Friday 25th October - A little visit to the EPSMS
Jakki can't resist it. On her way to St Malo she pops in to Plaintel to look at Segur and Printemps and is invited to lunch by Michel Ollivier and his colleague. Actually, the reason for going was to deal with formalities of the official donation on 22 November, pictures of which you will see later in November.
Someone is turning their nose away - that is until they are fed an apple !!
Thursday 24th October - donation of Qualitous to les Genets d'Or at Plabennec, north of Brest
Patrick brings Qualitous by lorry to the centre and he is led up the drive (yes, it's no entry). The other SLL team members meet at Plabennec with Sylvie Mousset from the SNCF Fondation Bretagne. Christian Sanlis greets us.
Like all the horses given so far, Qualitous is unperturbed by the attention he receives - the star of the day.
A lovely reception is given for the SLL team members and again Jakki is honoured with flowers. Speeches by Michel le Texier on a big day for Plabennec - they are also inaugurating a new building !
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| Patricia Sergent leading a young rider on Quito whom we gave to Plabennec in 2008. Qualitous is looking on, curious. |
A few little tears from Gwen - she is comforted by one of the residents - no, it's not the new resident, Qualitous, but a young man who puts a comforting arm round Gwen's shoulders.
We are all treated to a lovely lunch on site. Merci pour le dejeuner si sympa, Christian. It's lovely seeing Patricia Sergent, Veronique Robin, Julie Marchadour and Maïwen and other familiar faces from a previous project
Wednesday 23rd October - donation of Osiris to Brest Equitation at the Ouest of Brest
Fred arrives with Fany, Gwen and his mother, Patrick Moan is there as well as Jakki and Sylvie Mousset completes the representatives for SLL and the SNCF.
It's good to meet Christian Leal and Jean-Pierre le Saos who is the President of the Association Brest Equitation where disabled riders come to ride. A lovely little reception is laid on for us by Brest Equitation. Formalities are completed and Sylvie kindly invites Patrick, the two girls, Fred, his mother and Jakki to lunch. We will all be meeting tomorrow for the donation of Qualitous.
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| Osiris with Fany and Gwen |
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From left to right
Our Patrick Moan, Christian Leal, Jean-Pierre le Saos, President de l'association Brest Equitation,
Fany, Gwen and Sylvie Mousset |
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| Beautiful Osiris ! |
Friday 19th October - donation of Séduisante (The Star) at the IME Les Bruyères at Plumelec in the Morbihan
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| Ouest France article on Séduisante's donation by Guy Gardien |
Well, it's a big day for Séduisante who has been staying at Fred's until the Big Day. True to form, Fred sets off in Jean-Yves's little carriage from Elven to Plumelec, some 10 miles away. Maxime has joined us for the festivities and to see why he participated in the Caravan of Hope. It's lovely seeing him again. He's working now, but Friday's are his day off, so he is able to be with us today.
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| Seduisante goes 'solo' on her last SLL journey to her new home |
Maxime does part of the trip and Jakki will do the last couple of kilometres beside Fred. For those of you who don't know, it's Séduisante's first trip solo and her last SLL journey. With our rather Heath Robinson borrowed and improvised harness, she behaves impeccably and as we drive up with her to to the IME, there is a huge crowd of about 60 of the resident young people, along with staff and families, waiting to greet her. It's an explosion of people and extremely heartwarming.What a welcome. She remains unperturbed. Good old Séduisante! Though she is but 6 years old...
Séduisante, the complete star of the moment: unperturbed
It's lovely seeing Sylvie Mousset again, representing the SNF Foundation. It's great meeting the new Directrice, Sophie Michelet, seeing Freddy Beucher, Florence and Francois - all 3 of whom work with the horses and the young people. We gave them Dourno, a Camargue mare in 2005 and in Freddy's words, she is a 'Creme' - absolutely superb, though getting on now at 21. Mogador we gave in 2008. Freddy calls him: 'une perle' and very sweet as is Dourno with the young people.
With Séduisante Freddy will be taking the young people around the countryside and when they are on safe lanes, he will be teaching them to carriage drive (Carriage Driving for the Disabled).
Freddy gave broad hints that as riding is a central key to this establishment for their patients, he will be needing a few younger horses as some out of the 5 horses there already are getting on. Are we doing another trip, he asks !!
A big thank you to Jean-Yves and Marie-Noëlle for all their help on this big day - they are part of the Brittany team who have done so much to help the project.
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| On the left, Mme Sophie Michelet, the new director, next to her a journalist from one of the local papers, then Sylvie Mousset from the SNCF Foundation, then Guy Gardien from Ouest France |
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| Maxime on the left and, of course, our Fred |
Séduisante is then led away to be given hay and rest and stabled - from her stable she can look out at her new friends in their fields.
We are then treated to a wonderful reception with all kinds of goodies to eat that the children made the day before, along with orange juice and coka cola. We leave Séduisante in her new home, happy with the thought that she will be very valued by the IME and much loved.
Thank you Steve for sending pictures of Princesse & Seth in their new home at the Diamond RDA Centre
Separation has been hard for all alike: people and horses. Some of us have been together for 6 months, others for 5, others for 3 - it's tough saying goodbye. The horses miss each other too and miss us.
News items:
071012: Jakki receives a message from Sister Mary Joy Langdon: 'Raboliot has settled in very well and is making new equine and human friends'.
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5th/6th October - Haras de St Lo - Back in France for Fred, five horses and Jakki for the last leg of the project !
The lovely reception is given in Room No 5 du Haras National de St Lo of the Camargue, Lilas, to the Association les Rênes de la Vie at 6pm on Friday. M. Jean Andro, Conseiller General du Canton d'Avranches and Maire de Saint-Senier-sous-Avranches is there as well as Monsieur Loïc Renimel, the Président of Les Renes de la Vie, not forgetting Marie-Pierre Tripey to whose centre at Les Pieux in Normandy, Lilas will be going.
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| Little Lilas before she goes off with Marie-Pierre Tripey |
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| The magnificent interior of the building No 5 at the Haras de Saint Lo |
A journalist from Ouest France is there too. We are probably about fifteen people in all and Lilas will be going to a centre which helps disabled people in upper Normandy. She leaves after the reception ! .The beautiful room No 5 has antique carriages running along one end of the room (including a Milord) and on the other, the original stalls. The first donation in France has taken place in a lovely, friendly atmosphere. when we have pictures and names we will let you know on this blog.
We meet Maurice Tabac, who is a long distance solo rider and is also the father of Franck Tabac, the lovely farrier who didn't charge us and who brought the trainee 10 farriers to shoe our ten horses when we were at St Lo in August.
Back at the Haras National de Saint Lo, Jakki sheds a tear at seeing the horses and especially Printemps who winnies when he hears her voice... as does Séduisante.... She feeds the five horses - all lined up in boxes -some apples (cupboard love, of course, from them).
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| Osiris, back at St Lo |
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| As is Qualitous |
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| And Séduisante |
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| With a camera shy Printemps (or was he just too busy eating?) |
Jakki drops Gill off at Douvres la Delivrande to where Gill had left her car when we had stayed in Normandy before leaving for UK. They come off the ferry early on Friday morning - Gill and Max to head off back to the Dordogne and Jakki to St Lo to meet Fred and the horses.
Fred is in fine fettle and has slept himself in a stable on a bed of straw (clean straw). He will return home to Elven when Patrick comes over Saturday morning with the last lorry load from UK and the horses + 3 men will leave for Brittany.
On Tuesday 2nd October we say goodbye to all the young people, tearfully, and, tearfully too, to the 5 horses staying in England: Princesse, Rita, Raboliot, Seth and Thais.
2nd/3rd/4th October - Wormwood Scrubs and back to France or back home 'up North'
The young people are collected by Minicab early on Tuesday 2nd October.
Pack Mule No 1 or Dr Bradbury, I presume (truly Chris, you were wonderful)
Pack Mule No 2 or is it our young Nurse Kinder below (you too, Peter, were wonderful)
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| A final farewell |
4 of them go via Eurostar to France to then return home by train from la Gare de Montparnasse and the other 4 via King's Cross to Middlesbrough and so back to Guisborough. We are all awake by 6.30 to be ready in time and it is a sad occasion. The mood seems to be they all want to start again or to do another project and it is an emotional time of farewell or rather 'aurevoir'.
Then, the horses destined for the UK are collected. Sister Mary Joy does not have far to come and we hand her Raboliot's papers.
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"I say goodbye and"...
(Gwen saying goodbye to 'her' Raboliot) |
..."you say hello"
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Mary Joy with MJ (alias Raboliot)
The most extraordinary coincidence occurs: none of us had noticed. Sister Mary Joy's initials MJ are those on Raboliot's left branding mark MJ !! It had been meant.
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| Leading Raboliot away to his new home (over the path) |
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| Sister Mary Joy on the right |
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| Jenny of Wormwood Scrubs saying hello to Raboliot |
We are touched by Sister Mary Joy's emotion as she sheds a tear leading Raboliot away to his new life. May we again thank Wormwood Scrubs RDA from the heart and from all of us for the wonderful reception that they gave us and for letting us stay for just over a week and giving us a base camp in Central London.
Dan Brown comes to collect Rita, our noble and beautiful Franc Comtois mare, (Daniel Brown Horseman). Rita will be residing near Dorking in Surrey.
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Rita's departure - Jakki is sure that Fred shed a tear - she did - let's hope that Rita didn't...
What a noble and gallant mare she has been ! |
Dan and David Pritchard who do Carriage Driving for the Disabled at the RDA Stella Hancock Centre are hoping that Rita will pass the inspection and will be able to be used at the Stella Hancock Centre in a couple of months time, despite having cataracts in both eyes, which is something that was picked up at the end of the trip by the vet. It is thought to be possibly genetic in Comtois horses.
Next the RDA Diamond Centre's Tracy, comes along with a couple of grooms in their lorry to collect Thais on behalf of East Park RDA and Princesse and Seth for their own RDA use. What a sad moment - Jakki sheds more than a tear at that moment... Later that afternoon, we hear that Sally Anne from East Park RDA has collected Thais and that he is in his new home. So that's the horses for England gone.
Time to now think of our own return to France with the remaining horses. By a miracle, the strike is now over at Brittany Ferries and Gill and Jakki (with the dogs) will be able to return to France via Caen as originally planned. Gill to collect her car from Douvres la Delivrande where she had left it and to return to the Dordogne. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Gill Nurse for all she has done which has been invaluable. We all loved having her and Max, too.
The miracles don't cease. Brittany Ferries Freight has given permission for Patrick Moan to come and collect the horses and carriages which will be done in two consecutive trips. He arrives Wednesday morning with Pascal in the pouring rain and the five remaining horses are lorried up ready to go over to France with Jakki's carriage, now empty, on the trailer towed by the lorry. Patrick will return the next day to collect Fred's carriage. Fred departs with the two P's. Gill and Jakki are helped by Sister Mary Joy and Bea to pack up the camp (electric Fencing kit, kitchen paraphernalia and the rest and then with the help of a tractor the carriage is towed to a secured area to await Patrick Moan the next day. Jakki busies herself to find a stop over near Cherbourg which she manages to do at Brix and with the help of our Andre Palatre in the Camargue. The 3 men and the five horses have a stop over with Marie-France Mabire, a breeder of Camargue horses at the Elevage des Feux, just outside Cherbourg. All goes well and Patrick and Pascal, before driving back to the UK to collect the remaining carriage and trailer deliver Fred and the horses back to the Haras de St Lo, where the first donation of a Camargue will be given to the Association 'Les Reines de la Vie'. The Reins of Life - we had met Loic Renimel, the President of this Association at La Barre de Semilly - our first stop off after being at St Lo in August. Our huge remerciements, Marie-France at the Elevage des Feux, for your hospitality, at the 11th hour, to Patrick, Pascal , Fred and the horses - You were amazing considering you had received a phone call late on Wednesday night from Jakki, asking if you could put them all up for that very night - you didn't flinch and bless you.
30th September/1st October - Wormwood Scrubs
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| Fany's tearful farewell to Seth |
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| Beth's nightime farewells to Thais (with Gwen helping) |
On Monday evening, hilarity and sadness join hands in the evening - most of the team go off to the pub for a final drink. Well, someone has to stay with the horses...
Last few minutes with the horses at Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre
Some of the team go to visit London while their families are still here (Gwen is delighted with her visit with Gill to London Zoo). Others stay around the camp to look after the horses. It pours with rain. We are out of gas, so on a diet of sandwiches - nothing new in our living habits. We're used to it. The schoolchildren next door don't phase the Camargue horses.
Tomorrow all the young people are leaving so it will be an emotional time and the horses destined for the English centres leave tomorrow as the RDA are coming to fetch them (apart from Raboliot who is staying at Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre). The horses look at us a little disconsolately not quite understanding why we're not moving on. We have been assured they will be very much loved and very well looked after in their new homes. That will be reassuring. Anxiously, we wait for news of when our lorry driver friend can pick us up to take the horses back to France.
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