Our Lives So Far (Part Three)

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These days, Eleanor and Dean are our main carriage drivers, driving pairs and teams of horses with ease.

Dean even drives six in hand which is no mean fete. Only a handful of people in the country can do that. As for me, I am generally behind the scenes moving lorries and doing mountains of paperwork. But I still get wheeled out occasionally and take our stunning horses' reins.

The feeling of pride in what we do and who we have become swells my heart. My two wonderful now grown-up boys can also be seen helping. Donning livery coats and grooming when needed between college and university studies.



Another career-defining moment for me was a call I received early one morning in late spring. The gentleman introduced himself as Boyd Excel and then paused as if I should know who he was. I had never heard of him, and my reply was polite but not what he was expecting. I think he expected me to draw breath and act like a teenager who was seeing her pop idle in the flesh for the first time.

This didn’t happen, so he pressed on.

“I wonder if I can call on your services”, he said. 

“Yes, of course”, I replied, “how can we help you”. 

“I need to hire a team of horses for Royal Ascot,” he said. “I have some sponsors I would like to entertain, and I need a good team of horses to pull my Park Drag Coach. We will be going into the Royal Enclosure”.

“Oh, ok,”, I said, thinking, isn’t that the queen's horses that do all that posh stuff?



He soon realised I had absolutely no idea what he wanted or who he was. So, after a long conversation, he explained that he was a seven-time World Champion in Carriage Driving Trials.

And he WAS actually pretty famous, oops!

We agreed to help him and were given our instructions. It turned out he actually wanted to hire our horses for three days, and he said he would organise everything. The plan was to pack everything up in our lorry and travel to Windsor the day before we were first needed. He had arranged for us to stay and keep our horses at Combermere Barracks, with the army horses. We would also be setting off from there each day.

We had a caravan so it was arranged for us to take that and park it in the stable yard at Combermere, so we could be close to the horses. Being an army barracks with high security, everyone who was coming with us to help and groom had to be vetted and go through rigorous checks. Even the horse’s passports had to be checked and vaccinations updated.

Boyd was going to send us a set of his own harness to fit to our horses and he wanted us to clean the brass until it shone. In theory, this sounded fine. In reality, it was really hard work and not for the faint-hearted. 

It took weeks to polish every buckle and black every strap. It ended up being a real team effort and often went late into the night. We also had to think about the horses we were leaving behind. They still needed to be cared for.

So, with everything eventually in place, and a lorry loaded with horses, feed, rugs, buckets, and much more. We set off for Windsor. I followed behind with our little caravan packed full of everything we would need for the three days. When we arrived at the gates of Combermere Barracks, a soldier with a gun came out to meet us. It was a little unnerving, but he waved us in and asked us to park and sign ourselves in. 

Once this was done, we were shown to the yard and where we would be staying. Our first priority was unloading the horses and settling them in their stalls. Hay, Water, Feed, and a nice warm rug. They were settled and relaxed, which helped us relax a bit ourselves.

The next was to set out all the harness we had spent weeks cleaning and ensure it was still shining and everything was ready for the morning. Boots were polished and livery jackets steamed. Shirts were ironed and everything hung out ready.



It was getting late now, and our little caravan was still attached to my car. So, our last evening job was to set it up and make up the beds, which we all promptly fell into and slept.

Morning came all too quickly.

There was a buzz of activity outside, and it was only 5 am!! We dragged ourselves up and got ourselves ready. Breakfast for the horses first, of course, then breakfast for us, which consisted of bacon rolls and a good old cup of tea. Boyd arrived around 6 am; his coach had already been delivered, so Boyd, Dean and I set to polishing it and getting it ready for the horses.

Eleanor and Emma, our groom, went to muck out the horses and give them one last groom ready for the harness. Boyd oversaw everything with a scrutinising eye. He didn’t miss a thing, and his attention to detail was amazing to witness. You could see why he was a world champion. He missed nothing.

I sometimes look back and think, this was when things clicked with me. The moment that I realised that nothing, but perfection will do. And even with perfection, you must look for something more to take yourself higher. You can always better yourself, and you never stop learning. It is a humbling thought.

People started to arrive at around 8 am. Ladies in beautiful dresses with wide-brimmed hats, and gentlemen in morning suits and grey toppers. The champagne was already out, and you could feel the excitement beginning to build. Our horses now harnessed and looking like film stars were ready.

Dean and Emma, wearing full livery attire with long black jackets white breeches and long boots. Top hats, and a smile, were looking nervous, but ready. Boyd came away from his guest and signalled us that it was time to put our horses to the carriage. The four of us brought a horse each up from the stable yard and positioned them in their correct positions in front of the coach. Boyd inspected everything. We stood in silence waiting hopefully for his approval. 

All we got was a nod and an approving look, but that would do, we all let out the breaths we had been holding. He stepped up onto the box seat and we handed him his reins one at a time. Dean and I then attached the horses to the coach under Boyd's watchful eye. After a few rein and strap adjustments, he was happy.

Dean and Emma helped the guests alight the coach. It’s a long way up and a ladder is attached to the coach's side to help the ladies. It's all very proper. The whole picture looked spectacular, and Boyd even smiled, which was reassuring.

They were off.

Boyd gave a nod and the grooms stood to one side. With a stern WALK ON, the whole team jumped into action. Wow is all I have to say about that!



Anyway, once they had left, Eleanor and I had to run around like lunatics getting water, Hay, feed, grooming stuff and harness cleaning stuff in the car. Then hot tail it down to Ascot where we were told to park in the royal stables and set up our stalls for the afternoon.

This was going to be a long day.

Since then, our horses have been hired out at such prestigious events as Royal Ascot, Royal Windsor, The Magazine meet at Buckingham Palace, and Sandringham. They really have rubbed shoulders with the best. The Royal Logistics Corps has hired us for a number of years now, and our coaches are always brimming with dignitaries from far and wide. 

Boyd actually did become a friend, after hiring our horses on many occasions to wine and dine with his friends and associates. When he decided to move to Holland to up his game in the competitive world of carriage driving, he asked us if we would be interested in taking on a little bit of extra work.

One of his sponsors and the largest independent funeral company in the country was looking for a new horse drawn service to look after them. They had 27 offices at that time, and it was going to be a huge undertaking. But I never shy away from a challenge and hard work is my middle name. So, we agreed. With Boyd's recommendation, the company didn’t need any convincing, but there was one small problem.

We didn’t have enough of anything. Horses, carriages, plumes, or drapes for that matter. Boyd stepped in again and provided us with another team of black Friesian horses and a pair of white Lipizzaner’s. He also just so happened to have two more carriages lying around, one of which was almost brand new. We arranged a deal where we could pay him back slowly over time as we just didn’t have that type of money to invest. 

Staff was the next thing. Up until this point, we had been doing everything ourselves, but with this amount of work coming in, we would need help. Eleanor was now 16 years old, and she had to sink or swim. She swam and started helping drive horses at funerals. She is a natural and her gentle nature around the horses shines through and keeps any situation calm, even in the most difficult of moments.

I am very proud to say that Eleanor was recently selected out of hundreds of applicants countrywide to have a three-day bursary with the president of the coaching club. This is a very prestigious and historical gentlemen's club in high society. They uphold traditions of a bygone era. Eleanor spent her days driving horses and learning all about correctness within the driving and coaching history. 



She also got the chance to see the Quicksilver, one of the last royal mail coaches to exist. For two years now, Regency Horse and Carriage Masters have been awarded Carriage Master of the Year by The Good Funeral Awards, and we have been nominated to win it again this year. This has been another defining moment in my career, and we have everything crossed that we can hold on to such a boastful title just a little bit longer.

Thanks for reading. Join us next week for the final Part Four of Our Lives So Far