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Daniel Brown, who is based near Dorking in Surrey is a long-standing member of the British Team with his pair of Suffolk Punches, and not only did he complete his driven stage with pin-point accuracy, he also volunteered to compete in an additional 'ridden stage' which involved getting his horse past weird and wonderful obstacles to test even the most well trained and forward going equines.

Julia has ridden since childhood but it was not until she owned her first pony in 1984 that it became apparent how difficult it was to get correctly fitting tack and harness. This started her interest in becoming a saddler and she got accepted onto the Saddlery course at Cordwainers College in Hackney where she achieved the City & Guilds in Rural Saddlery and Lorinery. Having made her first show harness in 1990 Julia decided to then specialise in harness rather than saddlery and went on to become a Qualified Harness Maker in 1997.

Following a rigorous assessment of her work earlier in the year by the Society of Master Saddlers, she was upgraded to ‘Master Harness Maker’.

Surrey members also did very well in the highly competitive Hackney classes, whilst Wendy Wybrew and James Lewis enjoyed successes in the Ride & Drive classes. Tommy Fountain defended our corner in the trade classes, with wonderful performances from his horses, earning him 2nd in the Costers class and 3rd in the two-wheel light trade class.

In the pleasure driving classes, Caroline Kalmanovitch and Lynne Hamill notched up 2nd and 6th place in the 13.2hh and under class, whilst Christina Fryer (our 2004 Stella Hancock Scholarship winner) took 5th place in the over 13,2hh class.

In the exercise vehicle class Lynne Hamill and Margaret Andrews took 2 of the top 6 places. And finally congratulations to Miss P Cuddon with Sarvak Artful Dodger who won the ‘Best Shod Horse Award’.

Over 15 turnouts took part in this fun and friendly competition (ranging from a single Shetland to a pair of welsh cobs) which involved a presentation phase incorporating a standing inspection, individual show and judging for artistic merit, a 9km roads and tracks drive past the homes of the Whiteley Village residents and on through the estates' parkland, allowing turnouts to take in the most spectacular examples of established Roderdendrum bushes along the way.

After a well earned lunch, the competition concluded with a gamblers cones phase, which is where traditionally this competition can be won or lost! This year was no exception and the competition was hotly contended to the very end, with Ken Russell emerging as the overall winner. Class winners were:

Horse (Ken Russell)
Pairs (Caroline Kalmanovitch)
Pony (Lynne Hamill)
Junior (Joey Weaver)

This event is one of the Area's long-standing engagements and it is with much thanks to the newly appointed Warden at Whiteley Village, that we continue to be able to enjoy this unique venue. This is a difficult and time consuming competition to stage and much preparation work is involved in the setting up of the arena and the drive (a little birdie told me that the course organisers were out for 7 hours the day before the competition setting up and checking the course drive!), so we would like to extend our thanks to David & Helen Pritchard (and their handful of regular helpers) for organising this wonderful event for our members, as without these dedicated organisers, helpers and stewards there would be no competition!

This year, for the first time, we had a number of ‘pairs’ competing in the event, and some spectators may be forgiven for their bemused looks as drivers Margaret Andrews with her pair of Shetlands and Caroline Kalmanovitch driving Daniel Brown’s pair of Suffolk Punches pulled alongside each other for a quick gossip (see picture)…which just goes to show that this competition really is suitable for all types of turnout, little and large!

The Surrey Area BDS Committee would like to thank Mr & Mrs Gowing at Bocketts Farm for the use of their land to stage the obstacles phase of the competition, the Surrey Wildlife Trust for allowing us the use of Norbury Park for the timed drive, and to David & Helen Pritchard and their team of efficient and friendly stewards for organising and running this exciting event for our members. It was really nice to see so many competitors taking the time to personally acknowledge and thank them for all their hard work and preparation, without which there would be no competition – some competitors even mucked in with the clearing up afterwards!

Joey Weaver

Gail Diprose

The day started with a training session in the sand school so participants could acquaint themselves with the horses (two beautiful Suffolk Punches - Titan and Prince), practice their long reining skills and get used to loading logs and manoeuvring the timber arch. Dan set out a challenging ‘obstacle course’ aimed at highlighting the importance of positioning for both the handler and horse whilst long reining through hazards and tight turns in order to safely manoeuvre the loaded logs.

After lunch the serious task of extracting the felled timber out of the woods began, with everyone taking their turn at entering the woods, choosing their log, loading it onto the timber arch and pulling it up out of the woods, negotiating other fallen logs, tree stumps and various obstacles along the way.

For participants showing exceptional horse handling skills, the day finished with the challenge to run the gauntlet of the ‘Cresta Run’ a steep and muddy pull directly up through the middle of the woods, which has to be negotiated at a reasonable speed with the horse and without the handler slipping or falling over! Paul was the only one brave enough to take on this challenge, and successfully emerged at the top of the run to the delight of his audience - still upright and beaming like a Cheshire cat!

The day was so successful that we are planning to run another course for BDS members later in the year and also on the cards is the possibility of running a ‘introduction to ploughing’ day. For further details of these courses, please contact Caroline on (01306) 883 150.

Congratulations to David Beddows driving Rosebarr Jodie and Margaret Andrews driving Lager & Brandy for winning the best Concour d’Elegance turnout for the traditional and non-traditional turnout sections.

After lunch, the turnouts competed in an informal cones competition, which attracted large crowds of spectators all eager to see what our driving equines could do.

Thank-you to all the drivers, from whom we raised a donation of £108 for Painshill Park – I’m sure everyone enjoyed themselves and we hope to hold another drive at this venue in the Autumn.

A big thank you to Cherry Chidwick and Gail Diprose for all the hard work they put into organising this superb event.

It was really nice to see so many Surrey Area BDS members taking part in the parade, including Margaret Andrews driving her pair of Shetlands and Alice Pritchard driving Northleach Roulette (see inset picture), both of whom, having been inspected by the farrier and vet, were awarded a ‘First’ by the judges.

Because we had no idea of the large number attending this dive, it caused quite a logistical headache on the day for all concerned which could have easily been avoided. Sorry to moan but your help in this area would be greatly appreciated in the future.

Thank-you to Lawrence and Pat for their wonderful hospitality at the Valentines Drive and for catering for so many at the end of the event. Please note entrants at all of our events will be asked to show their current BDS membership cards, horse passport(s) and have a competent groom to accompany them. Every turnout must be harnessed correctly and both driver and groom must wear a hat, and the driver should also wear gloves and have a whip.

For more information on the Surrey County Council Horse Pasture Management Project please visit their website www.surreycc.gov.uk/SCCWebsite

To see earlier news items from the Surrey Area
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