Cowboy Plumbers For One Night Only!
Guest blog by Ellen Arkle, Fen Property Services
My all too busy day job is the managing the day to day running of the family plumbing and maintenance business, but I love to ride when I can, having ridden ‘English’ for most of my life. After meeting Sarah Deptford of Sovereign Quarter Horses, I was easily swayed to have a go at the Western style of riding. After just one session, I was hooked on both Western Riding and the beautiful Champion horses Sarah and David have on the ranch! I can honestly say, an hour at Sovereign is the best therapy when you have a super busy life like I do!
The Fen Property Services team have carried out various works at the ranch over the past few years so the whole team took an increasing interest. Much to my amazement, my complete novice partner, Stuart, decided to take up lessons around nine months ago. Stuart desperately wanted to see what all the fuss was about and is now progressing annoyingly well as a Western rider. Naturally, he couldn’t help but tell the team how easy it was!! His enthusiasm was infectious, sparking further interest from Josh, Alex and Hamza.
Inspiration for a Unique Corporate Team Building Event
Stuart and I often look for fun and inspiring ways to develop our team and give them a treat, so we approached Sarah about hosting an event. Sarah and David were extremely obliging and so it happened… the team at Fen Property Services, for one night only, became Cowboy Plumbers!
Our Hidden Cowboy is Revealed
Given three of the team had never ridden a horse in their lives, they were understandably a little nervous to begin with. They were carefully fitted with hats, matched with their own horse and given a safety briefing. Hamza got off to a flying start, taking to it like a duck to water. He was literally off in minutes and totally rocked! Josh was a little more nervous but was soon trotting along and looked extremely comfortable after just a short time whilst Alex – aka ‘Mr Cool’ – took it all in his stride throughout.
After an hour or so of riding, everyone learned how to dismount safely, and we were guided to a fully functioning cafe and dining area complete with a traditional ranch style fully licensed bar. The team were welcomed with a beer and then sat down to a homemade mouth-watering Lasagne with Garlic Bread and Salad, followed by a very yummy Cheesecake.
The entire evening was a huge success and enjoyed by all. The ability to cater for any riding ability makes the Sovereign corporate tam building event perfect for any organisation looking to develop their team and create stronger working relationships. This team of plumbers thoroughly enjoyed playing cowboys and a week or so on, the team were still buzzing from the experience. I don’t think it will be too long before we are back!
A HUGE thank you to all at Sovereign for such an amazing time and if you need a plumber and they rock up on horseback with a saddle bag of tools, don’t look too surprised!
When not riding, Ellen and the Fen Property Services team provides businesses with plumbing and heating services .
If you would like to learn more about unique team building events or learn how to ride Western then please email for more information.