By Kate Bushman; photos by Cameron Adams
On Saturday June 16, 2018 in Shelbyville, TN, the Middle TN Carriage Club held their fourth annual Schooling Driving Trial, offering Training through Intermediate levels and both Combined Test and full Driving Trial formats to enter. The Dressage judge for the day was Elizabeth Keathley, who provided helpful feedback both in the ring, at the end of each test, and to the group as a whole during lunch.
The Cones course was challenging, being set on a changing grade and including some of the tricky layouts seen at bigger competitions: zig-zags, rollback, narrower cones, etc.
The Marathon was held after lunch over a 4.2 km course with three obstacles. The course was really lovely, taking a route down towards the Duck River through big hay fields, and then into the woods and back to the start.
Almost every entry was a unique size or hitch, so it was a happy day to hand out many first-place ribbons. Top scores in the Horse Driving Trial Training and Preliminary levels received championship ribbons and gift certificates donated by Dover Saddlery.
The winners were:
Training Champion: Earl Burkett driving Easton; Reserve: Claire Root driving Canton’s By Design.
Preliminary Champion: Kate Bushman driving Jewel; Reserve: Jeanette Henning driving Henning.
Taking home blue ribbons for Training and Preliminary Combined Tests were: Jane Hoffman driving Gator, Brenda Rachor driving Bunny, and Vanessa Morgan driving Carson & Bates.
Special honors went to Rebecca Jones and her young pony Obi, who didn’t finish, but got good experience.
We send our deep appreciation to all the volunteers for the day!
