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A white pony called Jolly in a black leather harness with a black carriage attached.

JOLLY

Jolly is a grey, section A, 11 hands, Welsh Mountain pony, owned by the Pritchard family. He is the smallest of the ponies used by the group. When at home, he is schooled, ridden and driven by children, who love to take him on the forest tracks and to riding and driving shows. He competes regularly at Windsor Park horse driving trials. At the group, our drivers love to take him through the woods at the Merrist Wood campus and also in the arena practising dressage, cones and obstacles for RDA competitions and events.

 MARIO

Mario lives with Jolly, although he is owned by the Stella Hancock Driving Group. He is also a section A, Welsh Mountain pony and is 11.2 hands in height. At home, Mario is regularly schooled, and also driven in the forest by other coaches from the group, and by the family. He competes in showing and at Windsor Park horse driving trials aswell as RDA competitions.  When at the group, Mario enjoys being driven on the woodland tracks around the campus and practising dressage, cones and obstacle driving. Mario has competed at the RDA National Championships successfully several times. ​

A dark chestnut pony called Mario, in a leather harness.
A Comtois horse called Tookie, with a cream mane and leather harness.

TOOKY

Tooky is a French Comtois hailing from the Comte region of the French Alps. His full name Atooka comes from a game of cards, similar to poker when you have a "hand of hearts".​ Tooky is 13 years old and belongs to Dan who has owned him since he was 4 when he was bought as a match for Rita, another Comtois owned by Dan. The pair were driven at The Lord Mayor's Parade and have also carried out ploughing and timber work. Tooky enjoys many pleasure drives and can be spotted at the new Forest Musical Drive each July. ​Dan has generously lent Tooky to the group for the last 7 years transporting him weekly to Merrist Wood where he enjoys campus and woodland drives as well as preparation for the Nationals at Hartpbury and Royal Windsor Horse Show where he has seen many successes.

 EDDIE

Eddie, a 14.2hh cob with distinctive markings, is a "horse of a lifetime" who takes it all in his stride. He has been owned by Dan since he was 6 months old. Eddie is now 21 years old and has been coming weekly with Dan to the group for the last 15 years, providing a strong horse who can carry non-ambulant drivers in wheelchairs. ​At home Eddie's skills and experiences include horse drawn funerals at Woodlands Crematorium, bracken bashing, timber extraction, Santa Christmas carriage rides, pleasure rides through Windsor Great Park and a television appearance on Unsolved Histories with Lucy Worsley. He is also driven by Dan for private lessons at his home in the Surrey Hills. ​Within the group, Eddie has successfully competed at the Windsor Horse Show and the RDA National Championships at Hartpury.

A black and white piebald horse in a black harness
A piebald pony with a black and white mane and leather bridle.

 FRANKIE

Frankie Eyeliner, to use his full name, is a 16 year old cob, standing at 13.2 hh, with piebald colouring and has a distinguishable blue coloured wall eye. He was bought from the travelling community by Dan's son Toby who initially drove him on pleasure drives and progressed to a team of 4.  The Stella Hancock Driving Group purchased Frankie from Toby, Dan's son in 2022, with him passing his assessment in October and progressing to the level of winning the RDA National Championships the following July, 2023.​

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