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The story…

Meet Britain's first trainee guide pony

Learn language to describe…

performance

Need-to-know language

hack it – (informal) deal with a difficult situation

coping – dealing with a difficult situation

take it … in his stride – deal with a difficult situation in a calm way

naysayer – person who says something can't be achieved

Answer this…

What's the advantage of having a guide horse rather than a guide dog?

Watch the video online

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/lingohack/ep-190424

Transcript

The horse arriving on platform 1 is about to make history. Because while the odd one has travelled in a guard's van, no horse, to our knowledge, has ever ridden in a passenger carriage.

Digby's new owner is Helena from London. She's a regular commuter on the Underground, and having seen guide horses used in America, she'd like to do so here.

Compared to the short career of a guide dog, a working horse can be with owner for 30 years.

Helena, Digby's owner

Guide dogs are fantastic animals but it’s good to have choice. And a horse can be trained and they enjoy working. And they’re great companions. So, why not?

20-month-old Digby was especially bred for this very job by Katy at her stables in Northallerton. This metro journey is a trial to see if he can hack it. He seems to be coping with the movement better than our cameraman.

Katy Smith, Digby’s trainer

I thought he would be good. I thought he would take it all in his stride but this is like, yeah, it’s the first time ever… and I’m speechless to be fair.

Commuter 1

What’s a horse doing on the metro? I've never seen that before...

Commuter 2

I think it’s a good idea myself. Yeah, it’s a change….

Commuter 3

It’s a horse, isn’t it? Should be in a field not a train …

So apart from the odd naysayer, people seem generally positive. Transport for London say they’ll be monitoring Digby’s progress.

Did you get it?

What's the advantage of having a guide horse rather than a guide dog?

Guide dogs have a shorter career. Working horses can be with their owner for 30 years.