Aiken Rules

I have to mention how well Aiken area drivers did at Live Oak! I won FEI Single Pony Suzy Stafford was second in FEI Single Pony Janelle Marshall was fifth in FEI Single Pony Jennifer Matheson won FEI Pair Ponies Lisa Singer was fourth in FEI Single Horse (first show with a single in 20 years!) Joe Yoder won FEI Pair Horse with Jack Wetzel's horses Irene Gillis was second in Preliminary Single Pony Jennie Lord was second in Preliminary Single Horse Pixie Keating was second in Intermediate Single Pony Suzi Dixon was sixth in Intermediate Single Pony Sherri Dolan was second in Intermediate Pair Pony Mary Clark Lind was third in Intermediate Pair Pony Cheryl Rivers won Intermediate Single Horse Meghan Benge won Preliminary Pair Pony I hope I didn't forget anyone, so many to keep track of!! Congrats to all!!

We Did It!!

It was a very foggy start to the day as we walked the cones course. The time for FEI ponies was 2:38, a very fast time for the long windy course. Preliminary went first and I watched a few of them go, several went off course by going through a set of cones out of order or backwards. The course drove fairly well but not a lot of double clears at that level. The show ran exactly on time and before we knew it, it was time for our class.

This is the first time that Fran rode with me as groom in cones. Jack Wetzel very kindly lent me his pony size Kuhnle Spider Phaeton, which he used to win several National Championships with his great pony Harry. I've always used a road cart for dressage and cones, but we've been practicing in the four wheeler for about three weeks. It was great to have Fran on the back and Dottie was our ground person, ready with a cold drink or some fly spray as needed. I couldn't hear too much from the warmup area, but I did hear that no one had gone double clear. I tried to stay positive - it was Cooper's kind of course, where he could stay in his big swingy trot and the new carriage handled very well. Soon it was our turn and Cooper was up for it, he knows his job at this point and was eager to get to work. We went through the finish with no balls and just three seconds for the best score in the class and we won the Championship! We got lots of great prizes and a gold medal and the coveted Live Oak director's chair.

Cooper also won the Hanzi Award (he also won last year) which is the horse/pony chosen by the judges as the best in the competion. As part of this award, we won a Breyer Horse of Chester Weber's Jamaica. I'll save that for my granddaughter, Adeline. We had a great cheering section with all the Aikenites in attendance. That made the victory lap great.

Cooper is getting a few days of well deserved rest and we will get ready for Southern Pines CDE in mid April.

There are some photos from the event on www.usefnetwork.com/2011drivingnatlchamps/

Marathon Day at Live Oak

Another beautiful day - but warm - on Saturday. A large crowd gathered early to watch the marathon, with many tailgate parties scattered around the hazards. The Ground Jury extended the time in the vet box to 15 minutes, the time on the walk section by 2 minutes, and Section E by two minutes, and gave us a 5 minute window in E instead of the normal three minute window. The vet box was shady with a good breeze and the horses and ponies seemed to be handling the heat and humidity well. I'm not sure what the actual high was forecast was for 89 and it seemed like that. We went out at 11:49 which put us in the hazards around 2:00. With the help of Dottie Paul and Sue Dougherty, Cooper cooled down quickly in the vet box. He especially enjoyed being hand fed ice cubes by Sue. The first two hazards were fast and long. We had a good go in both the water hazard and the gulch, but it was slow going in the third and fourth. The fourth and seventh hazards were quite dug up with big sandy ruts by the time we got there, which made it tough going. I made a early turn in the last hazard and had to make a quick correction which hurt our time. Not our most consistent marathon but good enough to keep us in first place in our class, with Suzy just a few points behind. I knew I needed a bigger cushion :). The cones course was complete and ready for walking at 5:00 PM, which was a welcome treat. The course is long and fast, with two multiples and some twisty turns. There is a bridge in the middle, not marked as an obstacle, which can be used as a route between two sets of cones, but I don't think it is in a place to be helpful and will go around it instead. We are eating early and getting to bed early tonight, my brain is tired from remembering those tough hazards and more remembering required tomorrow :)

Dressage at Live Oak

The weather was beautiful again on Thursday, and the FEI entries did their vet check starting at 8 AM, then dressage began at 11:00 AM with the FEI Single Pony Class. Michael Freund kept a watchful eye on everyone warming up and gave us each some feedback before we made our way into the ring. I was second to go, and I was very pleased with Cooper's test. There are always things you wish you could improve upon, but he really worked hard for me throughout the test and I came out of the ring with a big smile on my face. We ended up with a 41.60, the best score in our class and the show EXCEPT for Chester Weber, who had a 37 something. Suzy was second with 48.90. Suzy is a great marathon driver and I like to have a bit more cushion between me and her :) The pressure is on! It was then off to walk the hazards again, and after dressage was over, Michael joined a group of us to walk them and give suggestions on routes. We changed a few routes and decided on some options we weren't sure about. I really appreciated being able to do this on Thursday, so we could concentrate on the fine points while walking the hazards on Friday.

Several hazards are brain teasers, gated in a way that makes it very easy to go through a gate backwards. You have to know exactly where you are at all times to avoid making a mistake.

Birthday at Live Oak

I spent my birthday today (I'm not divulging which one) at Live Oak Plantation. The Live Oak International Combined Driving Event officially begins tomorrow, with the vet check at 8 AM followed by Advanced Dressage starting at 11:00 AM.

Everything looks very green and lush and the weather is sunny, a bit warm in the 80's but a strong breeze is keeping everything comfortable.

The hazards, which didn't open for walking until about 2:00 this afternoon, are technical and long, with the course turned around from last year. The Water hazard and Gulch hazard are number one and two. The water hazard is marked in a way encouraging many trips over the covered bridge in the middle.

The Aiken Driving Club has arranged a tailgate space next to the Tower Hazard and we have quite a contingent of Aikenites/Windsorites coming to cheer on the many Aiken/Windsor drivers competing over the weekend. This should be a lot of fun!

Michael Freund was available to the long listed drivers in the warm up area today, offering good feedback as we got ready for dressage tomorrow.

There are a lot of vendors in the trade fair area this year, and the stage is set for an exciting show. This year the USEF National Championships for Ponies and Pair Horses will be decided at Live Oak.

There are two pony drivers from out west (Arizona, I think) have made the trek to Live Oak this year. It is great that they have joined us and I wish them luck this weekend.

I will post as possible over the weekend. Ann Pringle will post for Driving Digest http://drivingdigest.wordpress.com/ and results will be available on http://www.drivingnews.us/ and http://www.cailiveoak.com/

By the way, it's fellow drivers Jennifer Matheson and Claudia DeLorme's birthday today, too! Happy Birthday to them both!