2009 Show Special - British Driving Society

British Driving Society
Bristol Horse Driving
Club Show 24/05/09
Building on the success of last
year’s show at Keynsham Rugby
Club’s ground it was of no surprise
it was again the venue chosen by
Bristol Horse Driving Club to hold
their Annual Driving Show. It was a
fantastic day with brilliant sunshine
and not a cloud to be seen anywhere
which certainly contributed to the
record entries experienced this year.
The Judge, Vanessa Neal, had the
difficult task of deciding which horse
would make the best Ride and Drive
and eventually her choice went to
the stunning Welsh ‘Gwarcoed Black
Henry’ ridden and driven by Jackie
Bennett. The following class, the
Devon Area BDS
Show 12th July 2009
Having put up the show at Crealy
Adventure Park, just outside
Exeter on the Saturday under gloomy
skies, and heavy rain overnight, we
were blessed with a beautiful day
on the Sunday. Our Judge was Mr G
Mitchell who came all the way from
Swansea and, hopefully, enjoyed his
visit to Devon.
Classes for non-traditional
vehicles were well supported by our
Devon members, and the Novelty
Cones Competition, put on during the
Judges well deserved lunch break,
NEW SHOW
BDS Dorset Area
Show, Motcombe,
Dorset
Sunday 7th June 2009
With shows being lost from the
calendar, Dorset Area of the
BDS bucked the trend when they held
their first ever Area Show on Sunday
7th June. The excellent facilities at the
Turnpike Showground, Motcombe
and the hospitality of the Gillingham
and Shaftesbury Agricultural Society
provided the perfect venue. As Alison
Trevett, show organiser and Dorset
AC, highlighted ‘We hold a range of
events for our members, but this is
the first year that we have hosted a
show, and I am very pleased with the
support that members have given us,
with many of them venturing into the
show ring for the first time’.
Sue and Peter Douglas from West Knoyle
with their pony, Treacle
BDS News | page 10
Novice Driver was awarded to ‘Toddy’
very capably driven by the young
Rhian Ralph, who also took the Junior
Whip Class and the Joyce Rogers
Trophy for the best novice horse
and novice whip, a pair with a very
promising future in driving events.
‘Gwarcoed Black Henry’ and
Jackie Bennett kept up their winning
ways by taking the Exercise Vehicle
Class, which again had the largest
entry of 10 competitors, whilst The
Style and Performance Class, a new
class introduced to the show this year,
was won by ‘Rangeview Princess’
driven by C Davies.
The Light Trade Class was won
by ‘Jack’ pulling a milk cart containing
a highly polished milk churn with
Maggie O’Connor dressed as the
was most popular
with competitors
and spectators alike.
We have very few
members in Devon
who are interested in
showing traditional
vehicles, perhaps
Under the watchful eye of BDS
panel judge Mrs Jo Halnan-Blackwell,
the classes began with an In Hand
class for driving horses and ponies,
where Lynda Rowland of Bere Regis
triumphed with her Shetland Fusilier
of Duntish. The Ride and Drive class
followed, and having been pipped to
second place in the ride section by
Hilary Miles, riding Margaret Cuff’s
Champion Geoff Allen with his 15 year old
coloured cob, Jethro
traditional coloured cob Free Spirit,
Ivan Smith’s Freisan, Jelte, driven as a
pair with another Friesian,
took the drive section
and hence was the class
winner. Sue Douglas of
West Knoyle enjoyed an
excellent day, winning both
the Newcomer Whip class
and the hotly contested
Exercise Vehicles, with
her and husband Peter’s
Dartmoor pony Treacle.
hardworking milk person!
Another Class new to the show
this year was the Disabled Drivers
Class. This class was won by the well
behaved ‘Millie’ very capably driven
by Yolanda Hanford.
After lunch ‘Tyrpentre Daffydd
Ddu’, the stunning black Welsh
cob driven by Ann Townsend won
the coveted Private Driving Class
and Ann also took the overall show
Championship from the young Rhian
Ralph with Toddy finishing in Reserve
Champion place. ‘Llansantfraed
Black Jack’ and P Evans was a truly
creditable second in the Private
Driving. He also was Debbie
Needs choice of the horse with the
biggest ‘WOW’ factor earning him
a trophy and £25. Joyce White with
it is the expense and the distances
we need to travel, so entrants in
these classes were sadly thin on the
ground and several of our Osborne
Qualifiers went unclaimed. Our
Non-traditional Champion on the
day was Mrs Sheena Jacobs with
her lovely chestnut Flashdance who
has come back so well after serious
The morning’s classes concluded with
the Novice Horse or Pony, where Sue
Courtney’s Welsh Section C pony
from Hampshire headed the line.
Melanie Vyse and her family
made their stop-over on their return
trip home from Royal Cornwall Show
worthwhile, when, with her Hackney
pony Glenshane Playboy, Melanie
won both the Concours d’Elegance
class and the Private Driving class for
13.2hh and under ponies. Dorset
based animal portrait painter Colette
Fowler-Marson had a hard task
separating the contenders when she
judged the Concours d’Elegance class,
but the honours finally fell to Melanie,
just ahead of Dorset Area member
Geoff Allen. Mr Allen’s coloured cob
Jethro, driven to a Stratford Cart built
over 100 years ago, took the over
13.2hh Private Driving
class, and then he
went on to secure the
Dorset Area members
Championship, ahead
of Ivan Smith’s pair
of Friesian horses.
The overall Show
Yvette Cheeseman, groom
Hazel Lappin with Polly, making
their show ring debut
Championship was
a four way contest,
where Glenshane
Ann Townsend and Rhian Ralph
‘Splash’ successfully negotiated the
complicated Pleasure Drive course
and won the Class. Pauline Holcome
successfully caught Frances Philott’s
eye, the guest judge, in the Concours
d’Elegance and took the honours
with her elegant part bred Hackney
Westbourne High Flyer.
Well done and thank you to all
spectators, competitors, grooms and
their helpers for a making this show a
fantastic success.
illness last year. The Traditional
Champion, Mrs Ann Townsend,
travelled from Wiltshire with her
Welsh Section D Tyrpentre Daffydd
Ddu. As she had already qualified for
the Victoria Foods Championship,
that honour went to the Reserve
Champion Mrs Ann Williams with her
charming spotted Dartmoor hill pony
Corndonford Footloose.
Finally, many thanks
must go to the wonderful
team of helpers on the day
who made the whole thing
happen.
Judy Green, Devon AC
Melanie Vyse driving Glenshane Playboy,
winners of the overall Show Championship
Jelte and Joris driven by Ivan Smith. BDS
Dorset Area members Reserve Champions
Playboy won through.
Alison Trevett said ‘I am thrilled
that we have been able to welcome
some of the country’s top private
driving turnouts to our inaugural
show, but equally I am delighted
to see so many of our local BDS
members, with pleasure and exercise
turnouts, participating and enjoying
the show’. Afterwards Geoff Allen
commented ‘It has been an excellent
show, to be proud of and I hope it will
become a regular annual event’.
Photos: Allison Cooper of Mark Coutts Photography.