PineTree CDE

Southern Pines, NC

October 27-28, 2007
Rating: ADS

I am not a driver and I know very little about it.  However, my wife and I did have a training cart years ago for our arab gelding.  He was a lot of fun to drive but we did not live in an area conducive to driving so we sold the cart and eventually retired the gelding after a long career as a jumper and then lesson horse.

My wife has judged the dressage classes at local driving competitions as a USDF 'L" graduate.  We also periodically stop by local exhibitions, schooling shows and recognized shows to support students and just to watch the horses.  We both agree that the 4 horse teams and those with larger horses are very interesting to watch.

A local driving competitor here in Moore County, NC is a student of my wife Vicki.  Marcie Quist rides her driving horse dressage to improve his driving performance.  Here she competes in the dressage portion of the competition today with him.  He is a 7 year old Hackney horse.

As I understand it, the driving show consists of dressage, cones, and then the marathon.  We will head back tomorrow to watch the marathon.

The scenery is very nice in this area.  Many of the shows have picturesque backdrops.

This pair of imported Dutch Warmbloods are apparently competitive at the international level (or at least the driver is).   One is very steady while the other, just a 4 year old, is getting experience. 

Day Two...

More info at the American Driving Society