Dominic has a website
Kathryn's horse, Dominic, has his own website.
Pay a visit and read all about him at www.dominichorse.com
Sadly Dominic died in May 2008 but you can still read about him on his web site and below.
Taking the BDS Road Driving Test
by Kathryn Dayer
There is nothing easier than harnessing a horse to a carriage and toddling off down the road for a jolly drive. But to do all this with someone watching you and, what's more, accompanying you on this journey, turns every part of your anatomy to jelly, your one remaining brain cell finds a place ten paces behind your head and you suffer from an inexplicable loss of memory.
I was shaking so much I had a job to pick up the harness and then I was faced with several serious problems such as which goes first, the collar or the saddle, how tight do I do the girth and which straps do I attach first - the traces or the breeching? Add the fact that my horse, who usually stands stock still for the harnessing, decided to swing sideways as I approached with the cart then proceeded to walk backwards before he was fully attached to the cart and you have the complete picture!
Sue Townsend offered helpful advice and after several comments from me, in which the said horse should have had serious concerns for his future health and well being, I achieved the seemingly impossible task of being ready for the drive more or less correctly. How I wished the ground would open up and swallow me whole. The sooner the better!
Kathryn, driving Dominic, returning from the Test with Sue
Despite this rocky start Dominic strolled out of the lorry park, passed all the scary signs and waited patiently before being asked to walk onto the road. It was lovely, quiet place to drive a horse with most of the traffic being people arriving and leaving the test towing carts and horse boxes to say nothing of the occasional horse lorry! Then the memory loss returned and I couldn't remember how to signal I was turning left let alone when I should use the signal that I was slowing down! Despite this, the drive was relatively uneventful apart from one shy at a particularly threatening stone which had an ugly face and seven legs with which it was about to chase us - allegedly.
We had to turn around using a small, suitably placed triangle of grass and, of course, who woke up then because he was going home? Dominic. He flew along the road, using his best extended trot, determined to get this ordeal over as quickly as possible, but he did listen when I asked him to slow down? Eventually!
We sedately walked back into the field where I was then faced with the last problem - well - I put it all on the horse but how on earth do I take it all off? Dominic turned his head around and looked at me disbelievingly "Well, come on. I haven't got all day to stand here. I haven't eaten for the past hour and I feel pretty weak from the lack of food!" I eventually sorted the problem and Dominic tucked into his haynet. Thankfully I learned that I had passed my Driving Test. What a relief. I will break the news to Dominic later that he has to do it all again with a different driver!
Dawn Pople, also driving Dominic, returning from the Test with John
Many, many grateful thanks to Hazel Woodbridge for all her tireless hard work in organising the training and test days, and to Claire Wigmore for the unenviable task of showing us how to do things in the right order. My certificate proudly stands on my computer table, next to the picture of me returning from the test with Sue Townsend taken, as were all photos, in a spare moment by Hazel Woodbridge!