Did any non-driving people get a chance to watch driving? What parts? Any questions?
Mike Arnold
http://drivingnews.us
Yes! All three parts (Friday afternoon dressage, got to see Boyd Excel!). Loved the whole thing. :yes: I can’t tell you how many people I talked to who had never seen it before.
I was surprised they could change horses out, rather confused as to how many they could change? And why they could change? Also, why are there awards for dressage and marathon, I thought it was like eventing, all three phases only? Thanks!
ME!!! I watched dressage with a fabulooos little radio thingy attached to my ear that had a Dutch trainer? judge? doing commentary (fantastic for someone like moi who knows little about driving) and then the marathon! YOWZERS was that cool!!!:yes::yes::yes:
Need more of driving coverage all year round…Fantastic
Driving was awesome.
I went to Marathon, and had a blast! Had a driver with me to answer all my stupid questions. 
I now want to teach my roommate’s mini to drive.
Awards per competition and horse substitutions
In places other than the US, for FEI shows, its seems they give awards for the Presentation (sometimes), Dressage, Marathon & Obstacles (Cones) competitions. These awards commonly include prize money. (this may be always but I don’t know that for sure).
(its confusing terminology, but each phase is called a competition)
For US events (ADS, USEF, or FEI), there is no prize money and usually only ribbons/trophies for (usually) the top 6 places in every class (Single, Pair & Fours, also divided by horse/pony and level - so there can be a bunch). A few events will give special awards for the best dressage and/or marathon score in a division. But usually only 1 award, not 6.
For 4-in-hands, a given competitor can bring 5 horses to a show. Any 4 of those horses can be declared and used during any of the 3 competitions. (but no substitutions once they have started a given competition).
Why do this? Often your best marathon horse is not the best dressage horse. Several drivers have a french trotter for the marathon … they seem to have a particularly strong survival instinct and in addition to being able to trot tremendously fast, the ability to move in more than one direction at a time … but are not the best in dressage. There were several examples of a good survival instinct with a leader that drops way back to avoid slamming into a post on a quick turn, but then is quickly back in the lead.
On the marathon, after sections A & D, in the vet check, several drivers move their horses around in the team, exchanging the leaders & wheelers (for example).
feel free to ask anything,
Mike Arnold
http://drivingnews.us
I just want a refresher. I used to go and volunteer at Gladstone during driving events, but don’t recall seeing 3 people in a carriage. I know that there is a driver and navigator, but what is the other persons role?
More driving news!
Now that is something I can help with. 
See http://drivingnews.us for results of most all CDEs (and some pleasure shows) in the US and abroad (when Americans are competing) I have links to a bunch of clubs and other driving related sites.
Many local clubs have very easy-to-enter and compete events and driving has number of levels and combinations. There is Training Level, Preliminary Level, Intermediate Level, Advanced Level with each higher level having more complicated dressage tests, faster speeds and tighter clearance in cones. (Advanced uses the same tests that are used by the FEI). There are divisions for minis (at some shows), ponies, & horses and those are further divided by single, pair, four-in-hands and tandems (one horse in front of another).
Be sure to look at the ADS (American Driving Society) website (http://americandrivingsociety.com/) for the online omnibus for ADS sanctioned events as well as a way to join the ADS!
Also see the CAA (Carriage Association of America) website (http://www.caaonline.com/)for more information on the art and tradition of carriage driving.
Mike Arnold
http://drivingnews.us
Thanks for the info Mike…the driving was awesome !!
Number of Navigators/Grooms
The number of navigators/grooms required is tied to the number of horses … a single, pair, or tandem turnout requires 1 navigator/groom, a 4-in-hand requires 2 navigator/grooms. This is really a safety issue, so that when stopped, one groom can go to the head of the leaders and the other to the wheelers.
This is a rule throughout driving, in all competitions, for pairs and fours the groom(s) are required to always be attending the carriage. (in lower levels of CDEs and at pleasure shows, singles can get away without a groom)
Mike Arnold
http://drivingnews.us
Thanks!
I watched driving while I was volunteering both the Dressage and Marathon portions.
I learned a lot thanks to chatting with the Stewards especially John Porter…He was great 
I have a new interest in driving and got a recommendation from John to go visit Sterling at the Gayla driving center to take some lessons. Not sure when I will have a moment to but I will def. be taking some lessons in the near future super excited
Yes! I watched the marathon, that was wild…I was wondering about the scoring…I saw someone had 190something faults and thought that was bad but apparently it’s good? I understand the dressage, that seems to be scored much the same way as eventing dressage, but how do the faults for marathon/cones work?
I watched the marathon and tip my hat! BTW thanks for posting the links to the drivingnews web site posting the scores- the daily sheet I purchased really wasn’t configured for keeping track the right way. I did understand that fastest time through each obstacle was a good thing and there was an overall time requirement.
A very helpful volunteer at the Walnut Hill obstacle provided lots of good information also. I drove a pony a little bit as a kid, along with all the other barn rats, but cannot hope to tell you how we ever harnessed and hitched the beast and we of course simply set sail down the road without a care in the world, vaguely realizing how to turn and stop. That must have been a great pony. Otherwise, have judged obstacles for low level singles and pairs but the opportunities to see driving in my current neighborhood are slim to none!
It seemed to me like the lead horses were controlled by voice a lot- and also had to get out of the way to let the wheelers do the heavy work! All in all, VERY enjoyable to watch. And yeah I’d like to try it again some time with some proper instruction!
My interweb was out the past few days and I feel like I missed so much @ WEG.
What what happened with the vandelism, etc?
[QUOTE=JinxyPoo;5152309]
how do the faults for marathon/cones work?[/QUOTE]Briefly,
For the Marathon:
Time window for section A, with penalties for coming in over or under.
Time allowed for section D (1k WALK, under 8:35 at WEG)
Time window for section E,
PLUS time penalties in the obstacles (0.2 per second from the time they cross the start to the time they cross the finish, so 60 sec = 12 pts)
Additional penalties for errors (groom down; corrected course error i.e. wrong gate sequence, but then corrected; dislodgeable elements; etc.)
Miss a gate and don’t correct it - ELIMINATION
For Cones:
Time allowed (207sec at WEG), with penalties for coming in over.
3 points for knocking down one or both balls at an obstacle.
Drive an obstacle backwards or out of sequence - ELIMINATION
OK, this might be the dumbest driving questions EVER, but I know almost nothing about it. Every year, my husband and I go watch the marathon day here at KHP during the CDE in the fall. Normally, the competitors are cantering/trotting between obstacles and appear to be being timed through the whole course. We noticed that almost all of them were either walking or jogging between obstacles at WEG. I was confused since I guess I always assumed it was a bit like XC and you want to get around fast and clean. Can someone explain?
The pace is controlled by the rules. You can canter in the obstacles but not between them.
There’s designated walk sections.
In the walk sections of the course there’s not to be any water, sharp turns or steep hills.
There’s determined distances with “free pace” in sections A and E.
Those can be altered though by competition officials and dependent on weather and ground conditions.
[QUOTE=ddashaq;5153063]
I was confused since I guess I always assumed it was a bit like XC and you want to get around fast and clean.[/QUOTE]
There is a three minute time window to hit overall on section E (~35min at WEG) or you get penalties for too slow OR too fast.
It is modeled after eventing, but unlike jumping, it is hard to be sure how much time you will take in the obstacles.
Drivers typically “bank some time” early (i.e. drive faster than the average pace required) in case they get hung up. If they have no problems in the obstacles, then they end up walking near the end of the course to make the time window.
