| Affiliated Club News - 2014 | ||||||||||
|
Midlands Carriagedriving Despite three days of non-stop rain in the |
|
|||||||||
|
Organisers Geoff and Julie Goodwin worked their socks off to ensure a well-run, friendly, event, which kicked off with an impressive Pimms reception on the Friday evening. The constant rain left the ground soft on top which held up well in the mown dressage arenas. The cones course, built by 13 year old Ian Potter, proved quite technical and number 16, placed on a loop away from its neighbours, caught a few out, either being omitted or driven backwards. The Duchess of Rutland presented dressage rosettes before everyone sat down for a well-earned meal in the marquee. With the dramatic backdrop of Belvoir Castle overlooking the whole venue, marathon Section A produced some jaw-dropping views from the top of the hill before working its way back down for six well-built, open and flowing obstacles in Section B. The obstacles, set in a line, were ideal for spectators; due to the ground conditions the organisers had shortened the length, but not the time, of this section and competitors drove tactfully to complete. The largest class was Novice with 15 entries, including three from Amanda Nisbet's yard. Fifteen year old Lewis Shaw, who is blind, stole everyone's hearts as Amanda skilfully guided him around all three phases. Also competing were the Para-Driver National Novice Champion and Reserve, Charlotte Thomson and Graham Smith. Winner of the class was Katie Moran while junior driver Laura Priestley took the Pre-Novice, hotly pursued by another junior - Rhea Auton. Angela Flanagan's groom, Gary Picken won the Intermediate class from David Smith, also driving one of Angela's ponies. Angela herself, competing in the Pairs class had to give best to Roger Campbell who fairly scooted round driving Emma Burge's ponies. James Binns? immaculate handling of his tandem, resulting in one of only six double clears in the cones and a marathon win, gave him the lead in his class. Of seven entries in Open Pony, just three saw the competition through, the win going to Mike Hodgson ahead of Sue Mart with her new pony, Fudge. In the Open Horse, Pam Neill just managed to scrape past Geoff Kirby in the marathon to win with a mere 0.08 penalties in hand. The one day event was also well supported with Sara Binns making it a family double with Joanne Gadsby in second. Geoff and Julie had secured sponsorship for every obstacle plus an array of prizes which ensured winners went home laden. For full results visit: midlandscarriagedriving.co.uk |
 Belvoir Castle forms a magnificent backdrop for dressage. Photo Kingswood Associates.
|
|||||||||
| More pictures from the Belvoir Castle event can be seen in our Photo Album | ||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
Escrick Park North Eastern Driving Trials Spectacularly good weather made for an enjoyable weekend for those drivers taking part in the NEDTL's second event of the 2014 season. A record entry of 68 people converged on Escrick Park near York to compete across ten classes which included Novice Qualifiers and a selection event for Britain's para-equestrian drivers for their World Championships at Sandringham next month. In the latter category it was Lucy Barclay from Lincolnshire who led through all three phases to take the win driving her smart dun pony, from Deborah Daniel who pushed her hard all the way. Only 17 penalties separated them, so these two will no doubt be vying for a place on the British team in June. The Novice Pony class saw a win for an improving George Wood, who made the trip down from Durham with his chestnut cob Blossom. Tracy Squire finished in second place with both drivers showing the benefit from attending Barry Hunter's Durham cones clinic the week before. At Escrick, course designer Birgitta Kronqvist had laid out a technical course which offered drivers the option of a slightly longer route at the risk of not making the time, so all those who had attended the clinic had chance to put their training to the test! Sadly, competitors for the Qualifers were thin on the ground with two in the Horse class and only one in the Pony. In the NHQ it was Leslee Wilkinson and Steve Hoyle who were fighting for the ticket to Erddig and it was a very close run thing on day one. Steve was the overnight leader after dressage and cones (having been one of only three people all day who achieved a double clear). However, an extremely costly mistake lost Steve the class when he copied down the wrong class times and came home with a bucket-load of section penalties. Speaking afterwards he said ?I certainly picked my time to make such silly mistake! On the plus side I'm delighted with my horse who gave his best performance to date and without the penalties we would have finished with the second lowest overall score of the weekend. I'll definitely pay more attention in future!? The speed merchants were out in force in the Open Pony class, but eventual winner Tony Mould staked an early claim in the dressage with an excellent score of 41.6 However, Kim Usher was very close behind him with a 43.4. On marathon day it was Junior driver Tara Wilkinson that put up the fastest times, although only six penalties separated the top five drivers around the obstacles. In the end Tara's efforts were not enough to overhaul Tony and Kim who finished first and second. In the Intermediate Pony class it was another junior driver, Steph Milner, who made a very strong start to her season. A good dressage of 50 together with one of only three double clears all day in the cones gave her a good lead from Peter Carter going into marathon day. Here she increased her lead with an extremely fast marathon to win the class from Joanne Thomas when Peter Carter had a corrected error of course. There were a smattering of driver errors in the Intermediate Horse class (two of them in the cones) which meant that only two out of five starters finished with a non-eliminated score! With a speedy marathon Ruth Bamforth managed to overtake the overnight leader Sarah Clarkson, who finished second. In the pairs class Louise Kaiholm justified her long trip down from Scotland by winning the class from Angie Smith with Lyn Winder finishing in third. Amongst the tandems and teams it was James Binns who, after a slightly shaky start in the dressage, performed a double clear in the cones and stormed around the marathon putting up times which would not have been out of place in the open pony class. With Fred Pendlebury bringing on a new leader, it was left to Jeff Ormerod to chase James home, finishing in second place by a meagre five penalties with Pat Cooper in third. |
 |
|||||||||
 Tony Mould (photo Jane Wilson)
|
||||||||||
|
Results: Intro: 1 Kate Henderson, 2 Tania Young, 3 Melody Jones, 4 Charmain
Haigh Inter. Horse: 1 Ruth Bamforth, 2 Sarah Clarkson, |
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
Ripley Castle Event |
North Eastern Driving Trials | |||||||||
|
The NEDTL outdoor season kicked off at Ripley Castle near Harrogate in April. Held in the beautiful deer park, 42 drivers came forward to start their 2014 campaign, which is very encouraging so early in the season. Despite the wet ground conditions necessitating boxes having to be towed on site, a fresh wind and sun throughout the two days meant most people were able to get off safely without help at the end of the competition. The newly re-sited dressage arena benefited everyone, being flatter and having less distractions from previously when it was placed next to the lake with ducks and geese landing and taking off! In the Intermediate horse class, Leslee Wilkinson staked an early claim with an excellent 31 dressage to lead the class from Jodie Dick and Sarah Clarkson. Other good scores were posted in the Open Pony and Open Horse classes with Tara Wilkinson and Kim Usher being very close in the former and Lynne Longbottom and Susan Henry in the latter. The cones course was nice and flowing, with more people than usual managing to do the time, although only five drivers managed an illusive double clear and with no one element proving to be a bogey, balls were falling all over the course. On Sunday, most set off on the marathon in wet weather gear but the sun did come out and although it was cold they all stayed dry! A smattering of driver errors showed that perhaps some had come through the winter a little rusty but the fact that there were hardly any sections penalties on what is acknowledged to be a tough marathon course, spoke well to the general fitness of horses and ponies at this early point in the season. Peter Carter, newly promoted to the Intermediate Pony class was first out on the course and put up an extremely respectable time to take the win in this section from Val Whitesmith. In the Novice Horse only two competitors ? Abbey Swain and Diane McRae ? were there to fight it out but they made a good battle of it. As John Wilkinson had pinched Abby's pony to drive in the pairs class on this occasion, she took over John's usual drive and put up a very respectable performance to take the win. In the open pony class Tara Wilkinson and Kim Usher started as I suspect they mean to go on throughout the rest of the season and were nip and tuck throughout the two days. Despite finishing with a marathon score of 51.52 and 51.55 respectively, Tara's advantage in the dressage was enough to win the class although there were less than 4 penalties in the overall score! In the pairs class it was overnight leader Angie Smith who maintained her place on the marathon to take the honours from Sara Bower with her smart coloured ponies and John Wilkinson, making his first appearance in this class. Jackie Parkinson, down from Cumbria with her pair of bay ponies finished in fourth. Article by Jane WIlson |
 Abby Swain
Photos by Emrys Jones |
|||||||||
|
Results: Novice Pony: 1 Megan Wheeldon, 2 Adrienne Reed Novice Horse: 1 Abby Swain, 2 Diane McRae Intermediate Pony: 1 Peter Carter, 2 Val Whitesmith Intermediate Horse: 1 Leslee Wilkinson, 2 Jodie Dick, 3 Penny Hartley, 4 Lorraine Swift Open Pony: 1 Tara Wilkinson, 2 Kim Usher, 3 Glenys Ellis, 4 Elizabeth Greensmith Open Horse: 1 Lynne Longbottom, 2 Susan Henry, 3 David Wagstaff-Myers, 4 Wendy Mason |
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
| ?I didn?t feel disabled? - Para-drivers enjoy CDSGdd training weekend to the full | ||||||||||
|
One participant, Helen, said: ?Do you know, I didn?t feel disabled? after driving organiser Margaret Brockie's super little pony, Sweet Pea, through the cones course after her first drive. A regular attendee to the annual training sessions commented: ?It just gets better and better?. The mix of drivers comprised beginners, RDA groups, drivers wishing to become Able-Bodied whips and several new recruits as well as more experienced para-competitor drivers. UKcc Level 3 coach Sara Howe provided outstanding coaching for drivers; each session tailored skilfully to make it relevant to that person and delivered at a level that allowed everyone to take it at their own pace and still improve. |
||||||||||
|
Meanwhile, two of CDSG's more experienced drivers, Debbie Daniel and Mick Ward, were topping up their European
experience by taking part in an International event at Horst in the Netherlands.
Mick is top of the GB selection rankings for this year's Para-Equestrian Singles World Championships to be held at Sandringham from 26 ? 29 June 2014 while Deborah is vying for a place on the team; they both put in creditable performances as Debbie finished fourth with Mick in sixth place. Rachel Belliere-Wilson, chairman of CDSGdd, said of the weekend at Stow: ?The event embodied the spirit of what CDSG is all about, which is providing a forum for people with disability to get involved, try out new ways of doing things, increase their independence and core strength and network and share ideas with others. |
|
|||||||||
|
'some don?t have their own turn-outs; some have very limited driving experience but have heard about our activities
through RDA groups. Margaret Brockie in particular is remarkable in that she brings her own turn-out down from the
north in order for others to try driving. Her wonderful pony, Sweet Pea, is patient and yet completely correct in
her way of going; the dream turn-out for someone to sit behind and experience the buzz, excitement and beauty of
carriage driving?.
The CDSG held it's AGM on the Saturday evening and mapped out a plan to continue the work it does supported by fundraising initiatives that enable the group to provide clinics at reduced costs to the audience. Penny Bragg, who joined the group over a year ago, agreed to work alongside Rachel through the rest of this year in order to step up to the role of Chairman at the end of 2014. Penny has extensive experience in many areas of driving, particularly mainstream driving trials. ?We are extremely grateful to Sydney Smith and The Unicorn Trust team whose hospitality and facilities make it possible for us to run these wonderful events,? added Rachel. For further information contact the CSDGdd Secretary, Lindsey Paice on 07721 833730 or visit: www.cdsg-dd.co.uk |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Belvoir
event a huge success 
The Carriage Driving
Sports Group for drivers with disabilities? (CDSGdd) training weekend (26-27 April) at The Unicorn Trust,
Stow-on-the-Wold, was not only well attended but thoroughly enjoyed by all who took part. 