EQUESTRIAN - LOCAL RIDER
- life
Robert Young and his love of
Yarmouth Castle kitchen and gun room
CARRIAGE DRIVING
Robert Young is a popular figure in Shanklin, spending
most of his time selling fruit and veg, however all his spare
time is spent with his real love; carriage driving.
Robert Young has spent his whole life around
horses starting when he was only six months
old, sitting on his sister Mavis’s pony. Robert was
given his first pony called Kitty (pictured bottom
right) when he was seven years old, which he
kept at Copse Cottage, Hyde Lane, Shanklin.
His father purchased Kitty from the
Marine Pub in Shanklin, and, after a lot
of bartering with Mr Willett, the owner,
a deal was eventually struck at £15.
“On the day of collection we travelled in our
new Bedford van to Gunville, where we met Mr
Willett and two of his sons, at the field which is
now known as Coleman’s Piggery,” remembers
Robert. “There was snow on the ground and
we had some difficulty catching the pony, so a
large rope was stretched across the field and my
pony was eventually caught in a triangular part
of the field. The pony was then brought onto the
road and my father, together with the Willett
family, lifted the pony into the back of the van.”
Since that day Robert has always had
connections with horses leading to his love of
carriage driving. Robert started carriage driving
in 1996, just after both his parents p 76VBv