4th of July Assisted Living Home visits

On the 4th of July we hitched up a team of Shetland ponies, Benny & Issy, loaded up 5 of the family and our dog in the carriage, and drove through Tomball, TX, stopping and making visits to 3 different Senior Assisted Living Homes. At each facility many of the residents gathered out in the shade under the porte-cochere (coach gate or carriage porch) of the main drive entrance, to visit with and pet the ponies along with our little Westie dog we brought along. They all lit up their smiles as they loved on the ponies and dog - and that lit up our hearts! It was a good day.

This 5 yr. old pony team, Benny & Issy, have been quite busy this last year. They have competed as a pair in 2 shows in various carriage driving classes as a pair, and winning in every class they compete in. The last show they even won the High Point Shetland Carriage Driving crystal bowl award for the 2nd show. In February we drove them 45 miles over 3 days pulling our carriage loaded with 5 members of the family in the Valley Lodge Trail Ride leading up to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo opening.

Then we have hitched them to another new pair of ponies in a 4 up hitch and have driven them as 4 all over our arena, pasture, and yard around the pond. Now we have even hitched this pair up as the lead team with 2 other pair pony teams of ours as the swing team and the wheel team, thus driving them as 6 up pulling our CDE type of carriage. We have a video on their web page of them driving in the 4 up, and a new video of them driving in the 6 up hitch, that Im trying to get loaded on to you tube for their web page as well. I am so pleased with how well these ponies are driving, and then to make it so easy, they know to stand so quiet and still for wherever we take them.