Yesterday (Saturday) at our Winter Conference featured talks on a variety of topics, a sleigh rally and, in the evening, an awards banquet.
“strawberry,” “raspberry,” and “acorn” are names of just three types of sleigh bells; there are more than 600 kinds … these bells were part of the Showcase (photo by Gloria Burgess)
.
bells are strapped to all parts of the horse, carriage, and harness; these are rosette bells, and there are also bells for the shafts and the horse’s rump and neck (photo by Gloria Burgess)
.
with the talks concluding in the morning, attendees bundled up and prepared for the sleigh rally (photo by Gloria Burgess)
.
all dressed up and ready to go! (photo by Gloria Burgess)
.
“the CAA’s president, Colonel Davis (on the right), and Dana Banfield were the Sleigh Rally judges; but if they were in a turnout class, I think the top hat and ear muff look is a winner!” (photo by Gloria Burgess)
.
one of the turnouts in Saturday's sleigh rally (photo by Gloria Burgess)
.
... and another (photo by Gloria Burgess)
.
... and another (photo by Gloria Burgess)
.
this pony was a hit with the spectators (photo by Gloria Burgess) ...
.
... and this turnout was also a big crowd favorite (photo by Gloria Burgess)
.
in the Carriage / Sleigh Showcase, the Davis Documentation Award (for the best-documented vehicle) and the Carl Casper Trophy (for the highest-scoring restored vehicle) went to Jim Leo’s Cutter; P.J. Crowley (center) accepted the awards from Jerry Trapani, on the left, and Tom Burgess, on the right (photo by Gloria Burgess)
.
the Sidney Latham Memorial Trophy (for the highest-scoring vehicle in use in the Showcase) went to Scott Teigen’s 1895 Landaulet (photo by Gloria Burgess)
.
the People's Choice Award went to Mary Block’s reindeer sleigh (photo by Gloria Burgess)
The Slower Road 
January 30, 2011 at 9:02 pm
Just got home from attending the conference right here in Mn, we are first timers, and want to say a big thanks to all who put it together. We really had a blast. We took our horses and drove both days, a little challenging, but we made it, learned about trail conditions and had great fun. We got some great laughs because my husband Mike won best female costume, and he will never get to live it down, but he is good sport. We did find out today that it was his female passengers that won, which was Candy Hankins and me, Kathy Shopa that actually got it. But we are getting some great laughs from it. What a really good time, and sure hope we can attend again.