Monday 11 February 2013

Heavy Horse, Heavy Heart

I don't know if any of you watched the Martin Clunes' programme last week on ITV?
 

When I saw that it was on I said to Mr B that I bet that either my mate or Rob would be on! Ha ha..

 
...I remember Rob when he was this young!
(Photos from here)

Well, it was fine for the first few minutes until they showed a shot of the farms' name on a wooden plaque. Mr B came in from cooking the dinner to find me sitting on the sofa bawling my eyes out!
"It's alright" I blubbed, "Just bringing back such happy memories."

It became a part of our two week Summer family holiday, for several years. We'd travel down and stay at a b&b in the New Forest, making sure that the middle weekend was that of the Ellingham Show. I got chatting to the Sampson family and became pen pals with one of their friends. I got to parade one of their yearlings around the parade ring; never to be forgotten as he spooked at a pole on the ground and stepped back onto my foot! Cue a very black toenail that eventually dropped off!


They used to do a Farm Working Day and my mate, John, taught me how to plough with 3 of these mighty Percheron beasts, quite likely the ones in the photo above, shown here with Mr Sampson, Tom, Robs' dad. A better man you could not find. There is a fabulous piece about him here.
 
I do have a photo somewhere, so will try to find it. The only photo I have found so far from around that time is the one below of me on Puffin at the 'ranch' that I spent one of the weeks at. Western riding through the New Forest. Believe me, that's as good as it could positively get! Bliss! And I came away with my Basic Western Horsemanship Certificate too!
 


Oh, happy days!
Z xx

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