Horseboating.

[John Orentas]

We held our annual Rochdale Canal rally on the summit level of the canal yesterday.. The highlight of the event for many people and myself.. Sue Day came along with her horse Bonny and gave us a demonstration of the skills of pulling a boat using only one very knowledgeable biped and an equally clever quadruped.

 

We all learnt that there is much more to it than walking behind Bonny saying "Giddy up" now and then, the skills and even the harness are very much more subtle and sophisticated than may be imagined.

 

As well as her well known campaigning trips around the canal system Sue does many talks and demonstrations throughout the year to clubs and societies, make a point of attending one if you get the chance.

 

We had a group of Blackpool Beach Donkeys booked to attend the event, but they didn't turn up. Well donkeys are a bit like that.

Edited September 24, 2007 by John Orentas

[DHutch]

Yeah, spent some time watching the horseboating demostations at bealepark, which where next to emilyannes mooring on the lake, but i would love to actaully see a horseboat in actaion somtime.

- Had a look around on the web, but does anyone know if theres any where you can find out when/where they are moving?

 

 

Daniel

[MartinClark]

- Had a look around on the web, but does anyone know if theres any where you can find out when/where they are moving?

Daniel

www.horseboating.org.uk

[Liam]

How is Sue's horse? I know she has two but I beleive one of them was in quite a bad way after suffering with Colic.

[John Orentas]

How is Sue's horse? I know she has two but I beleive one of them was in quite a bad way after suffering with Colic.

 

 

Not good I'm afraid Queenie had the operation which went quite OK but whilst coming round from the anaesthetic she injured herself quite badly. It is uncertain whether she will ever work again.

Edited September 24, 2007 by John Orentas

[Liam]

Oh dear!

 

I beleive that Sue is reluctant to work the other horse too, but going off your trip John, this appears not to be the case.

[John Orentas]

Oh dear!

 

I beleive that Sue is reluctant to work the other horse too, but going off your trip John, this appears not to be the case.

 

 

She came to the 'do' with Bonnie her other working horse but Bonnie is in foal so not not pulling any boats for the time being, in her talk however Sue did stress that pulling even a fully loaded boat is very little effort for a horse, that's why they could cover 20 - 25 miles in a day.

[Heartland]

Fourteen years on, this seems a pertinent discussion today. How are boat horses looked after?

 

And how long is the working life of a horse on the waterway today?

 

I suppose for the Llangollen Trip boat to Pentrefelin, these people have considerable experience for the horses they own and look after.

[booke23]

They are very well looked after these days. Working life would be virtually the whole life of the horse, as they don't have to do anything other than walk on occasional outings on passenger trip boats. They probably get the whole winter off too. I imagine all operators of horse drawn trip boats do it for the love of it.....so the horses have a great life. 

 

Some of them were treated very badly back in the days of working boats, on the go from dawn to dusk and looked after on a shoestring budget.......Especially as the canals became less profitable, and the boatmen had real trouble making a living. 

[Tim Lewis]

On 24/09/2007 at 20:15, Liam said:

How is Sue's horse? I know she has two but I beleive one of them was in quite a bad way after suffering with Colic.

 

Sue's horse not so big these days 🙂

[David Schweizer]

What a surprise, a response to a post by John Orentas, one time forum moderator, and prolific poster who suddenly ceased posting nearly ten years ago. He once accused me of being able to start a fight in an empty room, which was a bit rich from one of the most challenging posters on the forum at the time. Nevertheless we actually got on well and met up a couple of times in Bugsworth Basin in 2006. I had imagined him to be tall and rather an academic type, but he was not a bit how I imagined him, more like Fred Dibnah, complete with the strong Lancashire accent. He sold his boat some years later and then suddenly stopped posting, I wrote to him but never received a reply, and often wondered what happened to him.

[Tim Lewis]

4 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

What a surprise, a response to a post by John Orentas, one time forum moderator, and prolific poster who suddenly ceased posting nearly ten years ago. He once accused me of being able to start a fight in an empty room, which was a bit rich from one of the most challenging posters on the forum at the time. Nevertheless we actually got on well and met up a couple of times in Bugsworth Basin in 2006. I had imagined him to be tall and rather an academic type, but he was not a bit how I imagined him, more like Fred Dibnah, complete with the strong Lancashire accent. He sold his boat some years later and then suddenly stopped posting, I wrote to him but never received a reply, and often wondered what happened to him.

 

His Facebook page says that he got married in 2010!