May 14, 2010
Here are a few photos from Thursday at the Royal Windsor Horse Show:
three of the fifteen participants in the Light Trade class (photo by Jill Ryder)
a new entry in this year's Light Trade class ... an ice cream cart! (photo by Jill Ryder)
a Riding for the Disabled Fancy Dress entry in the warmup ring (photo by Jill Ryder)
two more entries in the Riding for the Disabled Fancy Dress class (photo by Jill Ryder)
May 13, 2010
Jill’s Royal Windsor Horse Show report from Thursday …
After a great reception and dinner last evening in our hotel, several of the group slept in! However, a hardy goup joined me at 8:30 this morning to walk over to the show and be shown around. Each year it seems that the show is slightly changed in layout and classes and I am often left surprised!
The weather was sunny and warm first thing this morning and continued so until after lunch. Then there was a little shower (this is England!!) and clouds and it was cold. I watched some Hackney classes this morning, then walked down to the driven dressage arena and saw Tucker Johnson score a 49 (ending in second place overall despite having his best leader spun from the vet check yesterday — apparently it did something to a leg while being transported from Germany to Windsor and was lame). Complete scores came be seen at www.hoefnet.com.
Then it was back to the Castle Arena to watch the Light Trade class. Fantastic is how I could describe it with fifteen in the class (six two-wheel and nine four-wheel vehicles). They all came in the ring together but ribbons were placed in both the two-wheel and four-wheel divisions and then an overall champion was announced. The class took almost an hour to complete as each turnout was given the chance for an individual workout (halt for a close look by the judge, then a figure-eight at the trot, a short walk back to the judge, stop, and back). There were some really unusual vehicles, and it was fun to see.
At 4:30 this afternoon, the entire CAA group was invited to a Pimms Party in the camp area of the Fawcetts, the Woods, and the Sellers. Great fun.
May 12, 2010
Jill’s report for today:
All of the CAA group managed to arrive safely yesterday, and we enjoyed a walkabout from Eton to Windsor and then all stopped to enjoy an afternoon tea (tea of choice and two scones each with clotted cream and strawberry jam – yum!!). Then many enjoyed an early evening after their long flights.
This morning (Wednesday), we all enjoyed a breakfast in the hotel and then walked up the hill in Windsor to watch the changing of the guards just before 11 a.m. The guards are accompanied by a military band, and the cars are all stopped as the troops walk up the main road from the barracks to Windsor Castle.
the band and guards as they walk up through Windsor town from the barracks to Windsor Castle for the changing of the guard (photo by Jill Ryder)
Then the CAA group assembled outside the Windsor Castle Mews to await Terry Pendry, Stud Groom, who had agreed to show us around the Royal Mews (not open to the public). As you will probably have heard, the British government just elected a new Prime Minister and so the Queen was in London to accept Gordon Brown’s resignation and then welcome David Cameron as the new Prime Minister. All this had an effect on Terry and what he was to do that day (as she would normally be at Windsor to enjoy the show and often ride in the morning).
We were admitted by the castle police and stood patiently to be welcomed by Terry. He arrived and spent the next one-and-a-half hours showing us the carriages and cars in the Mews, the many horses of the King’s Troop (who are temporarily housed in the Mews as they are to perform at the show), the harness, the farrier’s shop, and the Queen’s horses and ponies. Of course, the Mews itself is an interesting study with its stables, riding school, grooms quarters, and offices. Members of our group were really interested in everything they were shown, and we were sorry when we had to leave!
Terry Pendry describing the Royal Mews riding school building and its use and pointing out the King's Troop's guns (photo by Jill Ryder)
The morning weather was nice: the sun had come out and all the while we were in the Mews, the sun continued. Just after we left and stopped to watch more King’s Troop horses arrive from London by horse van (and be unloaded out on the street and walked into the Mews), it began to shower!
The forecast is for it to get better each day – hope so.
the Long Walk, taken from just in front of Windsor Castle (photo by Jill Ryder)
Tonight we are going to enjoy a group dinner in our hotel, and we will welcome guests George and Eileen Bowman, Tommy and Barbara Fawcett, Geoff and Anne Woods, Tony and Jan Sellers, and Marie Wood, all from England, plus Jack Pemberton from Canada.
May 11, 2010
All of Florida’s late-winter / early-spring events are over now, and all that remains for the four-in-hand drivers is to continue working, training, and competing (perhaps in Europe for some drivers) and then awaiting the selectors’ decision. At stake: the chance to represent the United States at this year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games — three spots on the U.S. team and (we hope) several individual spots.
One of the drivers hoping to represent the U.S. at this year’s WEG is Mike McLennan of Texas. For the past year, we’ve been reporting on his training, competing, and general progress toward his goal. These reports have been featured in our magazine, The Carriage Journal, since March of last year. As we get closer and closer to the WEG (now fewer than 140 days away!), it’s become impossible to provide timely updates in a printed magazine that’s published five times a year. And so we’ve moved our “Road to the WEG” series here to the blog.
In the late winter, Mike and his wife, Jerry, loaded up the horses and drove the 1,200 miles from Brenham, Texas, for the first of the Florida events. By the time all three events were over, Mike and Jerry had driven back and forth all three times, for a total of nearly 7,500 miles. Mike says the truck and trailer “are fine, but the humans and horses were worn out” by the long trips. All that driving is a chore, for sure, but it is still less expensive than finding accommodations for people and horses in Florida for all that time. And there are all those chores to do at home, because they unfortunately don’t do themselves. And, last but certainly not least, the horses are able to spend most of their days turned out at home, so they get a bit of a restful break between trailer rides and competitions.
One goal at these first events of the year was to qualify Anton, the seventh and final member of their four-in-hand team. At Little Everglades (January 28–31), Anton was, quite frankly, a “detriment” in the dressage, but the team nonetheless finished the dressage phase in third place out of twelve competitors. In the marathon, Anton ran out of gas, with devastating effect. Mike was in either first or second place in each of the first three marathon obstacles, and dropped to eighth, eighth, and then twelfth in each of the final obstacles. They finished the marathon (and the overall event) in tenth place. This after having finished the marathon in third behind only Chester Weber and Boyd Exell at last October’s Lexington Combined Driving Classic (the official test event for the driving portion of the WEG) with their “A” marathon team.
Mike McLennan and his "A" team of marathon horses at the 2009 Lexington Combined Driving Classic, where they finished the marathon in third place (after this turn, Mike guided his team out of the obstacle saying, "Come on boys, let's get out of here!")
But Anton completed all three phases at Little Everglades, and the team earned a high enough dressage score that all seven McLennan horses (five of their own and two borrowed) are now officially qualified to compete for a spot on the U.S. team.
Things improved for Team McLennan at Sunshine State (February 26–28), where they finished in fifth place overall, out of a field of thirteen, but Anton had been “put on waivers,” as Mike says (in other words, dropped from the “A-level” team), because of his dressage score.
As we get closer to the WEG, the developing drivers are able to train with both Peter Tischer and with the U.S. team’s coach, Michael Freund (both are German drivers and trainers). Mike was one of the surprisingly few drivers who took advantage of Michael’s coaching in Florida, and Mike says it was invaluable in helping him see and fix his problems in the moment, rather than while reviewing video several hours later. One of Michael’s concerns for Mike: that he needs to slow down, in the cones especially, so that he can drive more accurately and less, as Mike says, like a stagecoach driver.
When I spoke to Mike in early March, his goal for Live Oak (March 25–28) was to finish either first or second in the marathon. In the end, out of fourteen in the four-in-hand class, Mike and his horses (Ruff, Tuff, Fabulous Fred, and Donovan) finished the marathon in fourth place. That plus a sixth-place finish in dressage put the team in third place overall heading into Sunday’s cones phase. And then the rains came. Apparently, the storm was so bad (downpours, lightning, the works) that several classes meant to go after the four-in-hand teams had to be cancelled. I can only imagine how bad the mud must’ve been. Mike and his horses got thoroughly soaked on their way to a clear cones round (their first in a long time), but they were really slow. The time penalties and resulting tenth-place finish in the cones phase dropped them to fourth overall in the 2010 USEF National Championship.
On the USEF ranking list that came out around the third week of April, Mike was right about in the middle of the pack (seventh out of twelve hopefuls). A few selection trials remain before the selectors must make their decision about who will represent the U.S. at the WEG.
Until then, Mike plans to continue working at home and to travel to one more (the final) selection trial: the Iron Horse CDE in Illinois (July 30–August 1), which is a more reasonable drive from Texas — only 1,157 miles each way — than some of the other events taking place between now and then. We’ll keep you up to date!
May 10, 2010
Here is Jill’s first report from England, which she sent on her Monday afternoon and which arrived in my U.S. email inbox on Monday morning:
“I arrived on Friday in England, with only an hour’s delay because of the volcanic ash. I landed at Heathrow and then took a train to Dorset to visit my brother, John, and his family for the weekend. They have recently finished building a new house and I was pleased to see it. Great location and a wonderful house! Then on Sunday, I took the train back towards Windsor and settled in to our home for the week, The Christopher Hotel in Eton. We always receive a warm welcome in this small, old hotel, formally a coaching inn. Several people were due to arrive today, one day early. I have only seen two people of the five due and both of them were delayed (one for more than four hours) because of the volcanic ash. I went down to the showgrounds today, to the driving office, to pick up our tickets for the show and the Tattoo (which we will enjoy on Friday night). The horses are due to begin arriving tomorrow (Tuesday), and so I was glad to get in and out of the way before the mayhem! The weather has improved a little today and we saw the sun. It has been cold all weekend, colder than ususal.”
The Slower Road 