"Carl Hester’s yard is a beautiful place, with an aura of serenity. Purpose-built by Carl, each stable has windows in front, back and to the side, so the horses can see each other and socialise like the herd animals they are.

Fiona, the Head Girl, let us put a tiny camera on her hat one day she was riding so we could get a different angled shot. She could barely hold her head up as it was heavy!

The girls Carl is training are dedicated and hard-working. They don’t mind getting up at 6:30am and mucking out, because they want to be the best. It was interesting seeing their lessons, and although they were initially a bit nervous of the camera, they soon got used to us.

Animal farm

Filming Carl is very easy as he’s a natural showman, which made our job easier as he was relaxed and articulate around the camera. There are lots of animals at the yard adding to its character - Carl has generously rescued chickens and dogs as well as halping many people over the years.

We were blessed with sunshine throughout filming which will hopefully give the series a lovely feel. We didn’t have any mis-haps, except for horses wanting to chew the fluffy microphone. We tied a radio microphone onto a pole because it has no cable, so we could get into the stables and closer to the horses without getting tangled up. Holding the pole low was less disturbing to the horses than if we’d held it high. Generally the horses tolerated us very patiently. We had each horse stand in the yard whilst we did portrait shots, whiu of it with a jib for a nice smooth pan.

Young mob 

One of my favourite days was when we went to see some young horses in a field.  Although I’m used to horses, Carl warned our Assistant Producer not to run if he got scared. Within seconds we were closely surrounded by about twenty horses who all wanted to nibble us.  Carl explained how to choose a young horse, and I did my best to stop the horses eating the camera, microphone, Assistant Producer or me!

Filming 

We filmed an interview with Carl inside his converted mill-house.  It has beautiful beamed ceilings but was a bit dark, so we set up several lights to compensate, and to avoid getting shadows on Carl’s face. He told us some fascinating stories about his life.

We filmed at the Nationals where Charlotte won on Valegro twice.  He is a special horse – very gentle and intelligent. Liebling also has great character, - he would bash his stable door if you passed by without giving him a pat.  He’s also incredibly greedy and we had to be very careful not to eat anything in front of him or he would want it!

Filming is finished now, and we’ve started editing. I keep hearing giggles from people in our office as they watch the rushes. We’ve released some bloopers, and I think viewers will see how relaxed and open everyone at Carl’s yard was with us. Our series covers many topics – Carl’s philosophy, the horses, what life is really like at his yard and lots more. Halo films and H&C hope you will enjoy it."

Watch out

Make sure you don't miss the series, which starts on H&C TV, Sky Channel 280, on Wednesday 17th November at 8.30pm.