Although people in the equestrian world like to consider carriage driving as one discipline, driving really contains much more variety than any of its sibling disciplines. Within the driving discipline we have combined driving, pleasure driving, dressage driving, endurance driving, coaching and more. We drive horses and ponies, of all breeds and sizes, and each has its strong advocates.

Driving is really a jewel with many facets, and some shine more brilliantly than others.

So in 2006 U.S. drivers competed in three World Championships–the singles in Pratoni del Vivaro (Italy), the teams at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen (Germany), and the disabled drivers in Hellendorn (the Netherlands)–acquiring one individual gold medal. There were few boring moments, especially with our singles drivers, as emotions ranged from jubilation to heartache.

By far the year’s top performance was by Diane Kastama, who won an individual gold medal at the World Championships for Disabled Drivers and was named the Chronicle’s Driving Horseman of the Year (see p. 143). The fact that Kastama was able to raise the money to ship her own horse there played a significant role in her success. In previous years, U.S. drivers had to rely on the kindness of strangers to generously provide horses and ponies at these championships. Instead of spending time preparing for the competition, our drivers had only a few precious days to establish a relationship with their partners and try to do their best.

Kastama, with her Welsh Cob, Jasper, won the dressage competition in the Grade 1 division (for drivers with more serious disabilities) and then won the cones, including the drive-off. Mary Gray, the second member of the U.S. team, competed with a borrowed horse and was eliminated on the marathon.

When you get to know Diane, her wheelchair seems to disappear. For her, it’s about winning, not whining. Even when her performances aren’t medal worthy, she doesn’t use her disability as an excuse. She competes in this country on equal footing with able-bodied competitors, driving a tandem last year in two spring competitions and participating in the USEF National Pair Championship held in Lodi, Calif., in October, finishing sixth in a field of eight.

This was the first year that the Fédération Equestre Internationale had recognized para-equestrian sports, and they’ve now joined the other seven FEI disciplines–jumping, eventing, dressage, driving, vaulting, endurance and reining–in international competition. To celebrate this inclusion, Kastama was invited to drive at the closing ceremonies at the World Equestrian Games as a prelude to the 2010 WEG, which will be held in Lexington, Ky.

Chester Weber had an individual medal in his sights too at the WEG. After winning the dressage and driving a credible marathon, he stood seventh going into the final cones phase. With only fractions of penalty points separating the top 10 drivers, and because the cones phase carries more weight in the final outcome than ever before (although the penalties for knocking balls down have been reduced, the speed, and thus time faults, have been increased), it was a nail-biter. Weber drove a flawless round for the first half, before he drove through a set of cones backward and was eliminated.


Experience Counts
Experience is an important requirement for World Championship success, although it takes stamina, money, time and talent just to get to Europe to compete. But experience isn’t a guarantee–after all, the entire U.S. four-in-hand team had won the silver medal in 2002.

“Experience is something the selectors of various teams too often forget. Often, it seems driver-horse combinations are selected on the basis of winning small competitions, rather than their experience facing the pressures of the big-time rigors and stress,” observed veteran Deirdre Pirie, who represented the United States repeatedly at four-in-hand World Championships in the ’70s and ’80s.

The members of our singles team all had previous experience in at least one World Championship, yet some still said the team was short on international experience and others said the selection process was flawed. Either way, they rode the rollercoaster from start to finish. In the end, each driver had moments to be proud of and could be proud of their team spirit and cooperation.

Fred Merriam finished fourth in dressage, with Sterling Graburn 13th, Eleanor Gallagher 15th, and Scott Monroe 16th. On the marathon, Gallagher and Monroe each turned over in obstacles, while Merriam’s heartbreak came when he missed a gate in an obstacle and was eliminated, taking his dressage score for the team with him.

Graburn competed as an individual, and those who disagreed with the selectors’ decision had their “I-told-you-so” moment following his brilliant marathon performance. But it didn’t last. Graburn began his cones drive standing fourth, but he “went bowling,” knocking seven balls down and accumulating time penalties.

No doubt about it, more opportunity for head-to-head competition, in this country or abroad, would greatly benefit our drivers, even those whose ambitions don’t extend internationally.


Time For A Change?
As I’m sure I’ve commented before, driving is a very small sport in a very large country. The sport of competitive carriage driving is complicated, requiring access to large amounts of property over which to drive, expensive harnesses and carriages, equipment to transport everything and everybody to and from competitions, and–not the least–friends and family to help put it all together. This may be reason enough for the diminishing ranks of our advanced level.

Is driving an elitist sport? I think the honest answer is yes. All equestrian sport is elitist, to a certain extent. But it’s a matter of degrees, and like almost everything, there are ways to trim the costs and manage to compete on a budget.

It’s been suggested that organizers can help grow the ranks, of all levels actually, by offering pared-down competitions. Yes, we like and need top-drawer competitions like The Laurels (Pa.) and Live Oak (Fla.) in the East and the California Classic at Shady Oaks in the West. But these are “destination events,” and competitors and spectators often treat them like normal people would a cruise or a vacation to an exotic destination.

If organizers could be persuaded to put more money and energy into hiring the best officials and building educational courses (without all the extra and costly decorations), and forego all the fancy parties, sponsors’ tents, glossy programs and more, our competitors would have more opportunity to compete and gain the valuable experience that’s lacking in this country.

What’s wrong with a two-day format for advanced level? If the horse inspection could be held on Saturday morning or even waived at certain competitions, drivers and their crews who are employed outside the horse business might not have to take so many days off work.

These competitions would have to accommodate the lower levels as well. It seems logical that if there were more competitions, there would be more competitors, especially if these new competitions became evenly spread around the country, further reducing travel time. Or perhaps several competitions could even be held at the same venue throughout the year, as is common in other sports.


Opportunities
Thanks in part to an initiative being promoted by the American Driving Society and its fund-raising arm, the creatively named ADS Fund, camps and training programs for our young drivers are flourishing around the country. One particularly exceptional opportunity combined our World Championship-bound drivers with our young hopefuls.

Five of the six short-listed singles drivers (Eleanor Gallagher, Sterling Graburn, Fred Merriam, Kate Shields and Wendy Ying) met with their coach, Chester Weber, for a final training session before the team was selected. After morning sessions with Weber, the singles drivers became teachers to five young drivers (all girls, as it turned out). It was a win-win situation. For those who think that along with the privilege of representing our country comes a responsibility to give something back, this was that occasion.

For the ADS, 2006 was a year of transition. When I stepped down as executive director after a 20-year stint (I have remained with the ADS as editor of our publication, The Whip), the office relocated to Cross Plains, Wis., under the direction of Susan Koos-Acker. As always, these transitions are complicated, but the Board of Directors has been working hard to iron out the bugs and continue to provide quality service to the members. A new interactive website, while still a work in progress, provides ADS members with convenient services like an online Omnibus and forums for officials, members, committee members and directors.

The Carriage Association of American has completed their tran-sition, successfully moving their headquarters to the Kentucky Horse Park and retaining Jill Ryder, their long-time executive director.

On the recreational side of driving, the National Drive was held for the second consecutive year at the Kentucky Horse Park. “No rules, just fun” is the theme for this gathering of driving aficionados of all shapes, sizes, colors and styles of driving. Even though the recreational drivers are a small part of the ADS’ constituency, ADS leaders continue to search for ways to provide service to them and make them a part of the society.

Although the ADS takes no credit for sponsoring the National Drive (Driving Digest Magazine is mainly responsible for the birth and early rearing of this activity), most of the major supporters are actually ADS directors: Mike Lyon, Patrick and Sally Cheatham, Lyle Petersen, Tom Hilgenberg and others.

A new driving activity gaining popularity in the East is the continuous-driving event. Under this clever concept, the competition doesn’t necessarily have to take place on one or even connected pieces of property. It’s a linear concept. One phase feeds directly into the next.

For example, section A is a marathon pace (no hazards, and judged on coming in at an exact time with penalties for being over or under the time allowed). Section B is dressage. Section C is another marathon pace, and section D is cones.


A Huge Effort
Compared to other equestrian groups, carriage driving is by far the most social of all. Indeed, pleasure drives have been accused of being just an excuse to have a picnic! Some competitions are almost more notable for their competitors’ parties than for the actual competition. Walnut Hill (N.Y.), America’s premier pleasure-driving show that spans six days, offers a party every evening. Live Oak, in addition to a live band that plays well after midnight, has offered such additional entertainment as mechanical-bull riding!

Several years ago, Fair Hill (Md.), when it took place over the Halloween weekend, held a costume party for the driving competitors that became so popular it even drew the attention of the eventers competing there at the same time. We miss that party–although it’s rumored that it may rise again in 2007, when Fair Hill hosts the national championships for singles, pairs and ponies. Only the teams will be missing.

These four national championships are held every year, but with the limited number of advanced driving competitions organized in this country and the dwindling number of advanced drivers, one has to ask how meaningful these championships are. Strategies to move the venues west to accommodate drivers across the country and encourage eastern drivers to go west have been only marginally successful. The title national champion doesn’t seem to have enough importance to persuade drivers to make a big effort to participate, and those who do sometimes find themselves somewhat an afterthought by well-meaning but over-burdened organizers.

The USEF Driving Committee is trying yet a different strategy by awarding the national championships for singles, pairs and ponies to Fair Hill this year, hoping that this will make a bigger bang out of the event and that it will give driving a greater exposure among non-driving equestrians and the general public.


A New Twist For 2010
The Four-in-Hand Driving Championship at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Ky., will be quite an undertaking, as those involved with the sport are well aware.

All of the other equestrians will bring one horse (sometimes two horses) per rider for their championships. But the drivers will bring five horses per driver (four, plus one spare), plus at least one carriage, if not two. And in 2010, for the first time, there will be a championship for disabled drivers.

So a suggestion has been made to encourage those countries that are almost sure to participate (unfortunately, some countries may not be able to finance this formidable undertaking at all) to team up with a disabled driver and bring their horses to Kentucky on their airline pallet. With each pallet holding three horses, each four-in-hand would need two pallets, so there would be one empty stall. This would assist the disabled drivers and allow them to compete with their own animals.

Of course, I’m sure that generous U.S. drivers will loan suitable partners for those drivers who cannot arrange to bring their own.

Ann L. Pringle