The HGV and coach driver
HGV and coach driver How I make it work: living and working close to the yard — and having a super-supportive dad and husband
Samantha Murray is a full-time coach and HGV driver who owns a retired racehorse named Smurf and his Shetland companion, Blue. The Inverness-based rider also recently qualified as an equine sports massage therapist.
My job…
I started working for coach company
D&E Coaches 18 months ago when I moved to Inverness from Cumbria. I passed my
Cat D (bus) licence eight years ago when
I was just 21 when a local company in Cumbria was recruiting trainee drivers. I didn’t always want to be a driver; it was something that I fell into after working on various yards through my teens — I’ve worked at riding schools, racing yards, showing yards and stud farms — and finding myself in a position where I needed to earn a higher wage to pay the bills. After passing my coach test, I decided that I wanted to drive lorries, too, and in March 2018 I passed my full Class 1 driving test, which means that I can drive articulated lorries.
Work pros and cons…
The best part of my job is the variety of the work. I get to travel throughout Scotland with D&E Coaches and I’ve taken tours all over the UK and Europe for other firms.
The downside is the long hours. I can start and finish at any time of the day or night.
Our longest day is a 15-hour ‘spread over’ (so we’ll get a break in between), or 21 hours if we are working as a double driver team.
My horse and a half…
I call my two my ‘horse and a half’. Smurf is a 21-year-old 17hh ex-racehorse who I bought 10 years ago from a trainer. I’ve competed Smurf in eventing, dressage and latterly side-saddle. As he’s quite ‘seasoned’ now, we mainly hack — at least twice a week if I can. Blue is an 8hh Shetland pony who I’ve owned for 18 months. I bought him to be a companion for Smurf. And, yes, you read that right, Blue Smurf — just like the cartoon characters and the cocktail — and I didn’t even name them myself!
I recently got married and both of my horses were there at the wedding. Smurf gave me away with my dad and Blue had his mane dyed and was our unicorn ring bearer.
Country dreams…
I’ve not had horses all my life — I bought my first horse, a Thoroughbred mare, when I was 17. I’ve always been the odd one in my family. Growing up, we weren’t allowed pets and my
“On a few occasions my dad has found me asleep in Smurf’s stable after I’ve returned from a 10-day tour in the early hours”
parents, brother and sister are all townies, while I loved climbing trees and rescuing animals. I started riding lessons at seven and I’ve never looked back. My husband, Stephen, is the only member of my family who rides.
My reason to get up…
My job is very demanding and fitting in my horses can be a struggle, but they certainly keep me motivated. They are my reason to get up in the morning and I know that if I don’t work I can’t feed them. There’s nothing I like better than to get back to Smurf and Blue for a cuddle after a long day at work.
A typical day…
I can work any hours at any time, but a typical day goes as follows:
4am: Alarm goes off, but I snooze it for half an hour!
4.30am: I get up, throw ingredients into the slow cooker for dinner, get dressed for work, put my overalls on top and go and see the horses. I feed them, give them hay, muck out, and change their water and rugs. I’ll turn them out too if that’s a part of their schedule. 6am: I take off my overalls and set out for work.
6.30am: Once I’m at the bus depot, I check the sheet to see what bus and run I’m on, then collect the keys and get on my bus. After the school run the bus is often hired out for trips, so I’ll do those before the school pick up. 5pm: On my return to the depot, I wash my bus and finish for the day.
6pm: I’ll return to the stables via home if I need to change clothes to ride. I’ll bring in the horses, then feed, muck out and so on. 8pm: Back home after a quick shower, I’ll prepare chips or sides to go with supper from the slow cooker. After that Stephen and I will chill out for an hour or so.
10pm: I nip down to the stables in my PJs to skip out and check on Smurf and Blue before going home to bed.
Helping hands…
With the shifts I work, I’ve been known to get home past midnight and still have the horses to do. On a few occasions my dad has found me asleep in Smurf’s stable after I’ve returned from a 10-day tour in the early hours. The stables are only five minutes from home and 15 minutes from work. Thanks to my dad looking after the horses, I can go on the UK and Europe tours if I need to. Stephen also helps me with the horses and is learning to ride on Smurf. He hasn’t had much choice, but he’s embracing the equestrian life.
My downtime…
Socialising doesn’t happen all that often, but Stephen likes doing up cars — we’ve recently renovated a VW Beetle to look like Herbie from The Love Bug!
NEXT MONTH The farm manager aiming for fun rides after a back injury.