| Author | Message | ||
     Yogi Howe |
To have both myself and my mum win the national championships was one of the best moments of our lives as it deeply saddens me to see such hurftul things writtin on here. im sure that im not the only one who feels this way especially after all the help and support she has given to so many people in the carriage driving world. Also for her to leave the cones arena into such a negative atmosphere, shows such a lack of team support from her fellow competitors whom she has always supported! i would like to thank her for all of her help and support she has given me, she surely is a one worthy champion! Her marathon was in my eyes an inspiration to any driver! I hope we can now all move on from this! Phillipa Howe | ||
| Yogi Howe |
Well like it or lump it. Sara is the 2009 National Pony Team Champion, and I think that most people would agree a worthy champion. What a pitty that this seems to be a hard pill for some people to swallow. | ||
| Julia Liles |
Due to the cavalier attitude from some officials and some disingenuous coverage in the media, I feel forced to add some balance the this thread. Sadly, the reason Sara's performance has not been heralded is that those of us around the arena at Windsor clearly saw the infringement that should have denied her the Championship. The Pony Team drivers did not congratulate her as she returned to the collecting ring because we were expecting at least 'a disobedience' being added to her score, and actually felt sorry that she had 'blown it'! Frankly, there was a bewildered disbelief as the prizegiving continued, when we knew a protest was being made to the Jury. It seemed totally impossible that the Jury could have missed the 'disobedience' of the nearside lead pony running out left; the offside lead pony jumping the cone; that only the offside wheeler and the two offside carriage wheels went between the cones at 7D; the reaction of the cones steward who clearly expected the bell to ring so the slalom could be rebuilt and redriven; and the competitor circling with a cone wedged under the back step. As the bell never rang, Sara continued with the cone being dragged under the backstep, now a safety issue, through another eight pairs of cones before it became dislodged. Yet, the first, ironically comic, reaction from the Head Judge to the protest was "I said to the Judge next to me 'that was a close one'". But later they all claimed to be 'unsighted', from argueably the most significant turn on the course; between the end of the first slalom and beginning of the second. The T.D. had supplied them radios specifically to have a Judge on the ground but in breach of his advice had cosied up in the box. For them not to have initially rung the bell at the time of the infringement or the safety issue or subsequently given disobedience penalties showed this Jury was hopelessly out of their depth and does not reflect the normal standard of Judging and Stewarding that all of us are grateful for. That they chose to let the rightful competitor lose a National Championship rather than lose face themselves is deplorable and an insult to the whole sport. The Jury's actions (or lack of action) have caused ill feeling in a very friendly class, we have a Champion who feels unsupported, two competitors justly aggrieved at not being the Champion and Reserve Champion and the rest of us knowing they would never have got away with it with the Horse Teams! | ||
| Rita Bundock |
No Yogi you are not the only one that thinks Sara was a worthy winner of the Pony Fours. Dressage was not quite the ticket with a score of ten points away from Alan. The marathon was something else, gained more penalties in the walk section D, Section E-fastest in five of the seven obstacles, second in the other two. Finished the marathon more than ten points ahead of Alan with his bigger ponies. Not bad for a team of Welsh Sec A ponies. I did not see the Cones so I can not comment on them, accept the results indicate that Sara got more penalties than Alan and Ursula. In defence of the Judges, there is a lot going on in the commentary box, where they judge from, so there are many distractions for them but this is no excuse. This needs addressing as I am sure it will be. Sara has competed Indoors over the last two winter seasons with this little team and has brought them on very slowly and had a lot of encouragement to 'go National'. Hopefully Sara (Bronze medal winner last year at the Worlds) will bring her ponies out next year and just prove to all that she is Champion, as those who know Sara, know she really is a Champion in more than driving a Pony team. | ||
| Yogi Howe |
Am I the only one here who thinks that Sara was a well worthy winner of the pony teams class? I think most people who know her and how hard she's worked, would say the win was well and truely deserved. And what an outstanding marathon!! Well Done Sara and Team Howe. | ||
| Fiona Powell |
As these rules affect drivers at club events, can anyone please shed light on the following and how they are or should be interpreted? a) rule 916.2, "For easy identification Grooms must wear numbers... both on their front and on their backs during the marathon." (See photos of the marathon at Windsor...) b) what is a whip, for the purpose of being carried, when it is, in the marathon? Is a long stick without a thong acceptable? Thank you. | ||
| Emma Burton |
Perhaps the judges could also run through the buttons they need to press to get the desired tune to play before the event starts too? And find the volume dial ;o) The incident that spoiled my cones round kind of put a dampener on our first visit to the championships, but hopefully it won't have any lasting effects. No blame being directed from here, just a wish to learn from experiences and avoid the same happening to someone else (or me!!) | ||
| Mary Kusin |
Following this incident the judges realised there was an area of the arena where they were unsighted and took steps to address this in later classes. It is regrettable that this incident occurred and that it had such a significant effect on the outcome of the class but please remember judges are only human and give freely of their time and expertise to benefit the sport. This will be a topic addressed at the next Judges Conference. Mary Kusin BHDTA Executive Officer | ||
| Derrick WHITING |
This matter raised in the last "POSTING" received the IMMEDIATE ATTENTION of THE PRESIDENT of the JURY on a representation carried to him by THE COLLECTING RING STEWARDS and made understandably by other members of THE CLASS....all assembled and watching from the Collecting Ring. The near side LEAD pony (The likely culprit) IN ITS PRECISE BEHAVIOUR AT THE "D" MARKER was unsighted to THE JUDGES. They SCORED WHAT THEY SAW. | ||
| Ian Williams |
Watching from the side lines this year at the National Championships and being an avid follower of the sport i cant help but express my dissapointment on the outcome of the pony teams class. Not wanting to take anything away from the eventual winner, i cant see how your judges missed a blaitant disobedience from the left leader of the team. And after the driver herself then made a loop obviously waiting for the sound of the buzzer, and a cone being dragged under the carriage, the outcome of which cost the second place driver the championships, i fail to see how all your judges seemed to miss this. I am not the only person to think this im sure as plenty more people around me were expressing the same views. I hope you take this into account with regards to those judges involved as i would hate to see this happen to another driver or in fact ever again. Things like this shouldn't happen especially with places so close between 2 drivers. The show itself again was brilliant only to be spoilt by a huge mistake from the judges. These mistakes shouldn't be happening. | ||
| Fiona Powell |
Several people have commented to me that, if BHDTA-affiliated club members were allowed in free, they (say they) would come and watch at the weekend. It seemed a shame to me that there were so few spectators. I know £8 isn't much to lots of people but that on top of diesel and spending a whole day away from home is too much for many. How about free entry or a reduced rate? Yes, I know everything has to make money but people were staying away in droves. The organising team and officials work so hard, it's a shame for everyone that people don't come and watch - and this should be an aspirational event. On Saturday it was quieter than I remember in the past... altho' I and my friends had a super day out - thank you. | ||
| Martyn Willis |
Thank you Vic | ||
| Fiona Powell |
Vic, thanks! | ||
| Vic Kusin |
The start times have now arrived and are on the front page. We have been asked to point out that these are PROVISIONAL times and competitors should confirm their times with the official paperwork at the event. Good luck to everyone competing at the Championships. Vic | ||
| Vic Kusin |
We normally publish the start times for the Championships on our website and on the Windsor Driving website. Some people may recall that we have done this in previous years and we fully intend to do so again. As soon as we receive the official times from the organisers, they will be made available to download. As far as National and Regional event schedules are concerned, these are normally published once the Yearbook has gone to press. There is no point releasing them sooner, as any last minute changes would only cause confusion. Schedules for International events are published when we receive a formal invitation from the host country for our drivers to compete. If anyone's having difficulty finding information on our webiste, please let us know. Often, the alphabetical index is a good place to start looking. Vic BHDTA website | ||
| Fiona Powell |
It's really useful to know in advance when your friends are going to be performing as then you can make sure you arrive in time to watch them! Great idea. Makes it more of a community sport. | ||
| Mike Watts |
I agree with Martyn and Julie. I would be happy to help - I can update this forum software so that organisers could easily post their schedules here (as the Eacdg do) as Word documents or pdf files, or help with a scheme. We find it very helpful to be able to see the timetables - or ideally the full paperwork - so we can arrive to watch our friends or to take photographs for websites and magazines ... or just for interest. Meanwhile if anyone can email me the timetables etc (with permission to publish) at mikew@eacdg.co.uk I will post them here. | ||
| Julie Hoskyns |
What a good idea. Maybe all the National events could post their start times in the future. Good luck to everyone. | ||
| Martyn Willis |
Good Luck to everyone competing at Windsor this week end. Any chance the start times can be put on the championships web site? |