23 March 2004

I have "spectated" for some time on the RED list, as I do on the CD list, and I enjoy the chat - and even the occasional spat :) So as Barb asks I will get down off the fence...

I started driving when Clive Richardson asked if I would illustrate a book he was writing, about The History of Horse Drawn Vehicles. I agreed, and did the work, some of it from photocopied pages from existing books on driving. I was intrigued... and I also had a 4 year old Fell pony who had been broken to drive, but whom I had bought as a riding pony, because I come from a background of pony trekking. (My great grandfather was a coachman, but I never knew that till I was hooked myself!) I asked Clive how I would go about trying driving; he lent me some harness and a cart, and showed me how to harness up, and we drove the mare together up and down a field with a husky friend as a helper, and then down the road, and she didn't put a foot wrong. I mean, seriously, as in "Yeah, yeah, I know this job, big sigh." After they'd gone home, I bought books and learnt a lot by reading them... and then I tried putting it all together with the young pony. On my own. The harness was a good one as exercise harnesses go, made of well padded good grade buffalo leather (John Willie was the make, an English firm who were well respected in their time.) It fitted her as it had been made for another Fell of similar proportions. The cart too fitted, for the same reasons, but it only had one wheel bearing, the other wheel making odd clanking noises as the axle turned. Also, there was no step to get in and out, which you had to do by climbing over the shaft.

I was lucky, I think. She was a thinking pony and "knew better" than me, because she had driven lots of times and I had sat in just once! She decided that she was not going to stand still for the getting in and out, and so I never drove that vehicle, which was probably a good thing. We didn't actually get our act together until I was lent the "bits" of a vehicle that needed reassembling, and my husband did the welding and applied the necessary woodwork for me to sit on safely. I returned the clanky cart and, more reluctantly, the decent harness, and bought a very cheap nylon webbing set. When i came to try it on and fit the carrriage, she was distinctly upset, and despite my husband helping out, she was quite jerky and unhappy, and yet i knew she had been driven and trained quietly by our blacksmith, who had a good reputation for turning out sensible drivers, so where was the problem? Well, I thought about it and the following evening I tried harnessing her as before but with an open ordinary riding bridle, then I brought the vehicle up behind her just to watch her reaction. I swear she looked round, gave a big sigh, and totally relaxed. "It's not scary now I can see it. Put those blinkers away!" So we repeated the exercise of the night before, and she was relaxed and happy in her open bridle, so for the next five years Rosie and I drove locally and in small driving club competitions with no blinkers. She was rock steady, would outface a truck on the road if she felt it necessary (or a flock of sheep, or a herd of cows), and although not really fast, she went forever. She would take the wind out of know-it-all riders though by pretending to bolt, and was only suitable for experienced kids who knew enough not to show off or bore her with endless "schooling". (Was that really twenty years ago? Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?) I was so dismayed by the nylon harness I'd bought though, by its cheapness and bad design, that I vowed I could do better - so I tried. The blacksmith came one day and said, "Sue, why is your harness hanging on the washing line?" "Because I have just washed it," I said, thinking this was obvious. "But you don't WASH harness," he said, horrified. I explained that this stuff WAS washable. So, being a reasonable man, he looked it over, and shortly afterwards put me in touch with another man who wanted fourteen sets made, of assorted sizes; he was willing to buy me a sewing machine and pay me for making them. And that, gentle readers, is how I turned into a harness maker.

We copied good ideas where we found them, I measured a lot of sets of old harness and a lot of horses. Most of the wearers were newly broken Fells and Fell crosses, and they were not the calm product that my blacksmith friend turned out - they were pretty well just mouthed, harnessed and let go. By the end of the fourteen sets (I think I only made twelve for him, in fact) I had learnt a huge amount by observation and testing, about what worked and what didn't, because what didn't work, the green horses broke! I sold my own first set and made another for myself, and kept on learning, and applied my learning to what I sold. I still have all the card index cards with customers' horse measurements on, just in case I ever go back to harness making! (And yes, most Fells have the same measurements, within half an inch or so.) I went on refining, and experimenting, and improving, until locally my harnesses were well known and sometimes you'd go on a drive, or look round the class at a competition, and there were more harnesses of my making than of any other type. After the Fell mare came the Welsh section C cob. He was a very athletic lad, not the best conformation wise but very fast, clever and keen, and although he was a bit nervous, he soon settled down (I have this gift of laziness which seems to calm nervous horses ... sadly I don't do quite as well in galvanizing idle ones!) I used him mainly for driving in local cross country competitions (which he loved, Rob, and did very well : -) ) and my daughter rode him for fun and at a few little local shows. We'll fast forward here a little........ My present pony, little "Mr T" is a 13.1 black Fell, whom I bought for his kind eyes and nice nature. He was broken to drive already (which was necessary for my nerves at the time!) and we have been together for 11 years now. He isn't as clever as the Fell x Arab, but he likes to please, and he knows what pleases me, and so long as I don't overdo it he will produce exactly the right goods in the "posh" show ring class, an exercise cart show class, a pleasure driving "do these exercises accurately" class, or a cone driving class, and even (steady Rob!) a cross country competition. Of course, being a little short legged chap, he doesn't get the times on the marathon and I don't press him to, since what we both enjoy is ducking and diving through the obstacles, so again, we have compromised, in that I don't ask for speed over the course, and he reserves a lot of spirit and gusto for his "games" with the posts and the red and white flags. You only have to look at his ears when he sees them, and you know that for all his short legs, HE thinks that he is a racehorse. His other skill - oddly - is dressage. I once took him to a local show titled "Best of the Rest" where (as a sort of bet with myself to see if we could do it) I drove him in the exercise carriage in a RIDING size dressage arena, in a ridden dressage class with a riding dressage judge, and he came 3rd out of 15.......... I have used him quite a lot for teaching, and for introducing newcomers to driving. I don't do this so much any more, partly through lack of time (I now work full time teaching - not driving) but also because for every lesson I teach with him, I seem to spend another lesson reminding him that *I* am in charge once again and he can't just slop along taking charge of the beginner driver ........ and these days, I drive mainly just to enjoy myself, and him, and the fresh air, so I don't want to have that nice balance altered, which I know is selfish :) Oh and the other thing I do (this will surprise you) is write....... ;-)

Sue in the English Lakes

Intelligence is no defence against one's own stupidity

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