The Slower Road

Each of the classes in this evening’s session at the CAA Carriage Classic featured gorgeous turnouts and, because it was evening, lamps were lit.

After a successful showing, the winner of the evening’s first class (Single Horse Turnout), P.J. Crowley, rushed back to the barn …

.

.

… to help his wife, Tara, get ready for the Single Pony Turnout class, which she then won:

.

.

Some of the nine ponies in that class, lined up for the judge’s close inspection:

.

.

Tom Burgess and his pair of Friesians won the Park Division Evening Turnout class. That’s his very proud mother-in-law seated beside him.

.

.

The final two classes for the evening were Coaching Turnout and Coaching Timed Obstacles. Marilyn Macfarlane’s Park Drag was the only entry in the coaching division, but she put on a beautiful show for the very appreciative crowd. I’ll have more later (in a separate post) on this particular entry. But as a bit of a teaser … Have you ever seen a coach driven through a cones course? It’s quite a sight!

.

.

For complete results, see Driving News USA’s website.

This afternoon’s session at the CAA Carriage Classic featured nine classes.

Paul Maye and a cute-as-a-button little Welsh pony finished the Single Pony Progressive Obstacle class in fourth place out of eleven competitors:

.

.

The winner of that class was Polly Petersen, who was thrilled with her pony and proud of her win in the first-ever CAA pleasure-driving show:

.

.

For his part, I’m sure the pony was especially happy to get a nice bath on this warm afternoon:

.

.

The afternoon’s pair classes (turnout and reinsmanship for both horses and ponies) featured a number of gorgeous turnouts, in the area outside the barn, in the warm-up, and of course in the arena:

.

Tom Burgess

.

J.W. Fielder

.

Kacy Tipton-Fashik

.

Vicki Nelson Bodoh

.

From the Pair Pony Turnout class, we have two views of Jacqueline Ohrstrom’s beautiful Hackney Ponies to an antique lady’s wicker Phaeton:

.

.

.

And, finally, the last class of the day was won by its single competitor. Thirteen-year-old Olivia Smock and her Welsh pony, Oak, won the Junior Reinsmanship class (here, they’re getting ready in the barn aisle):

.

.

The first-place winners in all of this morning’s and afternoon’s classes (in the order the classes were driven) are as follows: P.J. Crowley won the Single Horse Reinsmanship class (out of 9 competitors); Myrna Rhinehart won the VSE Reinsmanship class (2 competitors); Tara Crowley won the Single Pony Reinsmanship class (11 competitors); Laura Nuessle won the Single Horse Progressive Obstacle class (10 competitors); Polly Petersen won the Single Pony Progressive Obstacle class (11 competitors); Debbie Feemster won the Utility Vehicle Working class (6 competitors); Myrna Rhinehart won the VSE Turnout class (2 competitors); Kacy Tipton-Fashik won the Pair Horse Reinsmanship class (7 competitors); Vicki Nelson Bodoh won the Pair Pony Turnout class (4 competitors); Tom Burgess won the Pair Horse Turnout class (7 competitors); Katie Whaley won the Pair Pony Reinsmanship class (3 competitors); and Olivia Smock won the Junior Reinsmanship class.

As with all of our online show and event coverage, you can find numerous photos of each day’s activities here on the blog.

But if you haven’t already “liked” the CAA’s page on Facebook, you may want to. The blog will always have more photos, but I’ll be posting a few “teaser” photos on our FB page several times each day during our CAA Carriage Classic … before each new blog post goes up. So our Facebook “friends” will be getting sneak peeks at each day’s events. Don’t miss out!

There was a lot more activity in the CAA barn today, with trucks and trailers of all sizes delivering horses, ponies, and carriages of all shapes and sizes.

I went over to the barn a little before 10:00 this morning, to meet a local journalist and introduce her to a couple of people who would then explain their carriages, introduce their horses, etc. While I waited, both a coach and a two-wheeled vehicle were maneuvered off an enormous trailer with the help of a winch.

.

.

.

Margaret (the journalist) and I chatted with Gloria Austin, who had offered to take Margaret along on her team’s first outing for the weekend. While Gloria’s horses were being harnessed, she and Margaret discussed driving, types of vehicles, and the particular carriage she would be driving that morning — a Beaufort Phaeton made by Binder of Paris.

Then the horses were put to the vehicle.

.

.

.

.

.

Luckily, I was already wearing my carriage-driving-inspired “fancy” straw hat, as I was invited to ride along too. What a treat!

As you can see in the photos below, we drove through beautiful, peaceful areas of the Kentucky Horse Park and lovely scenery on a neighboring farm whose owners have graciously allowed the CAA show and mini-conference participants to drive on their property.

.

.

.

.

Then it was time to unhitch the horses …

.

.

… at which point Margaret caught a(nother) ride with Tom Burgess and his pair. I think she had a good time at the Horse Park today!

.