Going Out for an Evening Drive

Taking an Evening Drive

Heading down the driveway It was one of those perfect evenings with a wonderful coolness to the air, not a whit of humidity, and nary a fly to be seen. Hardly indicative of July! My friend Kitty is joining me for the drive as my photographer and groom. She's an expert in singles from having previous owned and driven an Arab, a Welsh Pony, and now a Norwegian Fjord. But she rarely gets a chance to work with a pair, so harnessing with all those different pieces was a real education for her. While I harnessed and explained, she pretty much watched and listened, then headed the ponies while I put them to the carriage.
Then ... we were off.

Past our neighbors
Heading down the road We had just turned on the gravel road across from the farm, and Flag and Andy were already in sync with one another. This was the first time I'd put them on opposite sides - Flag now being the near side(left) pony and Andy being the off side (right). Recently I'd remarked that Flag had been tilting his head to the left while in pairs harness, and when I noticed it (to a far lesser degree) the other day while driving him in singles harness, I realized it was probably wasn't the fault of the reins or harness. So, I switched him to the other side of the pole, and -- lo and behold... it worked! You can see by this photo (and the others) that Flag is holding his head perfectly straight in front of him. Not once during the entire drive did he tilt it more than a fraction of a degree to the outside, and then only for a second. By rights he should be on the right (being the larger pony of the pair) off the crown of the road, but... well, he's definitely a "left-handed" pony -- so that where he'll stay.

Into the woods These gravel roads in western Loudoun County generally see only minimal traffic during the day, and almost none in the evenings after rush hour. So for our entire 5 mile drive we saw, and waved hello, to only one car. That left Kitty an uncluttered road in which to get some lovely photos as we drove. She was having a blast with the digital camera -- snapping away with joy, and erasing those photos she didn't like so she could snap more. What a shame I only brought along one disk! As it was, even with the fading light she got some great shots - as you can see by this photo. We did miss out on a photo of the young fox that trotted out into the road a short distance in front of us, stopped in surprise at seeing the carriage, then took off like a shot up the road before leaping into the underbrush on the opposite side. Perhaps next time.

The tranquility of the road The ponies were walking in perfect harmony, both taking equal share of the pulling. It was clear that Flag was happiest and worked the best on the left, and Andy (who didn’t care which side he was on) was quite content to assume the right position on the pole. But... all too soon the sun was touching the top of the mountains as we turned the carriage back towards home, and we had to turn back towards home. Unfortunately, I'd left the carriage lamps at home, so we were pretty much committed to coming back then risk being out after dark. Kitty was saving the final space on the disk for some sunset shots (having deleted all the non-perfect photos already) and we both were thoroughly enjoying the peace surrounding us. This last shot she took probably says it all.

Into the sunset towards home

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	It was one of those perfect evenings with a wonderful coolness to the air, not a whit of humidity, and nary a fly to be seen. Hardly indicative of July! My friend Kitty is joining me for the drive as my photographer and groom. She's an expert in singles from having previous owned and driven an Arab, a Welsh Pony, and now a Norwegian Fjord. But she rarely gets a chance to work with a pair, so harnessing with all those different pieces was a real education for her. While I harnessed and explained, she pretty much watched and listened, then headed the ponies while I put them to the carriage. Then ... we were off.
Heading down the road	We had just turned on the gravel road across from the farm, and Flag and Andy were already in sync with one another. This was the first time I'd put them on opposite sides - Flag now being the near side(left) pony and Andy being the off side (right). Recently I'd remarked that Flag had been tilting his head to the left while in pairs harness, and when I noticed it (to a far lesser degree) the other day while driving him in singles harness, I realized it was probably wasn't the fault of the reins or harness. So, I switched him to the other side of the pole, and -- lo and behold... it worked! You can see by this photo (and the others) that Flag is holding his head perfectly straight in front of him. Not once during the entire drive did he tilt it more than a fraction of a degree to the outside, and then only for a second. By rights he should be on the right (being the larger pony of the pair) off the crown of the road, but... well, he's definitely a "left-handed" pony -- so that where he'll stay.
Into the woods	These gravel roads in western Loudoun County generally see only minimal traffic during the day, and almost none in the evenings after rush hour. So for our entire 5 mile drive we saw, and waved hello, to only one car. That left Kitty an uncluttered road in which to get some lovely photos as we drove. She was having a blast with the digital camera -- snapping away with joy, and erasing those photos she didn't like so she could snap more. What a shame I only brought along one disk! As it was, even with the fading light she got some great shots - as you can see by this photo. We did miss out on a photo of the young fox that trotted out into the road a short distance in front of us, stopped in surprise at seeing the carriage, then took off like a shot up the road before leaping into the underbrush on the opposite side. Perhaps next time.
The tranquility of the road	The ponies were walking in perfect harmony, both taking equal share of the pulling. It was clear that Flag was happiest and worked the best on the left, and Andy (who didn’t care which side he was on) was quite content to assume the right position on the pole. But... all too soon the sun was touching the top of the mountains as we turned the carriage back towards home, and we had to turn back towards home. Unfortunately, I'd left the carriage lamps at home, so we were pretty much committed to coming back then risk being out after dark. Kitty was saving the final space on the disk for some sunset shots (having deleted all the non-perfect photos already) and we both were thoroughly enjoying the peace surrounding us. This last shot she took probably says it all.
Into the sunset towards home