FEI extreme driving leg at Olympia.....

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avthechav

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Wow!!!

I was sceptical, thought it would be pretty to watch and mildly entertaining.....but the reality was just wow!

Firstly all 7 teams paraded around the tiny olympia arena and not with a pair of two tiny scurry ponies, which is hard enough...oh no, with a team of 4 hot, beautiful full sized sports horses, this was a spectacle in itself, I get flustered,in the warm up at Hartpury when there are more than 8 horses all going round, there were 28 horses negotiating round the set up driving course and not crashing.....amazing!

Then on to the actual competition. I just have no idea how they were doing that, a team of 4 manoeuvring round 10 metre circles in all directions and then flying across the diagonal before coming back at the other end, the lead horses basically doing turns on the forehand and the same time that the wheelers were turning pirouettes..... Completing a course flat out that I would have had trouble to negotiate with my fairly manoeuvrable horse in anything more than a collected trot!

Then a drive off for the win, and what I really loved after that was the the top three teams gave a fab show after receiving their prizes, including a three abreast flat out gallop down the long side of the Olympia arena,

Completely mental and amazing! I would definitely go to see something like that again :-)
 
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It is just wow , and when you learn to drive it's even more wow because you realise they gallop through stuff you feel eeekk about doing with a single .
 
I saw it two years ago, didn't know what to expect but it was fantastic! As you say they are not ponies but 16hh. Can't believe how agile they are :-)
 
Second year Vallin andI have gone to see the driving, it's great, the drivers are all nuts! And the showboating following the presentation is hilarious, if slightly terrifying.
 
Malibu_Stacy said:
Second year Vallin andI have gone to see the driving, it's great, the drivers are all nuts! And the showboating following the presentation is hilarious, if slightly terrifying.
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Completely terrifying! The commentator kept having to tell people to cheer as there was a fair bit of quiet especially during the turney bit.....it wasn't that people weren't interested, it was because that everyone was holding their breath to see what happened next!

Fab entertainment, and really good to see a very close up world class performance of a discipline I have no clue about- interesting to see how the riders (is that the right term?) worked, how the whip was used to communicate with each horse and also the different tack set ups....

I have a couple of questions for anyone knowledgeable..

1) the front horses looked very different shaped to the wheelers, and you could really see they take the strain forwards when they accelerated, can you swap horses around.....side to side or front to back?

2) Does each horse have a separate pair of reins?

3) how much ridden work do they get in their training?

It's fascinating! :-)
 
1) Usually wheelers are larger than the leaders, they have to do the pulling but otherwise you can swap horses around but I think they tend to find their spot.

2) I'll send Rara in to explain ;) each horse does have own set of reins but they get buckled together and I can't remember!

3) dunno, probably not much at that level.
 
Oh she said

Left lead to top of left hand, left wheel out bottom, right lead to top of right hand, right wheel bottom. Left and left buckled together, right and right too
 
Daughter did her work experience with a well known international driver based near us, she was very surprised that most of their day to day work was ridden, only drive about once a week.
 
It's ace! I'll put some pictures up later. If anyone wants to join me at Sandringham or Windsor horse trials later in the year let me know, malibu_stacy is abandoning me for the North! :o
 
mistlekins said:
Daughter did her work experience with a well known international driver based near us, she was very surprised that most of their day to day work was ridden, only drive about once a week.
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I think different people probably have their different ways, I did wonder how they warmed up given the small warm up at olympia and several four in hands and apparently there was a lot of long reining. Indoor teams at this high a level are different to driving trials teams too in that they don't have to do any dressage so flatwork schooling not really necessary ;).

Vam I usually go to windsor as not too far. I have friends near sandringham but didn't go last year, not sure on this!
 
Loved it! So did my oh who has a real itch to learn to drive and I kept promising to take him to Windsor to see the carriage driving but haven't got round to it yet. We where both super impressed and loved it, there was a lots of hold your breath moments and I agree with above, if people weren't cheering it was because they where riveted and not breathing!
I think it was the highlight of Olympia for me, don't get me wrong I really enjoyed the rest but there was something really exciting about it, perhaps because I've not seen it before.
We are definitely going to Windsor next year to watch. My oh is a mechanic and was fascinated by the carriages as well so it was a real treat for him. Hope they do it again.
 
I got my vam's and vallin's confused!

Knowing her schedule she will be busy she isn't always the best guide anyway though she did steer me round the shopping at Olympia but then couldn't tell me where the stand I wanted to go back to was ;).
 
They are amazing arent the! And even as a driver mself it still gives me goosebumps :)

The leaders dont take much strain really so are usually the ones raring to go, they have to get the turns right so the wheelers (back ones) can follow.
 
Pictures! Whole album can be found here (BUTTON PUSHERS, THIS IS NOT A COMMERCIAL PAGE!) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.587000964735512.1073741855.205613276207618&type=1 and one to get you started:

10633800_586991614736447_3953133889635196992_o.jpg
 
Vallin that is an amazing picture. Think you maybe visited my boss at their box?
I love hearing people's reaction to seeing driving, ok the stuff we do isn't quite like that but it's just as exciting and as much fun
 
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