| Author | Message | ||
     Jane Wilson |
There are some great comments here. Perhaps the BHDTA should put them in a leaflet to hand out! Can anybody think of anything specific that would have made it easier to get competing or did you all think it was straightforward anyway? | ||
| Liz Howe |
Having had a lifetime showing ridden hunters, cobs and Shetland ponies in-hand, I came to driving later on in life. A pony I had bred and shown with much success found herself with nothing left to achieve in the show-ring. Not having any children to ride her, I decided to break her to drive. Several years ago I saw a miniature spindle-back gig and said to myself 'If I ever learn to drive, I would like one of those'. Harness was purchased at Thimbleby and Shorland auctions and an exercise carriage was found advertised in my local feed store. A trip to the library provided a book so that I could see how the harness fitted (yes, I really was that green!). The pony took to driving like a duck to water - she really made it easy for me. I found a local driving club on the internet and found an excellent instructor to put me straight - what fun we had! Now, two years later I compete I.H.D.T and I also had built a spindle-back gig to fit the pony for showing, this year we were proud to drive at Smiths Lawn. We are regulars competing at our driving club and have met some super people. We have learnt a lot and enjoyed every minute of it. I am now starting my three year to drive - it's so compulsive - I just can't stop driving!!!!! | ||
| Fiona Powell |
What fantastic reading this makes! I started driving again - after hurtling round a field as a teenager with a friend's outgrown pony pulling a "carriage" made from a Mini-car back end, perched on a straw bale! - when I thought I couldn't ride much owing to an old back problem. A new friend invited me to groom at an event for her and I was hooked, then I found Mike Daniell and got my own pony... I think what keeps us going is the very friendly camaraderie as well as the competition. We are such a small sport you can get to know lots of people. Everyone can compete at their level and still enjoy it. I like competing with my (formerly non-horsey) husband. And going to such beautiful places for events. We like organising events, indoors and out, too, and do our best to get more spectators as this is one of the best ways to get people into our very secret sport - see below! | ||
| Jane Wilson |
Some excellent suggestions coming out of this discussion. A common denominator seems to be going somewhere and seeing carriage driving - Lowther, SoE Carriage Fair, British Open etc. etc. Patti, I would NEVER call you old! (it would at the very least tar me with the same brush!). Nicolette, I'm glad your daughter's hooked - without young people coming into the sport it would simply dry up and blow away. Amanda Saville has done a great job in promoting driving for young people but I think she's just resigned from the committee, which is a shame. I hope your daughter enjoys competing indoors and that after a taste she will want to do outdoor events too. Christopher, you're right, "Carriage Driving on a Shoe String" is getting on a bit and it always struck me that some people's shoe strings were longer than others! I think many new competitors could give you tips on how to get started for the bare minimum. If you compete with the NEDTL you'll know that we went back to allowing electric fence compounds for horse/pony whilst at an event. This means you don't have to go to the expense of portable stabling and has made it much easier for a lot of people to get competing. Any more stories out there? | ||
| Christopher Priestley |
I got involved by following in the footsteps of my dad who backstepped at NEDTG events in the 1990s. He was introduced by a work colleage who nominated him as a backstepper to replace her as she was to take up driving. I think that could be classed as "bring a friend". At the moment, I am content to steward and backstep. I have to thank websites for providing with contacts and information to keep me involved after my Dad "retired" I would dearly love to have my own turnout, but costs are prohibative to me so it would be interesting to know how to do HDTs from scratch, and on a budget. (Jilly Johnstone's Carriage Driving on a Shoestring book is showing it's age a bit). | ||
| Nicolette Hughes |
HI, My daughter started driving after watching the scurry at the British Open April 07. Mr Osbournes groom threw the Rosette and she caught it, she said "I want to do that mum, do you think I could"? She didn't let up and and I found the BDS website, rang one of the instructors who pointed me in the direction of Mike Daniell. Nadia has had lessons for a year then had a pony broken in for her that belongs to our local farmers, this will be their first season of IHDT and I am sure it won't be the last , she is hooked! I think to get young people interested do something in Pony Magazine or absolute horse for the teenagers and adults in our area. It wasn't that easy to get going and without the internet I wouldn't have had a clue, even though we are horse people!! Regards Nicolette | ||
| Patti Atkinson |
I know you said 'relatively new drivers' but as a 'relatively old one' I couldnt resist a comment. I started when a friend got involved and we went to watch. After 2 training drives out we bought a ride/drive cob - a 4 year old - and this very novice driver and very novice horse proceded to get everything dangerously wrong! Its great to see the new training facilities and instructors that are now available and obviously doing a great job. Carole's suggestion of promoting it as an 'event on wheels but more exiting' is a great one and Clare's of getting a challenge organised at the big shows would be brilliant. Kathleen - I know how you feel about the location of events and trainers... I live in Durham! Best of luck to all our new (and relatively new) drivers - hopefully see you at an indoor or out next year. | ||
| Jane Wilson |
Hi guys, This is excellent - keep 'em coming! | ||
| Kathleen Upsall |
Hi! I have just started driving and am having regular lessons with a fantastic qualified instructor with a view to competing next year in some small club events. i have had horses for a while, but used to enjoy going as fast as i could SJ and XC- however after my SJ mare had a bad kick in the field and i have put her in foal, my interest in SJ waned. I have had a bit of an interest in driving for a while, visiting lowther etc, so have decided to take the plunge and learn coachman style correctly. Through a friend, i have been loaned a fantastic all round 14.2 who knows much more than i do and i am riding her this winter with a view to start driving her out in early spring, once i am safe to do so...!! I will be joining a club in scotland, as i have friends who drive there, and my loan pony's owner to help me along. I am also attending events as a helper to understand what goes on! I found my instructor by searching on the internet and the BDS site. However, where i live- in sunderland, i am approx 90 miles from Escrick park, 90 miles from dumfries and galloway, and 70 miles from my instructor, so wherever i go, it costs a fortune in diesel! We have no more local affiliated driving trials clubs, so have invested in a new wagon to get where we need to go without (too much...!) risk of breaking down. | ||
| Carole Redgrave |
Hi Jane, I've been driving for just over 12 months now and the thing that really got me interested was going to watch an indoor trials organised by Chester HDTG at Byley last November. I had just started driving our Standardbred gelding who was never going to set the harness racing world alight so my other half who bred and raced him got Vanessa (who is now my backstepper! ) to back him with a view to sell him on as a riding horse. I began riding him and immediatly seemed to click with him, he was so honest yet exciting to ride. My other half nearly fainted when, one Sunday,I asked him to harness him up for me to "have a go at driving"- he'd been trying to get me to drive for the past 25 years!I can't believe how much has happened since then. We became BDS Cheshire Area Novice cone driving champions, Reserve Champion pre-Novice with Chester HDTG and last weekend won the indoor trials Novice Horse class at Adlington organised by Chester. I would say that the initial attraction is the excitement of the hazards but the most important thing to me has been the people. Not once have I been refused friendly help and advice and the snootiness that you can come across in other Horse sports is non-existant in driving trials. A good way to promote it would be to call it 3 Day Eventing on wheels- only more exciting! Hope this helps a bit, Good Luck! | ||
| Clare Iveagh |
Hi there, I have been doing driving trials for 2 seasons but wanted to do them a full season before that. The moment of absolute decision that I had to have a go at this mad sport was watching the four in hand team challenge at the South of England Carriage Fair. I watched that and decided I had to have a go! I wish someone would try to organise one of these at HOYS or Olympia or some of the large county shows as I think it would raise the profile of the sport. Could clubs organise a demo at BDS shows or for BDS clubs? What made it possible for me to have a go were excellent training facilities locally, top class trainers who were (are still) prepared to take on a total novice muppet with a novice pony. Training days organised by my local club. Although most of all the endless free help, encouragement and advice of other club members. It took me a year to get to a standard where my pony and I were able to take part in our first event. It was Ashfields Spring event last year and after many hours of training going to an event like that was the best competition event I have ever taken part in in 20 years of competing. That was it I was totally hooked. If I had to suggest another way to engage people I think there is room for an 'introday'. Either this could be organised along side a driving show or by clubs. It should be pitched below prenovice standard. A very simple dressage test, 5 or 10 sets of cones and one obstacle with 4 gates. People could come along in any vehicle and either just have a go or enter a small competition. I think it would give people an idea of the sport without being over whelming for either animal or whip. For a novice driver and a novice horse even pre novice is quite a big leap from pottering about at home or showing (or at least it was for me!!). Perhaps this sort of thing is already going on? I know that there was a show in Lincolnshire that organised one of these alongside its standard showing classes. Also what about demos at pony clubs or talks with videos? I hope this is of some help? | ||
| Jane Wilson |
As committee member of the North East Driving Trials group who has been charged with arranging publicity for the club, I would like if possible to do a little bit of research into how new drivers are coming into the sport. This hopefully will help me to target any future publicity effort more accurately, rather than using the "scatter gun" approach of merely sending reports of events off to various publications in the hope that they'll be printed. So, I would be most grateful to any relatively new drivers out there who might have a spare moment to consider some of the following: How did you get to know about carriage driving/driving trials in the first place? What made you want to have a go yourself? - was there any one thing that made you say "that looks great, I want to have a go at that!" How did you go about finding out what opportunities there were to help you get started and did you find it easy to get the right help? The answers to these quesions - and any other similarly appropriate ones that you might think of - will be most gratefully received! Thank you! |