I have said from the beginning that this blog would be warts and all, the highs and the lows, the bad and the ugly...well, here goes!
I have spent the past week doing my intensive HGV training or category C in modern terms. This will allow me to drive anything up to 32 tonnes that has a rigid body and therefore allow me to drive Anne's lorry and give me the freedom to take Toy out on my own if needed. I passed the theory just before Christmas and waited until now for a whole week off work so that I could have a lesson every day.
I have driven quite a few vehicles, a few of my own cars, Hicksy's car and a 3.5t horsebox so I was not too worried about the vehicle itself but more the other people driving around me! I went to meet my instructor and we then drove into the suburbs of London to the test centre. Being a bit of a country bumpkin the suburbs of any city scare me even in a car so navigating my way round the Hanger Lane gyratory system in an 18t lorry in rush hour was not what I call fun! A week intensive course sounds like a good idea and it gets the job done but I would not recommend it to anyone who is trying to juggle work, a horse and general day to day life.
As the week passed by I had no major problems, no crashes, no stalling, didn't even hit the kerb but I had not at any point felt particularly confident. A few comments from my instructor about being a girl and lacking the physical strength made my blood boil and I wished I could see him handle half a ton of horse.
Well, today was test day. I later discovered whilst sat in the morning rush hour traffic that both my examiners daughters had horses so he was resigned to the equestrian way of life....I'm not sure if this endeared me to him or not!
To cut a long story short - I failed, purely for driving too slowly. The comment was that I drove "like I had a horse in the back" which is kind of ironic! The relief that this week is over is huge, I hadn't quite realised how stressful it had been and I am not too bothered about having to re-do the test, just glad that my week of driving and constantly thinking about driving is over!
As the week passed by I had no major problems, no crashes, no stalling, didn't even hit the kerb but I had not at any point felt particularly confident. A few comments from my instructor about being a girl and lacking the physical strength made my blood boil and I wished I could see him handle half a ton of horse.
Well, today was test day. I later discovered whilst sat in the morning rush hour traffic that both my examiners daughters had horses so he was resigned to the equestrian way of life....I'm not sure if this endeared me to him or not!
To cut a long story short - I failed, purely for driving too slowly. The comment was that I drove "like I had a horse in the back" which is kind of ironic! The relief that this week is over is huge, I hadn't quite realised how stressful it had been and I am not too bothered about having to re-do the test, just glad that my week of driving and constantly thinking about driving is over!
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