BBC The Repair Shop’s Dominic Chinea ‘tells off’ co-star are they take on mammoth repair: ‘A challenge’
BBC The Repair Shop’s wood expert Dominic Chinea his given his co-star Amanda Middleditch a telling off for not knowing the proper terminology for a horse’s knee, leaving her red-faced.
Riding teacher Ena Gaffney, star pupil Ellen and her mother Lynn entered the barn in the hopes that their beloved mascot horse could be repaired.
Explaining who he was and where he came from, Gaffney said: “This is Hector. Hector is at the Drum Riding for the Disabled in Edinburgh. Had him for 29 years.
“We do riding for people with disabilities, children and adults. It is fantastic to see what a horse can do for people with a disability.”
The youngster’s mother added: “Ellen was born with a condition called Treacher Collins syndrome, and that mostly means she doesn’t have an ear canal.
“The sound isn’t the same through the hearing aids as it is for us with natural hearing, so she doesn’t have very good spatial awareness and balance and things like that.
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“The impact that it has had on her confidence and balance and all this kind of thing has been really great.”
Gaffney continued: “Hector was in a saddle shop and they were closing, so he was to be given away, and I thought, ‘You know what? He would actually be really beneficial for the kids to learn handling.
“We teach them how to groom and how to approach the horse. They learn where the parts are and how to put a saddle on, how to put a bridle on and then when we have to go and do it for real, they’ve got the jist of how to do it.”
When asked what they would like done to him, Gaffney noted: “As you can see,e he has lost an eye, the other eye, it’s quite a scary looking eye.
“He’s leaning, his mane and tail sorted… This white part here is called a sock. It would be great if we could have a stocking which means the stocking comes up here, higher.”
Middleditch asked whether it came “up to his knee”, leaving Gaffney to laugh and correct: “His hock!”
Teasing his co-star after her blunder, Chinea joked: “His hock… come on now, his knee, Amanda!”
The ladies admitted that it was going to be a challenge, but too it within their stride and got to work on Hector straight away.
Halfway through the repair, Middleditch noted: “Hector’s outside with Dom having his pedicure, and I’m here in the hair department.
“Hector is going to look very handsome indeed after he has had all of this done.”
It was soon time for the ladies to return to the barn and be reunited with Hector, leaving Gaffney to step back in amazement when the horse was unveiled.
She exclaimed: “Oh my goodness! Oh my god! He actually looks so real! Look, here! That is so soft and you have put a lovely colour eye in. His eyes are beautiful.
“Ladies, thank you! And his feet have been fixed! He looks like a million dollars, and I am just loving the markings that you have put on him, they’re so real looking!
“We wouldn’t have left him with anyone else,” leaving the youngster to add: “He is just amazing!”