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BY ELISABETH PROUTY-GILBRIDE
Driving news
[LEFT] Gail Aumiller driving Sjaantje Sport in the 2013 Pennsylvania Horse Expo derby race with groom Jessica Gabler. [RIGHT] Emily U. VanDriel’s Percheron Jewels pulling the Freihofer’s delivery wagon.
PHOTO: LEFT BARBARA AUCHTER; RIGHT: COURTESY OF FREIHOFER’S; BOTTOM RIGHT: VICKI LONG
DRIVING TO VICTORY
MAKING IT BIG TIME
Owner-whip, Gail Aumiller from Dreams Come True Farm in Carlisle, PA, attended the 2013 USEF January awards ceremony in Lousiville, KY. There, her 2005 Tsjerk Friesian mare, Sjaantje Sport, received national driving awards, including the 2012 Region 2 Horse of the Year Friesian Driving Championship and the 2012 National Reserve Championship Friesian Driving Horse of the Year. The pair was also the International Friesian Horse Association of North America’s ADS High Point Friesian Champions in combined driving, a new venture for them in 2012. Gail also reports that she and Sjaantje Sport made their fourth consecutive driving appearance at the Horse World Expo, held in Harrisburg, PA, on February 21-24. This year Sjaantje was hitched to her Kuhnle Presentation carriage, which was used for the Parade of Breeds exhibitions as well as derby races, a marathon obstacle, and Curt Pierce’s advanced cones and obstacles clinic.
In celebration of their 100-year anniversary in 2013, Freihofer’s Baking Company asked carriage driver Emily U. VanDriel of Greenwich, NY, to represent them alongside her 12-year-old horse, Percheron Jewels, for all of their advertisements. One even aired during the Super Bowl! The team represented the company—driving its hard top delivery wagon that was used on Freihofer’s original delivery routes—in Albany’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 16. They will be making additional appearances in the antique vehicle throughout the year.
competition. The event kicked off with Michael Freund and Sterling Graburn, leading USEF long-listed driver and developing driver, respectively, presenting clinics at Chateau Log and Courage to Lead farms. Paul Martin donated his time to handle the live auction of six special items, which consisted of a week at a condo in Hilton Head, SC; a dinner for six in Aiken, SC, in Jack Wetzel’s restored Log Cabin; three nights for two in Boston at Union
House; stabling and a bed and breakfast for two nights in Maine at Acadia National Park; and a week’s stay in a four-bedroom home on Block Island. Additionally, a silent auction took place Friday morning through Saturday evening, drawing to a close after dinner. The weekend concluded on Sunday with a combined test for drivers competing at Preliminary through Advanced levels.
SALUTE TO DRIVING Salute to Driving wrapped up its third annual event benefiting the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation and the United States Equestrian Federation’s (USEF) High Performance Driving program on March 1-3 in Windsor, SC. Highlights of the weekend included dinner and an auction at Bev Lesher’s Courage to Lead Farm, driving clinics, and a combined test
Wendy O’Brien’s Pony Pair at Salute to Driving. April 2013
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