Where is Bertie?
Where is Bertie?

Day two and three of the Shire Horse Show really showed Bertie off at his best. The event is amazing with some wonderful sights and terrific moments – especially walking around the stables stroking noses and watching the gum and buzz of so many huge horses being prepared and titivated. Whilst the judging of the various classes of horse drew the most spectators it was the wagons and drays and harness horses that I loved to see. The show is very informal and often we stood directly beside the arena as large wagons drawn by several heavy horses trotted past a few feet away. So much work goes in to preparing these wagons and their teams – the horses were immaculate, the harness was perfect and covered with shiny brasswork, the wagons and drays where gleaming and gorgeous and the drivers and grooms were looking their best too. All of thde elements of each team moving wonderfully together – well most of the time. Occasionally things went wrong and harness got tangled and sometimes individual horses being walked around the ring were not quite on the same page and very occasionally chose to canter faster than their handler could run – the horse usually won at least in the short term!

As I was saying Bertie really shone – we had our own home from home just 5 minutes walk from the arena and that meant we could pop back for a lunch or supper and within a few minutes of the end of the days events we were sat down with a nice cup of tea!

The solar panel did well and kept our leisure battery topped up even though the sun did not shine much on Friday or Saturday. On Sunday the sun came out properly most of the day and I charged up the laptops and my phone.

The big arena was good and it was nice to be able to move around and to get close to the action. However the lighting was not that great and our still photographs did not always come out well especially when the horses were moving. We took lots of video which seemed to work much better. I will load up some video when I have wifi. Below are a few still (and slightly blurry) images from the last few days.

An elaborately decorated horse. This is equine bling as good as it gets!
An elaborately decorated horse. This is equine bling as good as it gets!

 

The horses were so patient and amenable
The horses were so patient and amenable

 

This horse and handler were so comfortable with each other that he stood directly under the horse's neck whilst it rested it head on his chest and hod it nose stroked. There was quite a long wait in the queue for the judging and they stood here like this for at least 30 minutes
This horse and handler were so comfortable with each other that he stood directly under the horse’s neck whilst it rested it head on his chest and hod it nose stroked. There was quite a long wait in the queue for the judging and they stood here like this for at least 30 minutes

 

Silver was my favourite horse in the show although not always as well placed as I hoped.
Silver was my favourite horse in the show although not always as well placed as I hoped.

 

It is Sunday night as I write this and the show is over. Tomorrow we move on. We know where we are going for tomorrow night but beyond that we will make it up as we go along! I am not sure if that is scary or if that is the start of the real fun!

13th and 14th nights on Bertie

Shire Horse Show – 2
Tagged on: