On Sunday the 22nd of November my daughter, her friend and I went to an
introduction to driving event at Bromyard Equestrian Centre in
Herefordshire.
It was organised by the Hereford District Driving Group with the purpose of
reaching out to people interested in finding out more about carriage
driving.
Several of their members turned out with their horses and various vehicles,
and ponies and horses of all breeds and sizes where on show in the arena.
Each turn-out was introduced individually by Kay Walton (BDS area
commissioner for Hereford) and driven around the arena for us to view.
One of the carriage drivers brought her Dalmation along, a breed of dog that
has traditionally been used to accompany and guard the vehicle running along
under the back end of the carriage.

The spectators where then invited to leave the gallery and join the whips,
grooms and horses/ponies to have a chat, ask questions, pat the animals and
even have a ride in their carriages.

Sarah Wildy, LHHI carriage driving instructor then explained to us how to
harness the horse and put to the cart, demonstrated hands on by one of the
members of the group on her horse.
Meanwhile Kay was busy putting cones all over the arena, as the next part of
the demonstration included weaving through cones at some speed.
When the drivers had all completed this task, we were once again invited to
get on the carriages and join in the fun.

A great deal of enjoyment was had by everybody and it was certainly an
informative event for horse lovers of all ages.

Countryside Blog carriage driving