Buddy Gilles and Billy Green with horses
Theis beautiful photograph courtesy of Fiona Green, North Connel, and is of Buddy Gilles and Billy Green with horses Dinah and Nan and thought to have been taken around 1963/64. The two working horses belonged to Buddy’s father. They lived on a croft at Dunans, by Bellanoch not too far from Achnamara. Donald Stewart, also from Bellanoch (identified in one of the other Achnamara photographs) also worked horses.
Billy Green comments “The hems have a leather belt at the top as usual, the item I think that you refer to is a pair of spring loaded tongs and were simply stored there for convenience. There is a pair on both horses if you look carefully.
In terms of commands, they were bi-lingual (well educated west coast beasts!) if I remember correctly probably Gaelic at least for left and right and the others being the standard "woe" etc.
Nan was from Lismore and very competitive - liked to be up at the front and if Dinah was already on her way out of the wood, she would go on the sound of the drag chain on the swingle tree hook. She also loved water. On the odd occasion when she got to paddle in a loch she would stand and splash with a fore leg. Needless to say she got to do that on her own!
Dinah was more easy going. She had such a deep neck that her collar could not be turned without causing her some distress so it was put over her head right way up. I don`t recall early starts to feed and groom the horses unless perhaps if they were stabled at Achnamara. Buddy would usually do that when they were nearer his home.
Those were the days! As Buddy would say "We don`t get the money but we sure get the laughs".
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Groups: Forestry Areas, Forestry in Action, Horses at work in Forests