Sixth-formers are taking camel ride to school prom

TEENAGERS across Coventry and Warwickshire will be arriving at prom in glamorous style over the coming weeks – be it stretch limos, speedy supercars, horse-drawn carriages or even helicopters.

But tomorrow, one group of teens will be turning up on the backs of camels!

Five sixth-formers from Alcester Grammar School will be arriving at Ardencote Manor in Claverdon dressed as sultans - with suitable transport to match.

It’s all been made possible thanks to 16-year-old Leo Fossett, of Joseph’s Amazing Camels, based in Idlicote, near Shipstonon-Stour.

It is the only company in the UK that specialises in camel racing, polo, rides and trekking.

Leo is the son of Joseph and Rebecca Fossett, and when he’s not at school he helps in the family business.

Leo says: “Camels are incredibly intelligent but with training you often think you’re never going to win. Suddenly you get there using the right movement and voice.

“Kindness and patience are the keys, along with reward and repetition. It’s similar to teaching children. You must be firm but you’ve got to love them and they’ve got to love and trust you, otherwise it doesn’t work.

“You have to understand how to read animals and communicate accordingly. They need to know what you want.”

The camels also work on film and TV locations, Christmas pageants, including the Lord Mayor’s Show, camel trekking in the Cotswolds and elaborate fashionable parties.

Leo’s father Joe says the Fossetts are Britain’s oldest circus family. His own childhood was spent in his father’s circus.

“All I ever wanted to do was train animals,” he says. “I loved the glamour of showing off under the Big Top in the ring.”

Although he knows how to handle camels, Leo wants to be a surgeon, while his sister Daisy, 18, will carry on the family business and plans to start a camel milk dairy this summer with her mother.

“I’ve spent hundreds and hundreds of hours training Daisy and Leo and they’ll be better than me,” says Joe. “Daisy will take over this business and find new directions.”

For more on Joseph’s Amazing Camels, visit the website http:// www.jacamels.co.uk/ or call 01608 661367.