There are 50 days left, and this week we travel from one of our oldest horse sports, dressage to one of the newest, combined driving.

Of course, horses and carriages have been synonymous for the last 4,000 years, ever since the ingenious invention of the wheel. The best evidence we have of horses being used as a driving animal are the Sintashta chariot burials from 2000 B.C. Within the next 500 years, domesticated horses spread like wildfire throughout Europe, and horse-drawn vehicles soon appeared in Greece, Egypt and Mesopotamia. In the next 500 years they spread to China.

Through the centuries, many different improvements were made to the harness and carriage system. The breast collar and breeching were first seen in Egypt in 1600 B.C. This harness allowed the horse to move more quickly and pull more weight than the throat-girth harness used previously, which placed all the weight of the load against the horse’s trachea.

The breast collar moved the weight to the horse’s sternum. However, there was still the problem that the shafts of the carriage were attached to a surcingle around the barrel of the horse, and the breastplate held the surcingle in place. The horse literally had to pull the entire load.

The final evolution of the harness for working animals was the horse collar, which first appeared in 5^th century China. This stiff oval distributes the weight around the horse’s neck and shoulders without restricting breathing. Instead of pulling the entire weight, the horse can push forward with its hindquarters into the collar rather than pulling with its shoulders in the breast collar.

The horse collar arrived in Europe by the 9^th century and spread throughout by the 12^th century.

Driving was fast and efficient and allowed people to travel great distances thanks to the roads the Romans built all over Europe. However, as they began to deteriorate around 500 A.D., carriages became less practical. Still, people all over the world continued to use carts to travel, transport goods, farm and live every day life.

World War I effectively put an end to driving in Western Europe because most of the horses and drivers went to the front lines. It wasn’t until Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1952, which displayed a magnificent procession of carriages, that interest in driving returned. The British Driving Society was created shortly thereafter.

Of course, driving has also increased in popularity due to horse shows, harness racing and combined driving. Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh, who was president of the Fédération Equestre Internationale at the time, visited the International Horse Show in Aachen, Germany in 1968 and was impressed by the carriages and drivers that competed in the performance trials. Eric Brabec, who was the secretary-general of the Polish Equestrian Federation, suggested the sport should become an international competition. He began organizing the effort and also started competing himself.

Prince Phillip and Brabec’s initiative was met with great enthusiasm, and international rules were developed within the year. In 1970, the first international event took place in Switzerland. The first European Championships were held in 1971 in Hungary, and the first World Championships took place in 1972 in Germany.

Combined driving has also expanded from the traditional four-in-hand teams to pairs and singles, which allow fledgling drivers to get a feel for the sport before committing to the extensive costs that four-in-hand teams require, and offers opportunities for people of all ages to enjoy the competition.

Today’s competitions are similar to the ridden three-day event, in that they perform a dressage test on the first day, a marathon phase on the second, and a cones phase on the third. Each phase is designed to test the different abilities of each team, and there are different levels according to the skills of horse and driver.

There are three main players who ride on the carriages during the four-in-hand competitions, the driver, the groom and the navigator. The driver, of course, controls the horses and carriage with his reins, whip and voice.

The groom sits next to the driver during dressage and cones and rides on the back of the carriage during the marathon. The groom helps with hitching and unhitching as well as making any harness adjustments. During the marathon, one groom will stand on the back of the carriage to help balance, while another stands behind the driver in the role of navigator.

The navigator helps navigate the course and obstacles as well as keeping time for the driver and reminding him or her of the course.

For those who have never experienced a combined driving event, I’d highly encourage you to check one out! The elegance of dressage paired with the thrill of marathon and precision of cones is a recipe for a great afternoon.

The combined driving competition at the Alltech/FEI World Equestrian Games will take place October 7-9, 2010.

One of web writer Coree Reuter’s favorite parts of working at The Chronicle of the Horse is adventuring up into the attic. While it’s occasionally a journey that requires a head lamp, GPS unit and dust mask, nearly 75 years of the equine industry is documented in the old issues and photographs that live above the offices, and Coree is determined to unearth the great stories of the past. Inspired by the saying: “History was written on the back of a horse,” she hopes to demystify the legends, find new ones and honor the horses who have changed the scope of everyday life with this blog.

Curious about anything in particular? Have a question or an interesting topic? Please e-mail Coree, she’d love to hear from you!