driving
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rhode island driving club Celebrates Carriage Days 2012 Submitted by mug tomany
After deAling with tropicAl Storm irene at the 2011 rhode island carriage days, we were dealt a perfect weekend this year. the grounds at celtic cross farm, in dudley, MA, looked beautiful with the freshly-painted ring and all the bright flower gardens. dana Bright, technical delegate, inspected and approved our cross-country course, which consisted of newly-cleared gravel roads and more water crossings, with one big enough to be a future water obstacle. John St. cyr worked hard to make them weatherproof. Marsha himler was our judge for dressage, the rhode island driving club (ridc) cross-country drive, and ring classes, with Susan Koso volunteering her time to judge the cones classes. the courses were driver-friendly and received rave reviews from competitors. there were many new horse-and-driver combinations that were thrilled by completing Saturday’s combined event. the weekend started late friday afternoon with a competitors’ briefing, and a wine and cheese social sponsored by Janice and charles Meszoely. thanks to all of the great volunteers, dressage and timed obstacles began early on Saturday morning with cross-country running in 158 equine
Journal
| November 2012
the afternoon. A new element was added to the obstacle in the apple orchard, and all but the VSe’s got to go through the big water crossing. combined score winners were as follows: Very Small equine (VSe)—elsbeth lowell with Bea; novice pony—cindy fletcher driving chick a Boom; novice horse—carolyn lemoine driving funquest Majestic feather; open pony—Bob Koopman driving Misty; open horse—Mary washburn driving without a doubt; Multiples—carrie wind driving Kateland’s inkspot and timberhill’s Scarlet destiny. on Saturday evening, competitors and officials enjoyed a barbecue buffet and music by local guitarist, Al libera. A silent auction was set up, with items donated by local businesses and club members. competition resumed on Sunday morning, with ring classes and cone classes running simultaneously. championships were awarded after an entertaining errand obstacle course was won by gale hepfinger. championships were based on dressage, timed obstacles, working and reinsmanship classes. winners included: VSe champion—Joan fletcher; novice pony champion—cindy fletcher and reserve champion, Michelle hulse; novice
horse champion—gale hepfinger and reserve champion, hannah Kalichman; open pony champion—Kelli gerrior; open horse champion—cicily hajek; Multiples champion—pat Musser and reserve champion, Adrienne St. cyr. plus, cindy fletcher won concours d’elegance and the wendy Award for high point pony. for a complete list of results, visit americandrivingsociety.org. i want to send out a special thank you to Mike tomany, reva Seybolt, Jane and elsbeth lowell, olivia Smith, dave Bomster, cat luce, carolyn lemoine, Shelia guimond, evan St. cyr and Sue ito for all of their hard work before the show, painting signs and rings, setting up the dressage and cones rings, clearing roots from the trail, weeding gardens, and building obstacles. i also want to thank william lawson for returning as our announcer and nancy lawson for controlling the paddock area. the show couldn’t happen without support from our volunteers. And, last but not least, a big thank you to John and Adrienne St. cyr for letting the rhode island driving club use their wonderful farm to host our show and our various club activities throughout the year.
Bonnie Jean driving Max through the new water crossing at Celtic Cross Farm in Dudley, MA.
(L-R) Rhode Island Carriage Days 2012 Officials Marsha Himler, Susan Koso, and Dana Bright.
photoS: liSa CeniS/Shoot that horSe
Cindy Fletcher won Concours d’Elegance and the Wendy Award for High Point Pony, driving Chick a Boom.