Group Organiser's Report

What a winter we have had, any horse owner who likes or has to, keep their horses out will know just how wet it has been. We have been lucky at Holton Lee to be able to move the horses between grazing areas blessed with natural shelter.

From September we stop deep grooming and build a winter coat so that we don't have use rugs, we have found this a great success; with shoes removed we rough the horses off for November and December to give them a holiday. In fact because of the weather they are still on holiday, although their shoes are back on and they are ready to work, the soggy ground is preventing us even doing the work to get them fit for the season which should start in March.

Helper training is still continuing on Mondays and the team are all raring to go. For the people who have joined us over the closed season and looking forward to helping during this one we can only say be patient, there will be plenty to do when it starts. Thank you to everyone who inquired and came to see how they can help. We will never turn anyone away and many hands make light work, so come along and see if you can help us. More importantly you might feel that we can help you. The present staff finds that it is very much a two way thing. Holton Lee is a very special place, very therapeutic and relaxing. We are a mile from the A351 and not far from the harbour. As we drive, we often see the deer, birds and other wild life. What more could you wish for?

We have some new harness; one set was donated by Nigel, a long standing disabled driver, and two by the Household Cavalry Association Dorset, We would like to say thank you to both Nigel and the Association for their continued support. The Household Cavalry Association has supported us for the last twelve years and continues to do so in 2007. Thank you Gentlemen.

It is sad, but due to the serious illness of Margaret Newell, there will be no horse show this year, and this was our main fund-raiser in the year. Margaret has held the show at Holton Lee for the last ten years. She had said that the last one was her final one, but she had everything on her computer and another one would be no trouble. We are sorry it's not to be. What a lady, what energy, only to be admired. A crusty old horsewoman with a heart of gold, I think sums up Margaret. There is the right way, the wrong way, and Margaret's way, and as long as you did it Margaret's way it was fine, you could say that was because it was the right way. I only hope that I can run the group as well as she did.

Let us hope and pray that we get some dry weather soon so that we can start doing what we are here to do, give disabled drivers and riders a good time.

Posted by Wally Pitt

Preparing for 2007 Season.

The team looking forward to breakfast and some time out in the carts.

Denise with Martin, looking as pleased as Punch after his drive with Marmite. Martin helps in the yard four days a week, so a drive out is a treat.

Denise with Alexa who's getting more confident each day.

Some kinder weather this week has enabled us to do some driving every day this week so far. The ground is still very wet in places so we have to be careful where we go off road because the narrow wheels sink in and, besides making heavy going for the horses, we can't afford to cut up the fields and tracks leaving tramlines that will become a hazard when the ground bakes in the summer. Wally assures me that it is no joke trying to replace a rubber rim that gets torn off when you try to pull out of a tramline!
Jenny, Becky and Claudia are some junior helpers who were a very welcome help on Saturday.

Weather permitting, the season should be starting in early March, so we have quite a lot of ground to make up in getting the horses fit. We are praying for a good spell of dry weather now so that we can build on the momentum of regular exercise that we have going now. We also have to get at least two of us tested and qualified as AB Whips to accompany disabled drivers so we need to get in plenty of driving experience. At present Wally is the only one qualified.

Concrete Safety Area

A break in the wet weather enabled the final piece of concrete to be laid today.

We also took advantage of the dry morning to get Maggie & Marmite harnessed up . Wally and Denise then took Mike and his boys out for a drive by way of thanks for the excellent job they have done for the group. I think Tom, Mike's son was pretty impressed by Maggie's speed when asked to trot on! She is pretty swift!

Alexa and I then had a quick spin out to hone our driving skills with Denise and Wally as our co-drivers/instructors.

The next weather front brought the rain back for the afternoon and we had to cover the concrete that had not yet gone off enough. Anyway, it is all done now, a great improvement and a much safer area for everyone. It will be a blessing not to have to lift and drag the old 10 ft. iron gate to take the horses through; we now have a 6 ft. and a 3 ft. new set of galvanised tubular gates that open and close easily. The 6 ft. gate closes off the chalet area securely when opened to lead the horses through into the yard for work.

Safety Lessons

Alexa and Amanda go through the procedures to secure a wheelchair user in the two wheeled Bennington cart. The back lets down on hydraulics and the tailgate forms a gentle ramp. Since we couldn't use the horses today this was an ideal chance to practise with the shafts secured to the hitching rail.

It is important that all helpers are competent in the sequence of operations to secure a wheelchair driver in the cart for driving, because a team of three is needed....one to operate the hydraulics, one to push the wheelchair user up the ramp, and a third person to check the balance in the cart and help secure the wheelchair to the fore and aft clamps on the floor of the cart (in this case I've moved away to take the picture!). A fourth helper will be standing in front of the horse to hold his head and reassure the horse of what goes on behind. And of course, an AB Whip has to be in the seat holding the reins and whip ready to take control of the horse if anything goes wrong - very labour intensive and good reason why we need volunteers. Without the team we cannot operate.

Concrete Makeover

Before....
Now.....

Something just had to be done this year to the access to the HQ chalet for people who use wheelchairs that come driving. The old concrete has suffered a decade of heavy well-shod horses passing up and down a slightly too steep ramp for access in and out of the yard. And the roots of the lovely Ash tree have managed to cause elevation of the concrete in places across the ramp which was not very helpful either.

Enter Mike Holland and his team of two strong lads with a mini digger and concrete breaker.

The new heavy duty concrete ramp will comply with the minimum slope of 1:12 that is required for disabled people, and the safety area infront of the chalet will be securely fenced.

The job will be completed by the weekend....weather permitting. The forecast for mid-week doesn't look too promising though.

Any idea of preparing the horses for driving today with all the machinery in the yard was out of the question. However, it was possible for Kate and Karen to saddle up Charlie Brown and Felix to get out for a ride and get some exercise.

It was a sure test of the suitability of these two horses for RDA work when Mike asked if it was OK to start the noisy concrete breaker up before the horses were ready to go out. At Wally's suggestion Karen and Kate untied them from the rail and turned them to face the machinery....they were completely unconcerned when it started, so they were able to continue saddling up and go out for their exercise!!

Morning Exercise

Jenny on Felix.

This morning I was really excited, because today I went to Ash Tree Stables at Holton Lee and spent some of my time helping them to look after the horses they have there. When I got there I met Margaret and everyone else who helped out there and they were all really friendly. Then I was introduced to Charlie and Felix, two of the horses. I brought Felix into the yard after he had spent a night out in the field and Charlie, Maggie and Marmite were also brought in. We gave them their Breakfasts which were already waiting in their warm stables and then it was back to the field to do some poo-picking! (Not the nicest of jobs but very essential!) Once the field was clean we had a drink while the horses digested their breakfast. After that, I groomed Charlie and my mum, with some help, groomed Felix. Meanwhile John and Johnny filled hay nets and washed the buckets. Maggie was brought out and groomed too. At half 10 another girl called Ellie arrived and we set off on a ride, I was on Charlie and she on Maggie. This was an important part of the horses’ day, as over the winter they had had some time off, and so they needed to develop their muscles again before they could go back into driving. Despite the fact it is early February, the weather was beautiful, especially in the sun and as we set off into the beautiful woods, I just couldn’t help thinking how lucky I was! On arriving back at the yard Marmite had been brought out and groomed, so it was a quick changeover before we were off again, this time I was on Felix and Ellie on Marmite. This time we took a completely different route through the woods and again, it was gorgeous. When we got to the stables hayledge had been put into their field so we took all the horses back out into the sunshine to enjoy their lunch. At the stables there wasn’t much left to do… put away some tack and wash the bits, then after an exhilarating morning I headed home, knowing that I just couldn’t wait until next time when I could see Charlie, Felix, Maggie and Marmite and all the helpers at Ash Tree again!

Posted by Jenny

Weekend Exercising

Ellie on Marmite and Jenny on Felix back from their ride.

It was lovely to have two young volunteers, Ellie and Jenny, come to the stables on this glorious morning to ride all the horses out for a bit of gentle exercise. It makes a change for the horses to go out ridden instead of pulling a cart which is what they have been doing 4 days a week. They are riding and driving horses, but the riding group only use them on Fridays, so the extra riding day is very welcome in building up their fitness.