I caught up yesterday with the WEG Driving technical delegate, Phillip Bateman (GBR), and got the scoop on a few Driving details.

The A and D sections of the Driving marathon have been flagged (i.e., the trail’s been marked), but nothing can be done with the obstacles in Section E until after today’s Eventing cross-country is finished, as both courses share several obstacles.

Most of the Driving horses are now on the grounds. The U.S. team and alternate horses will check in on Monday, and the Canadian, Australian, and Polish drivers’ horses have not yet arrived. But everyone else is here. Most of the European horses (forty-five in all) came on the same flight from Amsterdam, which was turned back to Schiphol shortly after taking off (mechanical trouble, I’ve heard) and then arrived here eight hours later than planned.

Now that the Endurance horses are finished, the four-in-hand teams are allowed to drive on the Horse Park’s “back road” from the stables to the polo fields waayyyy in the back, where practice arenas have been set up.

Phillip himself is doing lots of paperwork at the moment, and is getting everything ready for Wednesday afternoon’s Presentation Competition, which is sponsored by the Carriage Association. Through the generosity of a number of “Friends of CAA,” we are able to offer ribbons and cash prizes to tenth place, plus a few other wonderful prizes. And every driver who participates will receive an equally wonderful bottle of champagne.

Today is actually my one day off during WEG, but my husband and I will be right back out there, playing WEG tourists: watching the Eventing cross-country, visiting the trade fair, etc. There’s no driving allowed today because of the cross-country competition, so perhaps we’ll see a few drivers out watching the eventers with the rest of us.