The Yard

The general routine of the yard is when we all first arrive we start to get the stables mucked out. Whilst we are doing this Marion will be getting the feeds ready so we can get the horses finished. Depending on what time of year it is the horses may get put out to the field after they have finished their feeds. After all the horses have been dealt with, the rest of the morning is spent with one group riding and the other two groups are in the class rooms. At lunch time we all just relax and have a laugh, then in the afternoon a different group is riding and the other two groups are in the classrooms. At about 3.15pm we all head down to the yard and start skipping out box's. We make sure that all the horses have two hay nets and a big bucket of water or two little buckets inside the stable. We also have to make sure that all the stables have a little bucket of water outside the stable door. The last jobs of the day are to sweep the yard and give the horses their last feed. Between the start of the course and the end of the October holidays the horses get their outdoor rugs on and get put out into the field at the end of the day. After the October holidays the horses are kept inside as the weather is to bad to put them out but they do get put out if the weather is nice enough.

Out in the yard there are different groups of people. There are the tutors; Mary, Liz, Alasdair and sometimes James, he is the head of the land based courses at the college. Marion is there also, she is the the yard manager. There are different groups of students, the N.C students, the H.N.C students and the H.N.D students.