Larry Poulin is one step closer to earning a place on the United States team bound for the World Pair Driving Championships this summer as he fended off seven other drivers at the Budweiser Live Oak International Combined Driving Event, held March 22-25.
For many competitors, Live Oak, in Ocala, Fla., kicks off the competition season, being the first major combined driving event in the United States.
Ponies and horse pairs dominated the Fédération Equestre Internationale divisions as 2007 is their World Championship year, while the single horse and four-in-hand classes were lightly filled after intense competition last year.
In addition to being the first big event, Live Oak also offers competitors the oppor-tunity to be judged by an international jury, many who are likely to officiate at the World Championships.
New England native Larry Poulin is rarely satisfied, but nonetheless was pleased to have earned the best dressage score in his class: 47.23 penalties. Poulin noted how important it was to drive in front of the international panel.
“We are very fortunate to have this jury,” he said, adding that the Live Oak arena is a “tough ring…but also a beautiful ring to drive in. All the distractions [flags, flowers, judges’ boxes, spectators and tents] take the horses’ attention away. I have to pull out everything from my bag of tricks to keep them focused.
“We need to be scoring 37, not 47,” he continued. Poulin wants more points from the walk and reinback and is “shooting for more collection.”
Poulin drove the handsome gray pair, Cody, a Swedish Warmblood, and Rivage, an Oldenburg—both U.S.-bred. While many top drivers are importing European warmbloods, this pair, owned by Natasha Grigg, is the product of Riverman, a Holsteiner stallion who stands at Hilltop Farm in Colora, Md.
While Grigg admitted that shopping for horses is easier in Europe—like going to a mega mall compared to traveling to countless small shops—and that many are fully trained and ready to compete, excellent horses can be found in this country. They’re usually less expensive, particularly if you have the time and talent to train them. Poulin obviously has both, and it’s now paying off.
Cool Canter
The advanced single horse drivers drove the FEI’s latest dressage test, No. 9, which includes two canter movements: a 50-meter loop on the left lead, followed by a collected trot, then a 40-meter loop on the right lead.
Bill Peacock, Bellville, Texas, drove the 16.3-hand Holsteiner-Friesian gelding, Beau, which he owns with Proud Meadows Farm.
According to judge Diana Brownlie, president of the jury, “He really set the standard for what we want to see in that [canter] movement.”
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The other judges, obviously in agreement, awarded them a score of 46.21, which was the top dressage score of the FEI division.
Olof Larsson, driving Chester Weber’s Holsteiner Woodstock, put the pressure on Peacock, winning the marathon so that only .17 penalties separated them going into the final cones phase. Whether hometown advantage played a part in favor of Larsson, or nerves got the better of Peacock, Larsson only knocked down two balls, compared to four by Peacock, to give Larsson the win.
Peacock may not have won the overall competition, but he still took home a handful of other ribbons and awards: best FEI dressage score, best FEI single horse presentation, and the Hanzi Award for the best horse in the competition in the opinion of the judges.
Absent from this year’s four-in-hand competition were Tucker Johnson and Jim Fairclough, leaving Gary Stover and new-comer Josh Rector from Arizona to provide competition for Chester Weber.
Weber’s early lead in the dressage held throughout the competition for the hometown victory. Stover, unfortunately, was eliminated for missing a gate in a hazard. Rector may lack the experience of the other drivers, but he was impressive in his quiet, smooth driving, being cautious and kind to his horses.
One team making an impression—but not in the competition ring—were the Budweiser Clydesdales. The gentle giants were stabled next to the vendor court throughout the four-day weekend, and spectators were treated to all eight pulling the famous hitch wagon. Everyone enjoyed watching the crew bathe, groom,
harness and put these big-hearted beasts to the 31⁄2-ton beer wagon.
Pony Power
The competition was hot for the pony drivers, who were competing not only for a trophy and ribbon at Live Oak, but also for a spot at the World Combined Pony Driving Championships, July 18-22 in Dorthealyst, Denmark.
Shelly Temple, Powhatan, Va., believed she had a horse two years ago, but upon official measurement at Live Oak in 2005, she discovered her Morgan, LR Ami B-line, was a pony. She wasn’t prepared to compete inter-nationally then, but she is now.
Winning dressage in the 11-member class pleased Temple. “He did everything I asked,” she said. “Live Oak is really important—everyone is here, and you can see what you’ve got and what the others have.”
Temple didn’t win any of the hazards in the marathon—that feat was accomplished by rivals Suzy Stafford, gold medalist at the last World Championships, and Sara Schmitt, another veteran international driver—but she finished fourth, which was enough to keep her in first place going into cones.
Temple had a two-ball cushion over Schmitt, but both had one ball down, so Temple’s blue ribbon also puts her one step closer to representing the United States this summer in the World Cham-pionships.
In the FEI pony pair division it was a two-woman race between Miranda Cadwell, Southern Pines, N.C., and Maryland resident Tracey Morgan. In the end, Cadwell held on for the victory.
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Four of the five judges placed Morgan’s Dartmoor ponies first in dressage for their metronome-like gaits and accuracy. With power and speed that outmatch larger ponies and many horses, the spunky Dartmoors finished the marathon fewer than 3 points behind Cadwell with her forward moving Section B Welsh ponies.
Morgan was happy with her marathon pair, Maude and Coquette, which she co-owns with Susan Deutermann.
“This was the first marathon for Maude since she’s been back from maternity leave,” said Morgan, “and it was the first time Coquette has been in the pair with Maude. We had one scary moment when we hit a post. Kenny [her partner and navigator] held on and we recovered.”
Morgan was also complimentary of the course: “It was exceptionally well flagged, lots of options, but not punishing on the animals if they drove the tight options.”
Morgan was unable to hold on to her lead in the end. Cadwell had one of only two clear rounds in the entire FEI division, which earned her the blue ribbon and trophy for her class and the best score overall for the entire FEI division.
Boots Wright and Allison “Lisa” Stroud swapped leads throughout the FEI class for pony teams. Stroud won dressage with her gray Connemara team, while Wright drove her team of Section C Welsh ponies aggressively in the marathon to win that phase.
Stroud’s combined dressage and marathon score was just enough to keep her on top going into cones, but she gave up the lead to Wright when she knocked down three balls.
Cones Count
Cones Count
These days, it isn’t over until it’s over at a combined driving event. In addition to the increased speed in the final cones phase of the competition and the decreased penalties for hitting a ball, course designers are finding new ways to test the skills and the nerves of the driver as well as the ability of the horses and ponies to perform after a grueling marathon.
This year, the Live Oak CDE managers chose to implement the cones competition in two sections, similar to a power and speed course in the jumper ring.
This format meant that competitors drove the first 16 elements of the course as usual, and upon crossing the finish line if they hadn’t knocked any balls down, or incurred any time penalties, they proceeded to the next several sets of cones that were set an additional 10 centimeters wider than the previous sets.
Only the first section was counted in the competitor’s score for placing in the overall competition. The driver’s total score in the two-phase cones course determined his placing in the individual cones competition.
Ann Pringle