The Slower Road

I apologize for the delay … I was Internet-challenged yesterday. Here is Wendy’s final report from Lipica (the Garretts’ final report and photos will be in the next post).

Pony Team USA wins team Bronze!!

After a great day of cones, the all-woman Pony Team USA clinched the bronze medal. Germany won team gold with 350.40 penalty points, the Netherlands won team silver with 376.39 points, and the USA posted a score of 402.41, with Great Britain close behind with 433.75.

And, to top it off, Suzy Stafford won the individual bronze medal!

Denmark’s individual competitor, Kristina Klindt, won the individual gold medal with her Lipizzan pony, and the individual driver from Sweden, Susanne Ankermark, won the silver with her adorable Fjord / Trotting-bred cross.

For the pairs, the individual gold and silver medals went to German drivers Dieter Baackmann and Stephan Koch, and the bronze to Italian Johann Weitlaner. In the four-in-hand division, the individual gold and silver medals went to the two adorable gray Dutch teams of Bram Chardon and Jan de Boer, and the bronze medal went to the individual German driver, Daniel Schneiders. Really great driving by all!

In the press conference with the winners, Tom Rumff, president of the organizing committee, thanked all the competitors for a weekend of great sport, and he said he was happy that the sun had smiled on Lipica for the World Pony Driving Championships.

Bram Chardon, son of four-in-hand driver Isbrand Chardon was asked, “Now that you have won the World Championships with pony teams, what’s next?” He answered, “Everyone asked, will I move to horses, but I have no plans for that. When my father shows a team, I am his navigator, and when I show a team, he is my trainer and that works for our family. The Netherlands is also strong in pony sport, and I hope to compete with a pony team if the Netherlands is host of the 2013 World Pony Championships.”

The single-pony champion, Kristina Klindt, who also has a driving father, was asked about the difference between her driving and her father’s. She said that she and her father are very similar and that is why they sometimes argue at shows, so she prefers him to cheer for her rather than coach her. I sat next to her father in the stands during cones. Kristina had come in at the silver-medal spot and posted a double-clear round. The overnight leader, Dennis Schneiders came into cones with less than a ball between them and unfortunately hit three, dropping him to fourth, just out of the medals. Kristina’s father jumped for joy at his daughter’s gold medal win and ran out of the stadium to meet her at the vet check with the great news.

Thanks for all your support of Pony Team USA!!

Karen & Pat Garrett sent this report and photos from today’s marathon phase of the World Pony Driving Championships. Also, just to clarify, I’ve been giving credit to both Karen & Pat, but I believe Pat’s been writing the reports and Karen’t been taking the photos. Just so you know.

First, the numbers and then at least a bit of the story. While the U.S. singles and pair drivers were not in the top ten for marathon, their consistency between dressage and marathon has left several of them well-placed to have a shot at medal positions.

Individual driver Suzy Stafford was fastest of the U.S. single-pony drivers with total penalty points of 73.28, which put her in thirteenth place in the marathon and, except for a problem entering F at the first obstacle, she had a smooth, impressive round. But for that small bobble, she would have been in the top ten on the marathon. In any case, she stands in an impressive fourth place overall after the dressage and marathon phases, with a score of 118.34, or fewer than two balls behind the leader, Germany’s Dennis Schneiders (114.73).

Team driver Randy Cadwell had 76.36 penalty points, which put her in eighteenth place in the marathon and, again, but for one issue in obstacle 3, she would have been significantly higher in the standings. Overall, after dressage and marathon, she is in ninth place in the single-pony division, with a score of 124.49, putting her just over three balls from first place.

Shelly Temple had a smooth round that gave her a 79.39 in the marathon (twenty-third place) and an overall combined 124.06, for eighth place and, again, just over three balls out.

Having seen Jennifer Matheson’s beautiful drive it is difficult to believe that she was thirteenth among the pony pairs in the marathon, with a 76.72, compared to the 70.66 of the pairs winner, Ewoud Boom of the Netherlands. Jennifer’s consistency in the two phases is shown by the fact that she is in sixth place overall with a combined dressage and marathon score of 122.8, fewer than three balls behind leader Dieter Baackmann, who has 114.16 points.

Wendy O’Brien, competing in her first championship, had 93.61 in the marathon and 155.43 overall. Wendy was one of numerous drivers who had a problem in obstacle 6 going from gate F to the exit. There was a tight, slightly off-center path going up a steep slope, and the risk of hitting a post on the left or a tree on the right. Wendy hit the post and nearly came out of the seat; however, she and her groom pulled off the post and all was well.

Both U.S. four-in-hand drivers, Laurie Astegiano and Lisa Stroud, had confident, smooth marathon rounds. Laurie had 91.96 points and Lisa Stroud had 87.05, putting them in eighth and fifth places respectively in the marathon, compared to the 73.4 for Dutch driver Bram Chardon, son of the well-known four-in-hand driver Ysbrand Chardon. Overall, Lisa has 138.25 (sixth place) and Laurie has 148.66 (eighth place), compared to the 117.43 of the leader.

Overall, the United States has held its third-place position in the nations’ competition, behind Germany and the Netherlands. With the elimination of Dutch driver Yvonne De Ruyter, which cost the Netherlands her dressage score of 44.03 and substituted the 52.74 of Melanie Becker, there was some hope the U.S. would move up; however, with strong scores by Dutch pairs driver Ewoud Boom and four-in-hand driver Bram Chardon, this was not to be the case. After the marathon the U.S. has 382.08 points, compared to 360.39 for the Netherlands and 345.01 for Germany. The U.S. remains 38.61 points ahead of fourth-place Great Britain.

There are many stories that will be related over time. However, the most interesting of a long day was near the end. Lisa Stroud had completed obstacle 2 and was out on course when Aart Van De Kamp, an individual driver from the Netherlands driving a Shetland pony team, had a wreck in obstacle 3. One of the leaders tripped and the wheelers ran up over the leaders, creating a huge pile-up of ponies. As they were being disentangled (successfully, with no harm to the ponies) another drama was unfolding in the fourth obstacle as Josef Dobrovitz of Hungary missed his turn into E but hit the post in E and took out the fence of which it was a part. He went on through F and was, of course, eliminated. However, this required a rebuild of a portion of the obstacle. In the end, the entire marathon course was put on hold while the issues in obstacles 3 and 4 were resolved.

The results were delayed as a result of an interesting question as to whether a Dutch driver should be eliminated. The result was no elimination, but we do not have completely clear information about what is a very unique question. We will relay this tomorrow.

.

Suzy Stafford in obstacle 3 (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

Randy Cadwell in obstacle 1 (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

Shelly Temple in obstacle 4 (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

Wendy O'Brien in obstacle 4 (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

Wendy's granddaughters (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

Jennifer Matheson in obstacle 4 (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

Laurie Astegiano in obstacle 3 (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

Lisa Stroud in obstacle 4 (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

This morning, Wendy wrote to say that we didn’t have a report from her yesterday because the Internet in Lipica crashed overnight.

For her Friday report, she writes:

Singles are finshed now and our Team USA members are in third! Michael and Chester are very proud and we are now watching the teams drive this afternoon so I’ll report back later.

I rode on Randy’s carriage for dressage. We started out walking out to the training field past the golf course, then wound our way down to the first holding ring, which is a nice sand dressage arena in front of the stallion barn surrounded by a 6-foot hedge. There were three drivers warming up together, then ten minutes before our test, we were released to the last arena next to the barn. It is a tiny ridden arena — 20 m by 60 m — but it has the same footing and the sounds of the main arena. If I stood up on her carriage, I could see the jumbotron over the stands and could tell what movement the person in front of her was on. I told her when he did his final salute so she could be prepared for the loud applause. Randy’s sister, Keady, was there for her every step of the way, as was navigator Tristan Aldrich, coach Michael Freund, chef d’equipe Chester Weber, and vet Lisa Castenella. They went with each driver as they did with us, giving last-minute help and moral support. The USEF’s director of driving, Lizzie Staller, and her assistant, Elizabeth Keathley, have been in the stands both days keeping track of scores and reporting the judges’ scoring trends. All the other U.S. drivers and American fans have been helping each other and cheering each other on. What a great support crew!

Karen & Pat Garrett sent a few photos from the always-entertaining (and delicious!) “Nations Night” at this year’s World Pony Driving Championships:

.

U.S. supporters Philip Needs (left) and "Burger Bob" Koopman made sliders as part of the U.S. team's contribution to Nations Night (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

... and to go with the sliders, Judy Fryer made s'mores and poured samples of that iconic American whisky, Jack Daniels (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

during the skits portion of the evening, the French team entertained the crowd with their version of the can-can (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

Karen and Pat Garrett’s World Pony Driving Championships report for Wednesday:

The trot out and opening ceremonies at Lipica have been completed. The good news is that all of the United States ponies passed. There was a small bit of concern when Josephine, the pony being driven by Suzy Stafford, was sent to the “holding box” and reexamined by the full ground jury. In the end, Josephine was found “fit to compete.” From the stands it was unclear what caused the initial concern. Having said that, in excess of fifteen percent of the more than seventy ponies were reassessed and only one from Denmark was not passed. Fortunately, this pony was one of three ponies for a pairs driver so it did not prevent him from competing.

.

competitors and ponies waiting their turn to enter the arena for the vet inspection (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

the judges conferring (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

Suzy Stafford and Josephine (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

Lisa Stroud and one her Connemara ponies (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

The opening ceremony was conducted on foot with drivers, chefs d’equipe, grooms, helpers, and supporters, including a few children and at least two dogs, from the seventeen nations parading in on foot with flags waving. These varied from nations represented by one driver, such as Australia (represented by “our own” Janelle Marshall, who was accompanied in the parade by Muffy Seaton!) and Finland, to the six nations, including the United States, who have a full complement of drivers.

The parade was followed by a few speeches and then by an interesting quadrille dressage demonstration by four Lipica Stud Lipizzaner stallions.

.

the judges arriving for the opening ceremony (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

a quadrille of Lippizan stallions (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

the U.S. team (photo by Karen & Pat Garrett)

.

The dressage starting times for the U.S. competitors are as follows: Jennifer Matheson – Thursday at 11:35 a.m.; Wendy O’Brien – Thursday at 2:25 p.m.; Shelley Temple – Thursday at 5:05 p.m.; Suzy Stafford – Friday at 10:30 a.m.; Randy Cadwell – Friday at 11:05 a.m.; Lisa Stroud – Friday at 2:20 p.m.; and Laurie Astegiano – Friday at 3:42 p.m.

The weather is perfect—sunny and in the high 70s—and expected to stay so. It may be a bit warm for marathon on Saturday, but it’s better than the alternative.

As Wendy previously reported, the Lipica Stud is a unique place. Everything seems to be well organized, and it is particularly refreshing to have the championship venue at a location that has an existing equine infrastructure. The comments from drivers and grooms are positive. In addition to the competitors, grooms, and helpers, there is a strong contingent of U.S. spectators.