limestone landscape to Raisbeck. By now she was getting a little tired, but she was relaxed and walking with a swing. After 4 miles, and 50 minutes, we turned in at Newlands Farm. She couldn't believe her luck when she saw that the fields contained Fell mares and foals, and when we got into the yard and met four ridden Fell ponies coming out, she was sure she had arrived in heaven!
Because of the Breed Show taking place yesterday, there were several Fell breeders staying with Mike and Di Slack, the owners of Newlands. Everyone was sitting in the yard around white plastic picnic tables. Peter Moor from Switzerland, and George Guy from Gloucestershire, came to look Ruby over and talk about harness and carriage and show classes. As always happens with such gatherings, we all had our own opinions on how things should fit, about the length of a whip, about how to prevent flies bothering our horses and the best way to trim chestnuts and ergots; Ruby, the fidget at setting off, stood like an old cab horse and listened to all the "words of wisdom" with a patient expression: "I've heard it all before." Of course they wanted to know how old she was and how long I had owned her and how long she had been broken to drive. I was proud to be able to say that I had bought Ruby exactly 15 days ago and before that she had never been driven. And their comments were all the same: there's nothing like a grown-up horse with some riding experience to learn quickly and get the job right first time. No three-year-old silliness here!
George Guy said "Well, I like your pony, Sue. I like her so much I'm going to offer you 500 pounds for her." I just grinned at him and said, "That's damned generous of you George, and I can't think why I'm not tempted by your handsome offer!" "Well, you've got to try, haven't you?" he retorted, unabashed. "Same as with a woman!"
Ruby, resting one hindleg nonchalantly, took no notice of these sallies. She washed her mouth politely in the big yellow bucket of water that Di offered her, but did not want to drink. Chantallamy and I accepted a beaker of orange squash, and I walked Ruby round the yard to look at the picnic tables and the people sitting at them. Her sidepassing earned much admiration, but as she's had to do this from day one in the building, she didn't preen herself too much about it; it was "old hat". She tried licking the top of one table, but didn't find anything nice to eat on it. Someone thoughtfully moved it away from her.... noticing the black smudges her nose was leaving, having helpfully nibbled up some weeds from the path. After that, we decided we'd better set off back to Tebay, so we said our goodbyes and thank-yous, and turned Ruby up the farm lane back to the road.
With four miles under her girth and three still to go home (we took a shorter route, but with a steep hill to go down), I asked Ruby to walk on and she swung along, nice and relaxed. The warm morning let fall some spots of rain, so Chantallamy and I hid under the light waterproof jacket I had brought with me, but the shower quickly passed, and we re-emerged giggling.
We meet little traffic, and Ruby takes no notice of it anyway. The left-bend in her body is disappearing, and the drift to the right of the carriageway with it; it reappears towards the end of the drive, but I don't make an issue of it; she's been a star today. We come to the New Road again and she stands like a rock while the traffic whizzes by, until we see a gap and she pops into a fast trot to take advantage of it and get across safely. We walk and trot, following the Old Road back from Gaisgill to Tebay, gradually letting the walks get longer and the trots shorter, so she arrives home cool. Again, her "standing still" at the gate into the yard is very good. Again, she is pleased to have the harness taken off and be groomed - she leans onto the brush. I rub her shoulders with methylated spirit to cool them; she's not so keen on the smell, but accepts it when she's offered a handful of hay from the net that Chantallamy is stuffing for her!
Between us we look after Ruby as a reward for the fun we have had this morning and the pride we have in her progress. Chantallamy leads Ruby out to graze outside the main pasture (Rupert, the Welsh Cob stallion, is keen to make her acquaintance but luckily today the other two mares in the pasture are coming into season and he is otherwise occupied.) I muck out the box and put down fresh bedding - you may think that as the elder of the party by more years than I care to count, I've organised this the wrong way round, but Chantallamy is such a help to me and so keen, it would be mean to make her do the mucking out today!
When we bring Ruby back in, she dives into her haynet as though the grass verges had been bare and she were starving (both untrue) and so we leave her, totally engrossed and absolutely not caring whether we stay or go.
What has Ruby learnt today? That even if she thinks the route is boring, there may be nice surprises in store; that she can't have her own way through being sulky (though the display was a very very mild one!). I hope she has continued to find carriage driving fun.
What have I learnt today? That Ruby, like most of the Fells I know, is quick and clever and does not like being bored with repetition. That she is very nimble and capable of putting the carriage exactly where I ask her. That she loves being praised, and if we forget, she is less willing! That she is getting fitter, and is thoroughly on top of " this driving lark". And that the next instalment should involve Ruby driving home to my own stables....
A day when you do nothing with your horse, is a day wasted.
Sue in the English Lakes
Intelligence is no defence against one's own stupidity