[Mike Matson]

Love the conversation between driver and horses.

http://youtu.be/O68VFmkCcJ4

[draftdriver]

I want to try that!

[Superminion]

Oh man, I watched some of the other videos of the cross-country and stadium (I know nada about this kind of driving) and I would NOT want to be the person who gets to hang off the back of the cart (wagon?). I would fall off and die, more than likely.

[mvp]

The soundtrack is a nice, out of place addition. The horses look happy together. Like having your best buds on your shift at work.

[goponies]

This is one of the best drivers in the world...he sure makes it look easy, 'cause it ain't!!!

[MunchingonHay]

I had the pleasure of meeting him and his fellow Hungarian team members several years ago. He comes from a long line of wonderful horsemen. And most of his lippies are homebred.

Oh and to the above poster about hanging off the back of the carriage....there is no equal thrill to it. It is AWESOME!

[Thoroughbred in Color]

Wow! Beautiful team. You can tell they enjoy what they're doing.

[CDE Driver]

If you that that is cool, watch this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyoRZH71q2U

The indoor circuit is big in Europe and Boyd is the best!

[CVPeg]

Amazing how they can turn and corner so precisely - heck do everything with precision!

[lawndart]

If you that that is cool, watch this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyoRZH71q2U

The indoor circuit is big in Europe and Boyd is the best!

That was AMAZING!! I love watching stuff like that. I wonder if I could ride a single horse that fast thru those obstacles, probably not

I got to watch some driving trials in Gladstone years ago and it made a lasting impression on me!

[Superminion]

I had the pleasure of meeting him and his fellow Hungarian team members several years ago. He comes from a long line of wonderful horsemen. And most of his lippies are homebred.

Oh and to the above poster about hanging off the back of the carriage....there is no equal thrill to it. It is AWESOME!

I'm intrested in what their job is? As well as the person who was standing in between the driver and the man hanging off the back.

I agree with everybody, the driver in the video is brilliant.

[Plainandtall]

The groom/navigator provides a fluid changing center of gravity for the vehicle- so they help the driver be able to go faster by putting weight on the inside of the turns. I have also seen them literally "hop" the back end of the carriage over a few inches and keep it from getting hung up (or to un-stick it if it did get hung up) In the cse of a wreck- they can help untangle/fix the horses while the driver stays in place - There are rules about scoring down if anyone puts feet to the ground- so the skills in getting things fixed without getting off. There is another video on youtube - now I can't remember if it was a pair or a four- but I'm thinking a pair because I think the pole was lodged against a post and the two horses were stuck on either side of it... the groom went over the dash- walked up the pole to the problem- and with one foot against the post was able to lever the pair out of the predicament. Real cowboystuntman action for the sake of scoring.

[Plainandtall]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOEjUG8acQA

I couldn't find the video I mentioned getting the pair unstuck- but I did come across this video which shows the "hop" at about the 52 second mark... unfortunatly it didn't go so well that time and the groom lost his balance and fell off the back step. Usually it's a "save the day" kind of moment.

[MunchingonHay]

do you want to know what they do for a livelihood or what the positions are on the carriage. Plainandtall did that. The family has been in horses for generations. I believe they came from old money. I did not discuss what their parents did for a living when I met the brothers, that is tacky.

I'm intrested in what their job is? As well as the person who was standing in between the driver and the man hanging off the back.

I agree with everybody, the driver in the video is brilliant.

[draftdriver]

If you that that is cool, watch this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyoRZH71q2U

The indoor circuit is big in Europe and Boyd is the best!

Thanks for posting! I saw a similar type of competition years ago at the Royal in Toronto. Very exciting!

[dressagetraks]

Cool! I'd never seen driving of this type before WEG. Marathon Day at WEG was the highest number of pictures I took, even beating out XC day and Freestyle night. The "use of voice" surprised me at first as a dressage rider, but makes sense. At one of the marathon obstacles, the one on the hill at the far end with sort of flower boxes, one team came through which obviously had a horse named Rambo. Apparently, Rambo wasn't quite doing his share or something, because about every third called sentence included, "Rambo!"

I had an utter blast that day. Also a memorable moment when one of the Americans in another obstacle apparently had a piece of his harness get unfastened or caught. Horses came around the turn pushing it for speed, he suddenly said whoa, and all four of them nailed it to the ground and stood. From adrenaline to standstill immediately. Great obedience. I admired that driver and felt sorry for him getting a penalty, although the back guy who jumped off and ran around to fix it was moving at NASCAR pit-stop speed.

[dressagetraks]

Duplicate. Apparent COTH hiccup.

[Superminion]

do you want to know what they do for a livelihood or what the positions are on the carriage. Plainandtall did that. The family has been in horses for generations. I believe they came from old money. I did not discuss what their parents did for a living when I met the brothers, that is tacky.

I was intrested in what their function on carriage was. I have no care, really, in where the money comes from.

Thank you Plainandtall, for explaining! It's so intresting!

[Alagirl]

The soundtrack is a nice, out of place addition. The horses look happy together. Like having your best buds on your shift at work.

hehehehe, the song fits more to the cross country segment I bet or the obstacle course!

[lorilu]

If anyone is in North Central Florida around March, you should come to Ocala and see Live Oak! The competition is at Chester Webber's farm - and you can get RIGHT UP to the obstacles in the marathon. It's really wonderful!