2009 Show Special - British Driving Society

British Driving Society
Leicestershire &
Rutland BDS Show
bright sunny day greeted us all at
A Springbridge for our annual show
of the Leicestershire & Rutland BDS
on Sunday 14th June. This was earlier
than other years, and the date proved
to be a success. Dennis and Bob had
worked hard preparing the ground,
making separate rings for showing,
Obstacles, Long -
Reining and also
Style & Performance.
The entries were
up on 2 years ago
and the standard
was extremely high.
All the horses and
ponies had been
beautifully prepared and turned
out ready for the Judge of the day,
Trevor Teague who had some difficult
Combined driving
skills lead the way at
Malvern...
BDS News | page 12
Heather Miles driving Jack in a
Fun Bug
The driving classes at this year’s
Three Counties Show set a new
precedent at a major County show
with the running of both conventional
private driving classes and the debut of
combined driving classes run under the
IHDT rules.
Under the direction of Senior
Carriage Driving Steward Lester Dagge,
the Three Counties show provided an
excellent venue for the various private
driving classes on the eve of the BDS
National show at Smiths Lawn. “It is
always a risk clashing
with other events, but
with strong classes,
we managed to secure
an exceptionally high
standard of quality
entries.” states Lester.
“Our esteemed judge Jo Adams
for the private driving,
Richard James with probationary
judge Roger Page shadowing, worked
hard with an eclectic mix of turnouts
under his scrutiny”. The exercise cart
class saw some great entries with
previous National Champion, Mandy
Reddock doing well with her promising
new contender Just Jasper winning the
two wheel class whilst driving trials
enthusiast, Lindsay Doran taking the
4 wheel class. Claudia Bunn with her
chameleon like mare Elektra, Emily
Ham and her Cob Crossfield Glory
and Ann Staniland with her tandem
took the respective Private driving
class honours. The days sport was
topped off with Richard test driving
the line up of championship qualifiers
first hand and helping him to secure
his chosen champion Mrs D Evans’
decisions to make. He was extremely
thorough in his examination of
members, ponies and vehicles, giving a
lot of helpful advice to all concerned.
First with a red ribbon was Sybil
& Martin Atkinson for the ride and
drive. Martin rode Jamie, with Sybil
driving him. He then went on to take
second place in the Private Driving,
1st in Long-reining, and the Concours
De elegance cup which was judged by
local artist Ruth Marshall.
Ruth was treated to a lap of
honour with Sybil & Martins
horse Neneside Sir James.
Jamie had a great day doing
his best as always, winning
the Style & Performance
as well. (Manners maketh
horse). The Under 13.2
private driving included a Tandem this
year expertly driven by Anna Mann,
always a great supporter of our show.
Llansantffraed Black Jack, a stunning
Welsh Cob stallion, followed in reserve
with Emily Ham and Crossfield Glory.
Mrs Evans went home
with a dashboard full of
rosettes including the
Osborne Refrigerators
and Victoria Foods
qualifiers as well as the
Three Counties special Emily Ham
award for Welsh Section
D Cob. Meanwhile it was fitting that
Claudia Bunn retain her title as winner
of the Concours for a second year
running, despite the sad loss of her
father, the indomitable Douglas Bunn, a
few days earlier. Our sympathies go out
to her and the Bunn family.
The second day of
driving saw the ramping
up of excitement with
the debut of Combined
Driving classes. This
was in response to the
growing interest in Driving
Trials and the availability
of a prime time main ring slot in front
of an enthusiastic Three Counties
audience. With guidance from Mary
Nicholson and her husband, Andy,
(indoor driving ‘officionados’ normally
hidden behind a scoring sheet and
directing competitors)
Lester approached
Tony Bache, chairman
of the BHDTA with the
idea of bringing driving
trials to the public.
Snapping up the offer,
Claudia Bunn
Tony suggested we
work together including the Indoor
Driving Trials company and the local
driving club at Wolverley to present
the Three Counties with this exciting
new opportunity. With all the troops
motivated and an action plan deployed
with military precision helped by David
Anna impressed the
to a four wheeled fenix
judge and took the
exercise vehicle, all
1st with Eric Mills
going together perfectly.
and his lovely Welsh
Julie Goodwin and her
pony 2nd. The pony
new turnout, Jack a
tandem also took the
Reserve Champion.
Sybil and Martin Atkinson, winners
of the Ride & Drive Class
coloured cob driven
to a coach painted
Janice Clough brought
Bennington Buccaneer
along her impressive Welsh cob
came 2nd in the over exercise class
Blaengwen Wayne Rooney providing and took the 2 wheeled exercise
us with some eye catching action Osborne Qualifier. We look forward
and something for us to aspire to. He to seeing them out at other events
took home the over 13. 2hh private this year. The Qualifier for the pairs
driving cup and the Championship exercise went to Helen Faulkner with
as well. Freda Martin driving Smarty her Mum as groom driving Spit & Fire,
took the under 13.2hh exercise class a pair of black Shetland ponies. Some
with Smarty, and second in the Style of our other members enjoyed the
& Performance, as usual Freda had cones and obstacles and long reining,
turned Smarty out immaculately.
with Tess Naylor ensuring there was no
Congratulations to Andrew Wright cheating in the Hazards. We would like
(known to most as Biff) who took the to thank everyone that helped and all
over 13.2 exercise class with Blue IV,
his eye catching coloured cob driven
the members that supported the show.
Smith and Tony Gregory, an exciting
days sport was produced with a large
collection of competitors from all
around the region.
The combined
driving took full
advantage of the ideal
conditions within the
remit of the showground,
with all three disciplines
with their obstacles
laid out in immaculate order. The
running of this ‘inside out’ competition
offered new challenges with the turf
surface, (indoor trials is nearly always
done under cover
and on sand, whilst
conventional driving
trials is done on a
larger scale over turf)
this time the horses
had to adapt and
drivers compensate for
the mixed conditions. This was made
increasingly evident with the main
ring display where slippery conditions
underfoot offered the competitors a
bit of a challenge... with an equally
eager audience enjoying the thrills
and spills of the various turnouts.
Mary Nicholson’s informative
commentary was
well received by the
public whilst the ever
popular ring steward,
Andy, conducted the
competitors in his usual
exemplary efficient and
orderly manner.
The five classes for singles,
multiples and juniors saw 22 entries
judged by Judith Broome and offered
some nail biting excitement with the
ever fearless Jo Adams winning both
the main ring and multiples classes
with his pair of Welsh ponies. This was
Llansantffraed BlackvJack Champion
hotly contested by audience favourite,
Julie Wedgbury and her amazing team
of Shetlands. The single pony class
was the most popular class of the day
with Dawn Tebbett and her Welsh
mare Katy snatching victory from
Lindsay Doran, whilst Claudia Bunn
secured the horse class and Jo Phelan
in reserve. The Junior class was won
by Chester group member Michael
Hodgson and his incredible Shetland,
Warford Brown Sugar, with Emily Ham
coming second.
It has to be said that this was a true
testament to the skill of the carriage
drivers craft and a
credit to the number
of competitors
who excelled
in both private
driving and driving
trials. Interestingly,
in all cases, the
non-conformist crossover between
the style and calm obedience of the
private driving classes on Saturday
and the skill and exhilaration on the
Sunday stood those ‘multitasking’
competitors in very good stead.
Lindsay Doran, Emily Ham, Julie
Wedgbury and Claudia Bunn all
competed in both disciplines and it
is remarkable that all do well on both
sides of the ‘driving divide’.
The debut of the Combined
driving at the show certainly
raised awareness of the sport with
tremendous interest shown by the
public and other competitors. With
much appreciated support from the
Wolverley club and the generous
cooperation from the Three Counties
Agricultural Society, hopefully this
debut will have helped draw much
needed new members to this exciting
sport.