By Kate Bushman
Photos by Gerry Plock
This year marks the 22nd anniversary for the Middle TN Carriage Club. We’re celebrating with some renewed club activities, and most recently, on July 19th, a well attended schooling horse driving trial at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tennessee – home of the Iroquois Steeplechase.
For those who are less familiar with combined driving trials, here are the basics: they are modeled after the ridden three-phase “eventing” competition, but geared for carriage driving. The three phases are: 1) driven dressage; 2) marathon; and 3) cones. A total penalty score is calculated from the three phases to place the competitors in their respective divisions.
Working in conjunction with the Middle TN Pony Club, we were able to use the steeplechase grounds at the Percy Warner Park. This is a fantastic venue for carriage driving, with great flat fields for dressage and rolling terrain and natural obstacles for the marathon course.
Competitors gathered from both ends of the state to participate in Training Level and Preliminary Level divisions.
Division winners were: Training VSE: Jenni Housley and TNT Triple C’s Love; Training Single Pony: Jose Hernandez with SNF Henning; Training Pair Pony: Laura Grimes with Tux & Snow; Training Single Horse: Brenda Rachor driving Jc Viva; Preliminary Single Pony: Robin Bates driving Coco Chanel; Preliminary Pair Horse: Rachel Nicely driving Roma & Bella.
These are the final results:
Rachel Nicely driving her Friesan x Saddlebred horse pair Roma & Bella
Victoria Bramblett driving her Arabian mare Carmin
Laura George driving her miniature donkey Triple C’s Love Bug “Herbie”
Robin Bates driving her Morgan mare Coco Chanel, aka “Bunny”
Photos by Gerry Plock
This year marks the 22nd anniversary for the Middle TN Carriage Club. We’re celebrating with some renewed club activities, and most recently, on July 19th, a well attended schooling horse driving trial at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tennessee – home of the Iroquois Steeplechase.
For those who are less familiar with combined driving trials, here are the basics: they are modeled after the ridden three-phase “eventing” competition, but geared for carriage driving. The three phases are: 1) driven dressage; 2) marathon; and 3) cones. A total penalty score is calculated from the three phases to place the competitors in their respective divisions.
Working in conjunction with the Middle TN Pony Club, we were able to use the steeplechase grounds at the Percy Warner Park. This is a fantastic venue for carriage driving, with great flat fields for dressage and rolling terrain and natural obstacles for the marathon course.
Competitors gathered from both ends of the state to participate in Training Level and Preliminary Level divisions.
Division winners were: Training VSE: Jenni Housley and TNT Triple C’s Love; Training Single Pony: Jose Hernandez with SNF Henning; Training Pair Pony: Laura Grimes with Tux & Snow; Training Single Horse: Brenda Rachor driving Jc Viva; Preliminary Single Pony: Robin Bates driving Coco Chanel; Preliminary Pair Horse: Rachel Nicely driving Roma & Bella.
These are the final results:
| Division | Driver | Horse(s) | Total |
| Training VSE | |||
| 1st | Jenni Housley | TNT | 71.20 |
| 2nd | Laura George | Triple C's Love Bug | 137.10 |
| 3rd | Theresa Puckett | Crooked Creek's Bosco | 307.20 |
| Training Single Pony | |||
| 1st | Jose Hernandez | SNF Henning | 61.40 |
| 2nd | Sarah Foster | Major Marlo | 72.00 |
| 3rd | Brooke Newell | Marquee | 77.20 |
| Training Pair Pony | |||
| 1st | Laura Grimes | Tux & Snow | 109.90 |
| Training Single Horse | |||
| 1st | Brenda Rachor | Jc Viva | 66.10 |
| 2nd | Wilbur Sensing | Blue Ray | 94.60 |
| 3rd | Victoria Bramblett | Carmen | 90.10 |
| Preliminary Single Pony | |||
| 1st | Robin Bates | Coco Chanel | 201.86 |
| 2nd | Vanessa Morgan | Foothills Hopefully | 247.94 |
| 3rd | Carole Moss | Lucas | 255.05 |
| 4th | Marianna Cramer | Alibi | 255.18 |
| Preliminary Pair Horse | |||
| 1st | Rachel Nicely | Roma & Bella | 249.46 |
Rachel Nicely driving her Friesan x Saddlebred horse pair Roma & Bella
Victoria Bramblett driving her Arabian mare Carmin
Laura George driving her miniature donkey Triple C’s Love Bug “Herbie”
Robin Bates driving her Morgan mare Coco Chanel, aka “Bunny”
