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Post by olivia on Oct 7, 2007 17:04:23 GMT -1
Well I'm back after the best ever holiday! It was GREAT, I have learnt buckets! Tom was a great instructor, but he doesn't beat about the bush if you mess up :stupid: but I'd rather than that than someone who faffs around and never pushes you. I learnt on an amazing horse, called Sullivan. He is part of Tom's pair team (along with Gilbert) a lovely Connemara/Sec D cross. He was impeccably schooled, which meant that you really learnt when you were giving signals you didn't mean! I had loads and loads of random trots, halts and turns. However he was steady as a rock, and didn't falter at my mad screams and squeaks, and random chucking the reins away in panic!!!! Tom was very clear that there is only one correct way to drive, and that's coachman style, so that's what I learnt. The theory is very simple, but it was sooooooo hard to actually do, so there was lots of practicing on the reining rig:  Before getting out there behind Sullivan:  Going in completely the wrong direction (I was supposed to be going UP the hill!!!)  Sullivan trying to work out what on earth I was asking him to do!!!  Back home and learning how to take all the harness and trap off!  I thoroughly recommend this place - it's ace. But only if you don't mind being told that lots of what you've thought for years is wrong  lol |
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Post by charliedales on Oct 7, 2007 17:26:10 GMT -1
Well done, looks fab, what a lovely holiday to go on!
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Post by nars on Oct 7, 2007 18:00:44 GMT -1
Sounds great. What a pretty horse Sullivan is. Far too pretty for a gelding. So how does coachman style differ from any other? I am ignorant about driving.
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Post by olivia on Oct 7, 2007 18:17:46 GMT -1
Coachman style is with just one hand. It means you can shorten your reins better, and use your whip, and lots of other things too....
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Post by harveydales on Oct 7, 2007 19:16:37 GMT -1
Great pics Olivia. Sounds like a wonderful holiday. Are you going to keep the driving up?
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Post by Debbie on Oct 7, 2007 20:52:22 GMT -1
What a wonderful vacation...sounds right up my alley  I love learning something from an instructor that doesn't beat about the bush if you've messed up. I figure its far easier to learn it right the first time, than to have to unlearn and relearn it later. Sullivan is such a gorgeous fellow. LOL, sounds like he wasn't cutting you any slack either. But he looks like a solid chappy, one who knows his job inside and out. So, when do you go back? ;D |
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Post by dalesponyrider on Oct 8, 2007 5:54:10 GMT -1
That sounds really interesting Olivia. This might well be something I would like to do as if I ever do get a youngster to bring on I would like to be able to drive as well as ride.
So are you convinced that coachman style is the way to go then Olivia?
Are you able to tell us just a couple of examples of the things that you were always thought were right that he thought were wrong?
Where did you hear about this place and was it expensive?
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Post by greydales on Oct 8, 2007 7:20:46 GMT -1
What a brilliant holiday - I would love to do this and so would Anna, think we must soon! I've driven with two hands but would find the one handed driving quite difficult I think, that's how Dave Baker drives and I was always in awe of his driving skills!
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Post by harveydales on Oct 8, 2007 7:36:57 GMT -1
I always thought that Coachman's style was the normal and correct way to drive and assumed that was how most people do it. Shows how unobservant I am! The one time my neighbour took me out driving with her pony, this was the method she showed me. I was useless, all fingers and thumbs but I can see the advantages over two-handed driving. Love to learn more about it.
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Post by zeldalithgow on Oct 8, 2007 10:27:15 GMT -1
Looks fab Olivia, somehow I thought Sullivan would be bigger he's very nice. I'm not sure I could cope one handed certainly not with more than one horse lol, the bottle contraption looks to be a good way of getting to grips with the reins |
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Post by harleydales on Oct 8, 2007 17:57:05 GMT -1
Coachman (one handed) is the traditional and some would say only way to drive. I think if you go in Private Driving or Exercise classes you would be marked down for two handed driving. BUT the marathon people use 2 hands as there is no way you would get round some of the obstacles with one hand.
One handed does give you a free hand for using your whip though - either as a moving-on tool or a reassurance. The lady who was helping me at the weekend does marathons and drove both one and two handed!!!
Sounds like a good fun holiday though Olivia!
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Post by lucydales on Oct 8, 2007 18:04:14 GMT -1
Great piccies Olivia. Glad you had a great time. Do you have a link for them?
If it's any consolation all the peeps at the BHDTA National Championships were using two hands for the cones too.
Claire is teaching us one handed but if it gets difficult or is turning to rat-poo I always resort to two hands!! LOL! Maybe that's cos I learnt to ride before starting driving?
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Post by olivia on Oct 8, 2007 18:25:02 GMT -1
Ahhh well a Tom bellowing in your ear every time you used two hands incorrectly you'd soon loose the habit But you're right - being a rider does make it much much harder. Tom has FEI driving evented (dunno the proper name - I forget!) including at the WEG and is adament that it's all possible with just one hand. However if so many people are now resorting to two hands I don't think it's quite as black and white as Tom makes out. However I am sure that for 90% of situations (i.e. on the road, private driving classes etc ) that one handed is the way to go, so I shall persevere learning this way. I can't ever see myself flinging myself round a driving trials course, so it's a bit academic for me. I do really want to keep going, the difficulty is finding someone local (or even in the West Mids/Welsh borders) who teaches coachman style. I'm hoping to go back up to Tom's in the new year for more intensive lessons. The theory is actually dead simple, but it's the application that's so hard. Poor Sullivan was getting all sort of confused messages from me!!!! For those of you who want to learn on a holiday - Tom is excellent, and really praises where it's deserved, is very very clear in his instructions, and Sullivan is AMAZING. But - be prepared for the opposite side too! Linda - I wouldn't say he was saying things I disagree with, and a lot I agree wholeheartedly with (i.e. horses needing to be horses, forage being the primary feed, the need for ample turnout, and company). But there were a few things I found suprising. He thinks mollasses is the bees knees, with all sorts of amazing properties. Having spent the last 6 years franticallly avoiding the bloody stuff it was a bit of a shock, but he made a persausive argument and having worked in the animal feed industry for years he made ennough of an argument for me to go and revisit what I thought and do some more, serious research into it. He also was quite adament on the need for shoes, which obviously I don't think are needed by many horses. Probably the biggest thing I disagreed with was the amount and type of bedding he used. He used fresh pine sawdust (from untreated/dried wood), and very very very sparsley - about the amount I'd use as a day bed on rubber bedding. Admitedly the horses are only in during the day but I did see two horses lying down on essentially concrete (the horses didn't look too bothered about it though, and there were no capped hocks, or sores etc etc). Olivia |
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Post by zeldalithgow on Oct 8, 2007 20:19:21 GMT -1
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Post by PonyGirl on Oct 9, 2007 16:13:11 GMT -1
That is fantastic. That is a holiday! Thank you so much for sharing.
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lol 
I love learning something from an instructor that doesn't beat about the bush if you've messed up. I figure its far easier to learn it right the first time, than to have to unlearn and relearn it later. 
