July 5, 2011
I’m working at the moment on an article for the next (August) issue of The Carriage Journal, on the “Death Valley Borax Wagons” … you know, the ones that were pulled by the famous twenty-mule teams.
Which reminded me of this video that Sue Murray shot at the second Western Vehicles Symposium, held earlier this year in Santa Ynez, Calif. If you haven’t already watched the video, be sure to take a look!
July 4, 2011
This video doesn’t have any horse-drawn vehicles in it. But it is horse-related … sort of.
Enjoy!
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July 3, 2011
The final portion of the CAA Carriage Classic – the Presenation Pleasure Drive – was held this morning. A variety of turnouts drove a three-and-a-half-mile course through the beautiful Kentucky Horse Park and neighboring Walnut Hall Farm.
So come with us to the side of the KHP / Walnut Hall road, pull up a chair (or a blanket), and let’s watch the parade of carriages go by:
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July 3, 2011
I had meant to put this post up much earlier today, but it’s all “video, video, video” (Can you name the movie?) … and videos take a long time to upload!!
So without further ado, here are a few clips from yesterday evening at the CAA Carriage Classic.
First, Sterling Graburn’s victory lap after winning the Multiple Horse / Pony Fault-and-Out Obstacle class with his team of Hackney Ponies:
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Next on the schedule in yesterday evening’s session was the Coaching – Best Team class. In the first video, you can hear the announcer (Guy Brown) explaining some of the history of Marilyn Macfarlane’s yellow and black coach (although, sadly, the sound quality seems to have deteriorated quite a bit in the transition from my video camera to my computer to YouTube … sorry about that). In the second video clip, Marilyn is driving a figure-eight.
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Next, in the Park Division: Performance class, Tom Burgess (who won the class and the Park Division Championship) and then Jacqueline Ohrstrom, with her pair of Hackney Ponies put to an antique wicker George IV Phaeton:
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Then seven dogs invaded the arena for the Carriage Dogs class. Here are few, followed by the victory lap by the winner, Lucy Fur. If you look closely, you can see her ears flapping.
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The final class of the evening, with four very creative entries, was the Costume class. The “zebra” pulling the circus wagon (accompanied by an acrobat, a lion tamer, and a fortune teller) was awarded second place, and the “safari tours” entry, pulled by the “giraffe,” won the class.
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July 2, 2011
As you already know (if you’ve been following the blog throughout the Carriage Classic), we have only one entry in the Coaching division: Marilyn Macfarlane’s Brewster Park Drag, which was built in 1880.
It’s always a treat to be able to see several (or lots) of coaches at any one event, but even a single coach is awfully impressive and quite a spectacle in its own right.
You may remember, back on Thursday, when the coach was unloaded from its trailer. And no, don’t worry, those two men are not supporting the weight of the vehicle, they’re just guiding the front wheels. The coach was lowered slowly down the trailer’s ramp by way of a winch cable.
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When I first went over to the CAA barn on Wednesday, the Walnut Way Farm crew was already busy bedding the horses’ stalls and setting up tack-stall coverings:
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Then, once everything was set up, the horses and the vehicles (the coach and a tandem cart) were brought over. In Walnut Way Farm’s case, this is possible because the farm is only about an hour’s drive (or less) from the KY Horse Park.
When it first arrived, the coach sat in the barn aisleway under a protective sheet …
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… accompanied by Marilyn’s matching yellow and black pansies:
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Then, yesterday evening, the coach was brought out and made ready for its Carriage Classic debut. With Marilyn on the coach were a number of guests and one of her dogs:
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Yesterday evening’s session featured two classes in the Coaching division: Turnout and Timed Obstacles.
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Because the lighting in the indoor arena (when filtered through a camera) doesn’t quite do Marilyn’s coach and horses justice, here’s a photo of the same coach from a couple of years ago. I took this photo during the cones phase of the Sporting Day of Traditional Driving held as part of the 2008 CAA Conference, here at the Kentucky Horse Park (but outside!):
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The Slower Road 