Tell me about the DETAILS in (Carriage Pleasure Driving) Turnout! And ladies hats!

[pattnic]

I’ve pretty well decided that I am going to take my mare to the Dixie Cup Spring Classic in Conyers at the end of April to compete in the Morgan (hunter) and Carriage Driving classes. The Carriage Driving division appears to consist of Working, Turnout, and Reinsmanship (but I won’t know for sure until they get around to posting the prize list).

I’m perfectly capable of presenting a clean, shiny carriage and clean, conditioned harness with shiny patent, as well as well-turned out horse (and I clean up pretty good myself); but what are some of the details beyond this that set apart the winner?

I appreciate any and all input, tips, suggestions, etc!

Oh, and where should I look to find an awesome hat? (Local and reasonably priced would be good).

Thanks!

PS - Carriage is in profile pic… I’m not exactly sure how to classify it. It’s similar to a Meadowbrook, but it’s not quite a Meadowbrook.

[twofatponies]

I have two hats - one lovely dressy dark green felt with feathers and a mini veil type thing - from Hats by Kate, I think. And a straw one for I did myself - got a pretty straw hat from a shop that has scarves and hats and purses and such. I removed the gaudy orange cloth wrapped around the hat, and bought a length of wide black silk ribbon and tied it on my own way. The former was not so cheap, the latter was about $60 for the hat and ribbon.

I won turnout wearing that hat once, but there were only three people in the class!

I looked at online photos from driving shows to get some ideas.

[RidesAHaflinger]

John Greenall is a noted pleasure driving judge and one of the best-known authorities on turn-out in the U.S. Check his website homepage for links to some of his articles on turnout:

http://www.vermontel.net/~greenall/

[mares_tails]

Road cart

[QUOTE=pattnic;3941803]
PS - Carriage is in profile pic… I’m not exactly sure how to classify it. It’s similar to a Meadowbrook, but it’s not quite a Meadowbrook.[/QUOTE]

I would call it a road cart. (Can’t tell from the pic, but I’m guessing that the seat is fixed, i.e. does not flip up like the seat of a Meadowbrook does.)

.

[ZELLA]

If you wander through your local antique shops and flea markets, you could likely find some amazing hats (and hat boxes!). I’ve got a selection of felt and straw hats that cost as little as five or six dollars; some were fine as is, and some got gussied up with new scarves/ribbons/feathers etc.

Other good places for hats include Burlington Coat Factory (which is also a good place for hat boxes), TJ Maxx, Marshalls. With Easter coming up, there will also be a wider selection of hats in the department stores.

Other details: tuck a pair of white string gloves in your seat cushion (theoretically there to put on in case of rain). When the judge asks you to rein back, look over your shoulder first to make sure the way is clear before beginning the movement. Smile!

[pattnic]

[QUOTE=mares tails;3942263]
I would call it a road cart. (Can’t tell from the pic, but I’m guessing that the seat is fixed, i.e. does not flip up like the seat of a Meadowbrook does.)[/QUOTE]

You are correct - the seat does not flip up. Thanks!

[pricestory]

I’ve gotten quite a few hats from ebay. You have to knid of know what stlyes look good on you and ask if you are unsure of the color but I have never paid more than $55 for any hat.
Remember you will have a country turnout based on the wooden road cart. Don’t get too frufru and fancy.

[KellyS]

Frufru…I love it! :lol:

[Cielo_Azure]

[QUOTE=mares tails;3942263]
I would call it a road cart. (Can’t tell from the pic, but I’m guessing that the seat is fixed, i.e. does not flip up like the seat of a Meadowbrook does.)

.[/QUOTE]

I can’t see the photos, but only an “ez-entry” meadowbrook has a seat(s) that flips up. The traditional meadowbrook has a fixed bench seat, which requires a bit of a scramble to get into.

Jill

[Drive_NJ]

Actually Meadowbrooks were a relatively specific two wheeled cart design from the late 1800s-early to mid 1900s. Now it refers to one of many styles of 2 wheel carts with a split seat. Bench seat carts were either road carts (which could be rear or front entry). Haven’t seen an original Meadowbrook in years, but they might also have an additional springing system similar to what we now call flexishaft but not quite the same. Originating in Long Island. Another Long Island (NY) cart is the East Williston. There were a lot of 2 wheeled carts out there at the turn of the last century and many local builders trying to outdo each other improving each others design for more sales. To all intents and purpose, Meadowbrooks were roadcarts, but not all roadcarts were Meadowbrooks.

We once put on a display at the USET of 5ish ‘carts’ which all looked similar in body design, shaft shape and wheels. The spring systems were very different.

RE dress for your show - Roadcarts and Meadowbrooks are considered country carriages which would call for a country type outfit. More tweeds than dress-up… less formal hat - no veils, neat and tidy trim - aka not a flower garden or exploding chicken of feathers.

According the the Carriage Museum of America http://www.carriagemuseumlibrary.org/Two%20Wheels.html
look down the page and there is an illustration of a Meadowbrook

<STRONG><FONT size=4><FONT face=“Book Antiqua”>Meadowbrook or

[Drive_1_Two]

Carriage Driving Turnout Ideas

One tip I have found useful is to think about where you are showing…Out doors on grass? Or in an inside arena. Think about standing out a bit without being gaudy. Some colors look better outside than inside. I see alot of people going way too dark thinking they are being conservative. Really they just get lost in a sea of natural road carts and meadow brooks. I buy ALL my blazer jackets on Ebay. Alot of my hats come from Burlington Coat factory and Ebay. Of course I have a very good idea what size I am to buy online and at a great price. I would suggest when you get a jacket wear with your cart and horse hitched and have a friend take a picture. Take the picture outside on grass to see how it’s going to look or in the shade on dirt if you are going to show indoors. It’s interesting to see how the same jacket looks different outside vs indoors. Don’t be afraid to be a bit braver in color if it works in the photo. We drive a navy country gig and we have a lime green jacket with a matching hat…Yes matching found the jacket on Ebay and the hat at Burlington…It goes great with our navy gig. The jacket and hat and scarf cost me less than $50! We got 2nd in the competive turnout class at the Festival of the Horse at Weirsdale FL. Also considering going on line and looking at photographer photos like Picsofyou.com for the Flordia Horse Festival Driving show. There were some fab outfits there.
Good Luck!

[paohatch]

Love the color!

Don’t be afraid to be a bit braver in color if it works in the photo. We drive a navy country gig and we have a lime green jacket with a matching hat…Yes matching found the jacket on Ebay and the hat at Burlington

LOVE it! I too have to fight the urge like we are going to a funeral! (e.g. all black!)

[LuvMyVSE]

I feel like I finally have a beautiful outfit to complement my girl. I had Sherry Lower from Hats Off Boutique make me a black apron with tan binding and a tan monogram, so that I can change things up without having to re-do the whole lower half of me. I love my apron! I found my hat on eBay actually, it is really nice. I got it new, it is a Betmar brand and I find I really like that brand. I took my hat shopping with me and found the jacket on clearance at the Dress Barn. Can you believe that the colors were an exact match! My scarf has some touches of the same blue as the jacket, but has some other colors as well. I would like to find a few more scarves to mix and match. Here is my outfit:

http://finchmeadowfarm.com/images/ally/bc_dressage.jpg

http://finchmeadowfarm.com/images/ally/bc_cones.jpg

Here is another outfit I like that I wore for a driving trial last Fall:

http://www.finchmeadowfarm.com/images/ally/AllyDT-T08-1.jpg

http://www.finchmeadowfarm.com/images/ally/AllyDT-T08-2.jpg

I like it that my cart is straight black, it definitely allows me to play around a little bit more with color.

[pattnic]

LuvMyVSE - Your very small equine is very cute!

Thanks so much for the links (John Greenall’s is very good!) and the advice, everyone! It turns out that the show in which I was planning on competing has dropped the carriage driving BUT that means that there is NO rush, and I can piece together the PERFECT (for me) turnout!

Tell me what you think of this:

Harness: Black with some black patent and burgundy beading (brass). Some of the patent is cracked, so I am going to replace the pad (with a black fleece one), the cavesson (with solid black), and the browband (I’m making a ribbon browband - regular brass driving bridle rosettes - that is primarily black with SMALL accents of gold and burgundy… just a bit different than the brass-trimmed browbands, but still subtly eye-catching and tasteful). Eventually, I’ll replace all the patent pieces with new patent pieces, but not yet. Harness is/will be cleaned and shined up (with black dye touch-ups if need be).

Carriage:Natural finish with black patent and brass.

Pattnic: I’m thinking a straw hat with a burgundy ribbon, a burgundy blouse/jacket, and an apron made from Baker plaid, with either burgundy or black trim and monogram.

Thoughts?

[paohatch]

RE dress for your show - Roadcarts and Meadowbrooks are considered country carriages which would call for a country type outfit. More tweeds than dress-up… less formal hat - no veils, neat and tidy trim - aka not a flower garden or exploding chicken of feathers.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: