It started off with another early morning. The horses had had a good nights rest and were ready for the day ahead. Rio was fine at bandaging up and loading but Genie got a bit emotional when it came to having the bandages on as she was distracted by the gorgeous looking Friesian stallion that was a couple of paddocks away. After taking the time it takes they were all bandaged and loaded up, with still plenty of time to 
spare.
We arrived at Dover ferry port and queued with all the other freight vehicles for about half an hour, until it was time for them to look at our documents. At the minute it seems like there was all that fuss with paperwork for nothing as they only looked at the export license. Once that had been checked, the lorry was given priority boarding and so boarded straight away. Everything seemed to be going without a hitch until we discovered that freight vehicles are meant to have anchor points, which this lorry did not have. However they said that as it was a calm day we would still be allowed to travel on the ferry. Phew! That was a relief!
So now it was time to leave the horses as you are not allowed to stay down in the lower decks. Before we left the horses, we checked they had plenty of hay, ventilation and we also took along an iPod and speakers so that they could have music playing to help drown out some of the noise of the ferry.
Half way through the 90 minute journey we were allowed to check on them but had to be escorted down there. When we got to the lorry both Rio and Genie were really relaxed and left brained (listening to the Jackson Five!!!) and were not bothered by anything at all.
Finally the call came over the speaker that we were about to dock as we had reached Calais. I couldn’t believe it, my horses were in a France, another Country!!!! Lol!
Three years ago, on a cold dark March evening a former Parelli instructor was in a sand school for over 2 1/2 hrs trying to load Genie. If somebody had told us then that we would be taking Genie on a ferry and travelling down to Switzerland, i never would have believed them. But you know how the saying goes, “don’t never say never ...”
Then it was time to unload the ferry, with the chaos of watching the 18 wheelers barge their way through and having to remember to drive on the other side of the road. Once we had got through all the chaos, it was time for the convoy to group together and check the route that we would be taking down through France and to the B & B that us and the horses would be staying in that night.
So off we went, the journey on the continent had begun. The route we decided to take, which was best for the horses was the main road the A26 heading towards Troyes, although this was a toll road in places and quite expensive it was to provide the most comfortable and steady route for the horses.
spare.We arrived at Dover ferry port and queued with all the other freight vehicles for about half an hour, until it was time for them to look at our documents. At the minute it seems like there was all that fuss with paperwork for nothing as they only looked at the export license. Once that had been checked, the lorry was given priority boarding and so boarded straight away. Everything seemed to be going without a hitch until we discovered that freight vehicles are meant to have anchor points, which this lorry did not have. However they said that as it was a calm day we would still be allowed to travel on the ferry. Phew! That was a relief!
So now it was time to leave the horses as you are not allowed to stay down in the lower decks. Before we left the horses, we checked they had plenty of hay, ventilation and we also took along an iPod and speakers so that they could have music playing to help drown out some of the noise of the ferry.
Half way through the 90 minute journey we were allowed to check on them but had to be escorted down there. When we got to the lorry both Rio and Genie were really relaxed and left brained (listening to the Jackson Five!!!) and were not bothered by anything at all.
Finally the call came over the speaker that we were about to dock as we had reached Calais. I couldn’t believe it, my horses were in a France, another Country!!!! Lol!
Three years ago, on a cold dark March evening a former Parelli instructor was in a sand school for over 2 1/2 hrs trying to load Genie. If somebody had told us then that we would be taking Genie on a ferry and travelling down to Switzerland, i never would have believed them. But you know how the saying goes, “don’t never say never ...”
Then it was time to unload the ferry, with the chaos of watching the 18 wheelers barge their way through and having to remember to drive on the other side of the road. Once we had got through all the chaos, it was time for the convoy to group together and check the route that we would be taking down through France and to the B & B that us and the horses would be staying in that night.
So off we went, the journey on the continent had begun. The route we decided to take, which was best for the horses was the main road the A26 heading towards Troyes, although this was a toll road in places and quite expensive it was to provide the most comfortable and steady route for the horses.
A few hours later and Sophie directing us around in circles we eventually made it to the B & B in Lesmont. The horses were then unloaded and led to their stable for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment