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Lexington Combined Driving Classic

By Jennifer Singleton

The second annual Lexington Combined Driving Classic, held October 2-5 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, was a resounding success. Out of the initial pool of 70 competitors, 15 received blue ribbons in their divisions.

Competitors arrived from as close-in as Lexington, Paris, and Cynthiana, KY; from as far away as Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Canada, Texas, and Colorado; and from everywhere in between.

Over two full days, the drivers performed their dressage tests in front of three FEI-level judges: Diana Brownlie of Great Britain, Klaus Christ of Germany, and Martha Nicoll of the U.S.

Among the preliminary-level drivers, Janelle Marshall of Williston, SC, and her five-year-old Connemara pony, Cap' t Jack Sparrow, received the best dressage score: 45.78 penalty points. Several of the intermediate-level drivers received dressage scores in the mid-40s, but of those three, Kimberly Stover of Smyrna, DE, and her seven-year-old Connemara/Thoroughbred-cross, Laughlin, received the lowest score: 44.44 penalty points. At the advanced (FEI)-level, Larry Poulin of Petersham, MA, also an accomplished dressage rider at the FEI level, drove Natasha Grigg's pair of gray Warmbloods to a score of 45.65 penalty points. For his efforts, Poulin was awarded a special ribbon for having achieved the best FEI dressage score in the competition.

Saturday's marathon phase witnessed the elimination or retirement of 17 competitors. As several of the drivers noted later, and as could be seen at the time by the spectacular clouds of dust being kicked up by flying hooves and carriage wheels, the ground was quite hard because of drought conditions in central Kentucky this summer. Some drivers were eliminated because they inadvertently turned left out of the water obstacle instead of turning right, thereby missing a portion of the track and a mandatory gate. One competitor's pony fell down in obstacle #4 and then got its hoof stuck. By the time the pony's foot was unstuck and he stood back up and was ready to go, the maximum time allowed had run out. Some drivers just had moments of bad luck -quipment failures, broken shafts, etc. that kept them from continuing on course.

When asked later for his thoughts on the marathon course (designed by Richard Nicoll), Rae Fischer of Listowel, Ontario, Canada, said that he thought the very first obstacle on the marathon was quite a challenge - "really technical and tight" - but tthat, of course, it was the same for everybody. By the end of the weekend, Fischer had won the intermediate horse pair division. When Fischer received his ribbon, announcer Geoff Morgan, a fellow Canadian, reminded him that although blue may signify second place in Canada, here it means you$BCS(Be first.

The winners of the single-horse and single-pony divisions at the FEI level are no strangers to international competition. Donna Crookston of Saltsburg, PA, and her twelve-year-old Morgan, RG Cowboy's Black Cadillac, were on the U.S. team at this year's FEI World Singles Driving Championship in Poland. Suzy Stafford of Bear, DE, who competed in Lexington with Bev Lesher and David Forney's 11-year-old Morgan, Courage to Lead, also competed at the 2005 FEI World Pony Driving Championships in England. At that event, she won an Individual Gold medal with the now-famous pony Bouncer, who has since modeled for Breyer.

In the FEI horse pair division, Poulin was in the lead by less than a single point going into the cones phase. But in the end, he had too many penalty points in cones and ended up in second place behind Keady Cadwell of Southern Pines, NC. After traveling 17 hours from Massachusetts and competing at the Kentucky Horse Park for the first time, Poulin's view of the event is that it "doesn't get any better than this.$B!&(B" To back up his claim, he cited the lovely surface in the dressage and cones arena (a polo field on most days), the large amount of space that eliminates the confusion of two-way traffic on the marathon, and the "very good hazards, with just enough hills.$B!&(B" After having won seven U.S. national pair horse championships, Poulin said he plans to retire from competition after this event in 2009.

In winning the FEI pony pair division, Katie Whaley of Southern Pines, NC, overcame an initial mistake with a bit of luck and a pair of flying ponies. An error in her dressage test dropped Whaley down to last of the three competitors in her division. But her ponies are full brothers who have quite obviously worked well together their entire lives. They flew through the obstacles, giving Whaley one of the best marathon scores of the day. The other two competitors in the division were unfortunately eliminated on the marathon, but a win is still a win, and Whaley had only one ball down in the cones phase to end her weekend with a blue ribbon. When asked for her thoughts on the competition in general, Whaley said that she loves the atmosphere of the show. And she reiterated others's comments on the great marathon course and the lovely, flat arena.

Given the proximity of this event to this year's FEI World Four-in-Hand Championship (held at the beginning of September in Holland), many spectators and reporters alike were eager to see Chester Weber at this event, as he had just won the Individual Silver medal at the World Championship. Members of the press were fortunate because they were actually able to sit down and talk with Weber, but the spectators at the event had to be content with seeing him navigating on the marathon. Weber's Dutch Warmbloods, the same team he competed with in Holland, were being driven by Olof Larsson, Weber's farm manager of nearly 10 years. Although Larsson finished in second place behind Gary Stover of Southern Pines, NC, Weber said he thought he had done really well at his first FEI-level competition. When asked about his own experience during the event's avigating on the marathon, Weber said he thought it was a good exercise. He noted that he likes things to be as calm and quiet as possible when he's driving and so he tried to, as he said, "Lead by example.$B!&(B"

The largest number of competitors in any one division were the preliminary single horses. Even after two of their number were eliminated in the marathon phase, that division had more competitors than any other, 10 in all. Going into the cones phase, less than two-tenths of a point separated the leader, Francois Fleury of St. Pauls, Quebec, Canada, from the driver in second place, Boo Fitch West of Evington, VA. Going in reverse order of standing, West and her 10-year-old Selle Francais had one ball down in the cones phase. Then it was Fleury's turn, and he knew he could not knock down more than a single ball. In the end, he had .38 time penalties but no balls down, and he and his 18-year-old Canadian were able to hold onto their lead and secure the blue ribbon in this large division.

After all three phases of the competition, the following drivers won their divisions at the 2008 Lexington Combined Driving Classic.

Preliminary Single pony: Janelle Marshall of Williston, SC (final score: 97.13) Single horse: Francois Fleury of Quebec, Canada (score: 109.84) Pony pair: Caroline Whittle of Columbus, NC (122.00) Horse pair: Rachel Niceley of Strawberry Plains, TN (128.49)

Intermediate Single pony: Muffy Seaton of Williston, SC (120.87) Single horse: Kimberly Stover of Smyrna, DE (109.90) Pony pair: Michelle Walters of Eads, TN (153.17) Horse pair: Rae Fischer of Ontario, Canada (138.40) Four-in-hand team of horses: Gavin Robson of Lebanon, OH (156.95)

Advanced (FEI) Single pony: Suzy Stafford of Bear, DE (122.97) Single horse: Donna Crookston of Saltsburg, PA (129.34) Pony pair: Katie Whaley of Southern Pines, NC (137.01) Horse pair: Keady Cadwell of Southern Pines, NC (122.85) Four-in-hand of ponies: Elizabeth Keathley of Woodbury, TN (178.44) Four-in-hand of horses: Gary Stover of Southern Pines, NC (199.00)

Next year, the Lexington Combined Driving Classic (October 1-4) will host the 2009 U.S. National Championships in all six divisions of combined driving-singles, pairs and teams of both horses and ponies. Two years from now, also at the Kentucky Horse Park, the World Championship in four-in-hand driving (horses) and seven other horse sports will be contested at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.