The Slower Road

Marathon Saturday was a glorious day of sunshine, blue skies, and cool breezes. Strangely, despite all the rain we had a few days ago, it was also really dusty. The marathon went off beautifully, with only two accidents that I know of … both involving Belgian drivers. Despite the hold caused by one of the turnovers while the navigator was taken to the hospital, we’ve heard that everyone is fine. [edited to add that, on Sunday, an announcement was made that the Belgian groom was doing better but was still in the hospital for observation and that she would be taken home to Belgium on Monday]

Ponies were flying all day. The report is, in fact, that Britain’s Susan Denney flew so fast through the hazards (which she certainly did) that she also flew through the rest of the course and ended up with a bunch of time penalties for being too early. Ooops!

As is usual on marathon day at a world championship, the venue was filled with packs, often verging on hordes, of national fans, dressed in their country’s or driver’s colors, sporting funny hats, and carrying all sorts of flags, noise makers, and the like. At this particular venue, the obstacles were so close together (as far as the spectators were concerned) that two were in one area and then six were just down the road with a hill in the middle and the six grouped around … allowing for the fans to walk between obstacles to follow their drivers rather than station themselves at one obstacle or run between them.

In the single pony division, Arjo van Kekam (NED) is in the lead after the marathon, with Suzy Stafford (Go Team USA!!!) currently in second place, and Melanie Becker (NED) currently in third. Suzy, then, will go next-to-last in this morning’s cones competition. Sherri Dolan is currently in 22nd place, and Sara Schmitt was unfortunately eliminated for missing a gate in one of the obstacles (number 2, I think).

Suzy Stafford in obstacle number 4

Sherri Dolan and her enthusiastic navigator, Claudia, in an obstacle

Sara Schmitt in the final obstacle, one of two with water

In the pairs, Daniel Schneiders (GER) is in the lead, Stephan Koch (GER) is in second, and Steffen Abicht (GER) is in third. Tracey Morgan is now in ninth place overall, Randy Cadwell (who finished seventh in the marathon) is now in 24th place overall, and Katie Whaley is in 25th place overall.

Tracey Morgan in obstacle number 4

Randy Cadwell in the “hill” obstacle

Katie Whaley splashing through the final water obstacle

In the four-in-hand division, Germany’s Tobias Buecker is in the lead, Steffen Brauchle (GER) is in second, and Jan de Boer (NED) is in third. Laurie Astegiano has moved up one spot and is now in eighth place overall. Lisa Stroud is in seventeenth place at the moment.

Laurie Astegiano navigating through “the ruins” (obstacle number 4)

Lisa Stroud galloping into an obstacle

We’ll see what happens in today’s cones competition … but, first, enjoy some of the sights and faces of yesterday’s marathon:

Austrian fans decked out in red and white

a couple of goofy Dutch hats … bright orange, of course

a German fan getting into the spirit of the day

some French fans carried this flag around all day

this many, and more, Dutch fans followed each of their drivers from obstacle to obstacle and offered their support all day

a Hungarian driver and his navigator urging their pair of ponies on

Dressage is finished here at the 2009 World Pony Driving Championships. The rest of the pairs and all of the four-in-hand teams went yesterday (Friday).

Tracey Morgan finished the dressage phase in sixth place (53.50). Katie Whaley, who’s competing as an individual, finished tied with two other drivers for eleventh place (57.34). Unfortunately, Randy Cadwell didn’t have a very good dressage test, and she finished next to last, in thirty-third place, with a score of 71.68.

Katie Whaley

Randy Cadwell

The leaders in the pairs division after dressage: Stephan Koch of Germany currently stands in first place, with a score of 40.83; Steffen Abicht of Germany (44.42) is in second; and Anna Grayston of Great Britain is in third.

The four-in-hand division is the smallest, with only twenty entries. The leader here after dressage, Tobias Bücker of Germany, scored 42.75 for a dressage test that everyone was talking about long after he’d finished, it was that nicely done. Currently standing in second place is Tinne Bax of Belgium (44.67), and currently in third is Steffen Brauchle of, guess where, Germany (50.30).

Our two U.S. drivers are in the middle of the pack. Laurie Astegiano (an American driver who lives in France) is in ninth place with a score of 58.37. As the sad note in an otherwise nice test, Lisa Stroud went off course and accrued five extra penalty points, putting her at 65.54 (sixteenth place) for the day.

Laurie Astegiano

Lisa Stroud

In the team competition, eight teams are competing for top honors. There are eighteen nations represented here, but only eight of those have sent enough drivers to field a full team, which consists of two drivers in each division. The U.S. team members are Sara Schmitt and Suzy Stafford (singles), Rand Cadwell and Tracey Morgan (pairs), and Laurie Astegiano and Lisa Stroud (four-in-hand). The other U.S. drivers are all competing as individuals and are, of course, eligible for individual prizes but not the team medals. At any rate, the U.S. currently stands in fourth place in the team standings after dressage. We’re a mere 1.01 behind the Dutch. Ahead of them by about ten points are the Belgians and, unfortunately for everybody else, the Germans are in first place by about thirteen points.

Suzy Stafford (in fourth place, our best U.S. finisher in dressage) and Chef d’Equipe Chester Weber share a laugh during the dressage awards ceremony

The weather today was absolutely gorgeous but it’s getting quite warm in the sun. Fingers crossed that it’s not too hot today on the marathon course!

So that you, too, can enjoy the excitement, the flags, and the cheers, applause, whistles, barking dogs, and swing music from this evening’s dressage awards presentation, here are the laps of honor for the various divisions (first, the singles, then the pairs, and then the four-in-hand teams). Enjoy!

So the first day of dressage is over. The singles division is finished, and about a third of the pairs have gone. The rest of the pairs and all of the four-in-hand teams will perform their dressage tests today.

 At the moment, Suzy Stafford (48.51) sits in fourth place after a lovely dressage test. In first place is Franz-Josef Lehmkuhl of Germany (44.80), in second place: Peter Koux of Denmark (46.46), and in third place: Johan Verswalm of Belgium (46.98). Sara Schmitt (55.42) is in twelfth place after dressage, and Sherri Dolan (58.50) is in eighteenth place.

Suzy Stafford during her lovely dressage test; she looked very pleased with it at the end

Sara Schmitt executing a one-handed circle during her dressage test

Now that we’re part way through the pairs division, Tracey Morgan currently stands in third place with a score of 53.50 penalty points.

Tracey Morgan and her and Susan Deutermann’s Dartmoor ponies

In the evening, we were all treated to a lovely stallion show presented by the North-Rhine Westphalian state stud farm at Warendorf, which is only about 25 km east of Münster. After the show (endangered cold-blooded breeds, demonstrations of high-school movements, a variety of quadrilles, and a “rodeo clown”-type comedian who was also a very good bareback rider) were the opening ceremony and parade of nations. So the competition is officially on!

one of the cold-blooded (draft) stallions in the opening ceremony show

… and another stallion presentation, with one being ridden and two driven

several of the U.S. team members in the opening ceremony’s parade of nations — each team entered the arena in one, two, or several carriages