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Over the weekend 24-25th October the Unicorn Equestrian Centre was a hive of young and enthusiastic drivers. The annual British Young Drivers Easter Camp was lost to the first lockdown, so under the circumstances organiser Mary Jane Campbell executed a fantastic smaller version of what was missed at Easter. The new rules that were enforced due to the corona virus situation didn’t dampen the event, everyone was respectful of this allowing the weekend to flow smoothly and heighten its success.

It is encouraging to see BYD alumni back at clinics this time in teaching roles as competent and successful drivers. Roger Campbell made the trip over from his base in Germany to support the event in his role as trainer. Working alongside him on this occasion were Phillipa Howe and Rosanna Walter-Symons - together passing on their knowledge and skills to the next generation.

Each driver was assigned a trainer to mentor them across the weekend. The clinic opened up the perfect opportunity for the Junior rising stars who are aiming for the Youth Europeans next year to come and assess their performance in a non-competition environment. As well as opening the doors to keen young drivers who are only just starting out and looking to develop their driving, at this camp the youngest was 8 with the eldest being 24!

Across the two days everyone had the chance to focus on each of the three phases, Dressage, Cones and finishing up with the exhilaration of the marathon on Sunday. Informative course walks were given by Frank Campbell to small groups across the morning which went down very well with the younger members who thoroughly enjoyed burning off some energy running route options.

The 2020 British Young Driver Award was presented to Megan Wheeldon, who has been a part of BYD for many years and has represented GBR at numerous FEI Youth Championships. The Wheeldon family are long supporters of British Carriagedriving and British Young Drivers. Megan’s most recent success is her win in the Open Pony class at Ashfields in September. As the British Carriagedriving AGM went digital, BYD grabbed the opportunity to be able to announce and present Megan the trophy in person at the clinic.

Halloween was looming so a Pumpkin carving competition seemed necessary, which kept everyone busy in their free time. The Pumpkin entries were all very inventive and followed the ‘Unicorn’ theme, Molly Turner won the competition as her masterpiece stood out from the rest.

Easter Camp 2021 dates are to be confirmed. If you are interested in future British Young Driver events please contact MaryJane Campbell at byd@britishcarriagedriving.co.uk and like our Facebook page @britishyoungdrivers

The Young Equestrian Leaders Award (YELA) is an award scheme for the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) designed to recognise the time and effort young volunteers give to equestrianism and shape their experience, so they become equestrian leaders of the future.

YELA runs over three progressive levels: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Bronze requires 20 hours of volunteering and introduces skills in responsibility, organisation and communication, and Silver develops these further. The Gold Award requires 120 hours of volunteering, encouraging leadership and the planning and delivery of a specific project.

Young Equestrian Leaders Award Youth Coordinator: yela@pcuk.org

Website: www.yela.org.uk