The horse’s mouth blog: I’m loving being back between the shafts again!
By Frankie
You may have seen mention of me qualifying as a carriage driving horse. And, I might add, this month qualifying for the RDA National Championships in July. But my story started a long time ago.
I came to Park Lane almost by happy accident. I was at Penniwells RDA in Elstree, which provides riding and horse care and has a great reputation for dressage. A reputation which I confess I didn’t contribute to as it didn’t come naturally to me. I’m much more what you humans call a ‘happy hacker’, featuring a bit less technique but a lot of fun!
Penniwells suggested to Natalie that I might prefer life at Park Lane, and when I arrived I was chuffed to be featured on social media. And that news was seen by my owner before Penniwells, Tim Bradford. Now you may not know the name, but Tim is an international driving expert, and when we were together the thing I loved most of all was carriage driving.
Here’s the really funny thing. I didn’t know that Park Lane was big on carriage driving, and was actively looking for new horses to train to work alongside superstar Sam. And Natalie had no idea that I could drive. So when Tim told her I loved driving her reaction was ‘No way!’. And I was back between the shafts, in my happy place, in no time.
My enthusiasm at returning to driving meant I failed my first assessment for being ‘too forward’. Oops, sorry Nat. But she understood it was just excitement getting the better of me, which obviously isn’t acceptable when I might have a wheelchair on board. With a bit more time I started to enjoy myself while being calm and steady, and I passed my second assessment with flying colours.
And now I’m off to the RDA National Championships in July!
I’m loving being back to driving and to sharing carriage driving activities with Sam, who really is a bona fide legend. Watch out for me in Bushy Park if you live near the Stables.
Our ponies are the true heroes of Park Lane Stables! They give so much so happily, and we make sure they receive the very best care that we can give them. Caring for 25 horses is scarily costly, and paid for exclusively through donations and fundraising. If you’d like to thank our ponies with a bale of hay or a tasty salt lick, just head to our Donate page. Every single donation helps to fill the feed store.