Many thanks to Trish Demers, who alerted us to this video posted on YouTube. It features a moving-pictures view of street scenes from 1903 London, along with a jazzy musical score.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-5Ts_i164c
August 4, 2009
a fascinating bit of driving history
Posted by Jennifer under history, horses & driving[2] Comments
August 1, 2009
it’s all video, video, video
Posted by Jennifer under competitions, Lexington & KHP, WEG 2010Leave a Comment
[Extra-credit points for anyone who can name the movie!]
Spent part of this afternoon testing out our new little video camera, at the Kentucky Cup vaulting event. This international event (CVI*/**) features competitors from eight nations and is being contested in the (beautiful!) new indoor arena here at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. This is also the second of the test events for next year’s World Equestrian Games. (Unfortunately, we didn’t have our new-fangled video capability for last month’s reining test event.)
So, if you’re not familiar with vaulting and would like to see what it’s like, here is a video clip of the final freestyle performances for one of the competitors in the CVI* Individiual Women’s Competition. This young woman received the highest score in this round of all the ones I watched. Her three-day total put her in second place overall as of the end of her performance (there was still a third of the class to go when I had to leave, though).
July 23, 2009
videos of carriage driving in England
Posted by Jennifer under competitions, horses & drivingLeave a Comment
Mike Lee produced a half-hour program on this year’s Royal Norfolk Show in England (held at the beginning of July).
He’s kindly sent us (to share with all of you) the link to a five-minute “highlights” video that shows mostly the commercial (“light trade”) vehicles being driven. Click here to watch the video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbFp5UYjT9I&feature=channel_page
He also sent us this video, which features a discussion of the differences between English and American carriages:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POGHPMQUWvk&feature=channel_page
June 26, 2009
It’s probably a cliche — but true — that there’s nothing you can do about the weather. Everyone who attended this year’s CAA Conference seemed to have a good time — driving (or watching others drive), attending lectures, watching demos, and visiting with old and new friends — despite the miserable weather. We were in the beautiful countryside just outside of Leesburg, Virginia (not too far from Washington, DC), where we all endured chilly temperatures, then brutal heat and humidity, gusty winds that threatened to blow us (and things in the headquarters tent) all over the place, and torrential downpours. But we had a good time!
Here’s a look back at the weekend:
one of the four-in-hand drivers during Thursday’s twilight drive, John White, was also one of the winners in the Sporting Day of Traditional Driving on Saturday
Tom Burgess drove his pair of Friesians on the twilight drive; his wife Gloria is in the back, and Gloria’s mother is sitting beside Tom (What are they looking at? See below)
the mansion at Morven Park
one of the single turnouts on the twilight drive: Roger and Sue Murray
the CMA’s Katharine Magruder gave a well-attended talk on choosing appropriate carriage colors; the lights in the room were turned off so the colors in her samples and slides would look more accurate
Richard Nicoll presented a fascinating talk on making and repairing bow-top whips
Colonel Davis, who organizes the annual Showcase, introduced the judges before they gave their commentary on the carriages (in the sunshine!); the Rockaway in the center won the high-point award in the restored division (the Carl Casper Trophy)
the crowd pulled chairs out from under the tent and set them up in the shade to see the carriages in the showcase (which had been pulled out into the sun) and to hear the judges’ commentary
this recently restored Brewster coach won the award for having the most complete documentation
the newly built pony-sized Spider Phaeton owned by Harley Waller (shown here driving his carriage to a pair of ponies during Friday’s Sporting Day of Traditional Driving) won the high-point award in the vehicles-in-use division (the Sidney Latham Trophy) and the Peoples Choice Award
Harley Waller’s Spider Phaeton was built by Harley Chandler (Chandler Coach Shop in Kentucky); Harley was at the conference and autographed several copies of a new DVD about his shop that happens to feature the new Spider Phaeton
Willi Green often brings unusual vehicles for the Showcase, and this year was no exception when he showed up with a 1902 fire-fighting ladder wagon
Willi explained how the ladder wagon would’ve worked, while a couple of volunteers hand-cranked the main ladder to a portion of its 65-foot height
Ayrshire Farm gave a demonstration of a beer dray, pulled by two huge Shire horses; after watching a few turns around the “green,” everyone was invited to come take a close look at the wagon, the horses, and the harness
one of Ayrshire Farm’s “smaller” Shires, being ridden in the demonstration
several of the youth in attendance gathered for an exciting “equine quiz bowl” game on Friday
on Saturday, the youth had fun with horn-blowing lessons from Rich O’Donnell
the two girls not blowing an actual horn are practising the “pursed lips” technique they were learning for blowing a coach horn
Did we tell you that we had some rain?? Ted Swendson brought his ponies and carriage all the way from Alberta, Canada, and wasn’t about to let a little rain stop him from driving on Saturday morning
later on Saturday, after the rain, everyone was treated to a visit from the huntsman, whippers-in, and hounds of the local hunt; here, the hounds have gathered in the shade and are watching all the people watching them
then, everyone who wanted to was invited to visit with the hounds; these two have found a new friend
here (and in the next photo) it’s hard to say who’s having more fun: the children or the very friendly foxhounds
happy hounds and happy kids
May 20, 2009
the final day of the show
Posted by Jennifer under competitions, RWHS, travel / destinations, Windsor1 Comment
The final day of this year’s Royal Windsor Horse Show was as exciting as you might expect. With the final phase of the FEI driving, the beautiful “private drive” of the British Driving Society, and final rounds and championships in many of the show’s most popular classes, there was a lot to see. I missed most of the show jumping, unfortunately, but some of the biggest classes, including the grand prix, are held on the final Sunday of the show.
The weather on Sunday was variable. I awoke to bright sunshine, and then by a bit later in the morning, it was pouring rain. The rain was so steady and the clouds so solid that it looked as if it were set in for the day, but by late morning it had blown over and the sun was back out. Then, in the early afternoon, it rained again, and then cleared up again. And on and on it went. As you might imagine with all this rain blowing in and out, it was really quite windy.
In the FEI driving, the rain, hooves, and carriage wheels had turned the warm-up area into a sea of mud, and the carriage cleaners must’ve had quite a job at the end of the day! When everything was finished, Dieter Hoefs of Germany had won the pony four-in-hand division with a score of 170.89, Beat Schenk of Switzerland had won the horse pair division with a score of 130.98, and the reigning world champion, Ysbrand Chardon of the Netherlands, had won the horse four-in-hand division with a score of 134.09. In the horse pairs, American driver Randy Cadwell finished in 9th place overall, with a score of 154.57. In the middle of the afternoon in the main arena, HM The Queen presented the awards to the winners of the FEI driving competition.
American driver Randy Cadwell on the cones course with her pair of horses
in the horse pair division, Austria’s Isidor Weber (shown here on the cones course) won the cones phase and finished sixth overall; his horses are owned by one of the members of our CAA group at the show
Ysbrand Chardon, saluting the crowd and celebrating his victory after the awards ceremony in the main arena
In the early afternoon, a large number of beautiful turnouts gathered in one of the arenas and then left for a lovely (and, unfortunately, rainy) long drive through the park. This annual class in composed of BDS members and is judged as a concours d’elegance of sorts. The judge each year is an artist (this year, it was Joy Claxton), and her task is to pick the turnout that makes the lovliest picture, the one she’d most like to paint.
as is tradition, HRH Prince Philip led the way for the BDS drive
a long line of carriages, heading out of the showgrounds and into the park for their annual drive
Some of the highlights from the rest of the day:
one of the several packs in the annual meet of the hounds
the members of the team from England celebrate their victory in the Pony Club games, which go on throughout the show (with the final on Sunday) and which pit England against teams from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Northern Ireland
a bit of the excitement from the final round of the Shetland Pony Grand National (look at that gray pony’s form!!)
In the evening, our CAA group met one last time for a farewell dinner. We enjoyed a traditional British Sunday dinner of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, and vegetables. Speeches were given, stories shared, and then, sadly, goodbyes made. We’ll be back again next year with a new group of travelers and, in the meantime, we’ll be traveling to Germany in August for the 2009 FEI World Pony Driving Championships and to Argentina in November. Whether in person or here on the travel blog, we hope you’ll join us!
The Slower Road 