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Description
The Gypsy Registry's Halloween Show , Vardo Driving class. Show not yet run.

Horse Name: (left) FFS Firelight Dreamscape , (right) Stout Blue Blagdon
Rider Name: (driver, not pictured) Robin MacLean, (groom, pictured) Slim Johnson
Class: Driving (Vardo)

The Vardo is the classic Gypsy caravan. They come in many forms, but the one we have here is roll-top vardo. The vehicles are designed to provide shelter for a person on the road, and usually include a bed, a small stove (with chimney), a cabinet, a seat and a small table. They are light enough to be pulled by a single 14hh cob or a single non-draft horse. A second horse may be added in case of uphill driving, but the vehicle is designed to be pulled by a single horse.

Our vardo isn't a real one- in fact it is a converted hay-wagon. The designs aren't nearly as intricate as you would find on a real vardo, and they are painted on rather than carved and covered in gold leaf. The wheels have been replaced with rubber tires that make it road worthy as a trailer hitched behind a car, so we can actually use it as a caravan when we travel. The inside hasn't been completed yet, but that shouldn't matter for this competition. Considering the amount of time our new live-in carpenter Slim had to get it done, we think he's done an excellent job. He told us if we want all the real authentic carvings done, we should get an authentic Romani to do it. If we ever have cause to use the caravan in a show again, we will do that. Otherwise we'll just use it as it was meant- as a caravan.

Stout we think may have pulled a vardo before he came to us. He was sold to us as a "real Romani Gypsy cob" which of course means he had no papers or written records. Farscape approached the whole thing as gamely as she approaches everything in life, so we imagine they'll do well.

Slim was bashful to be in the spotlight, but we insisted. The vardo was his hard work after all, and he had more than enough experience to be the groom. He was unhappy about having to wear a costume, until he learned the costume was a white shirt, black slacks and a hat very much like his own everyday attire.

Description
The Gypsy Registry's Halloween Show , Vardo Driving class. Show not yet run.

Horse Name: (left) FFS Firelight Dreamscape , (right) Stout Blue Blagdon
Rider Name: (driver, not pictured) Robin MacLean, (groom, pictured) Slim Johnson
Class: Driving (Vardo)

The Vardo is the classic Gypsy caravan. They come in many forms, but the one we have here is roll-top vardo. The vehicles are designed to provide shelter for a person on the road, and usually include a bed, a small stove (with chimney), a cabinet, a seat and a small table. They are light enough to be pulled by a single 14hh cob or a single non-draft horse. A second horse may be added in case of uphill driving, but the vehicle is designed to be pulled by a single horse.

Our vardo isn't a real one- in fact it is a converted hay-wagon. The designs aren't nearly as intricate as you would find on a real vardo, and they are painted on rather than carved and covered in gold leaf. The wheels have been replaced with rubber tires that make it road worthy as a trailer hitched behind a car, so we can actually use it as a caravan when we travel. The inside hasn't been completed yet, but that shouldn't matter for this competition. Considering the amount of time our new live-in carpenter Slim had to get it done, we think he's done an excellent job. He told us if we want all the real authentic carvings done, we should get an authentic Romani to do it. If we ever have cause to use the caravan in a show again, we will do that. Otherwise we'll just use it as it was meant- as a caravan.

Stout we think may have pulled a vardo before he came to us. He was sold to us as a "real Romani Gypsy cob" which of course means he had no papers or written records. Farscape approached the whole thing as gamely as she approaches everything in life, so we imagine they'll do well.

Slim was bashful to be in the spotlight, but we insisted. The vardo was his hard work after all, and he had more than enough experience to be the groom. He was unhappy about having to wear a costume, until he learned the costume was a white shirt, black slacks and a hat very much like his own everyday attire.