SINGLES DRIVING
Simon Rosenman, President of Drive Canada, said,
“The Four-in-Hand Championship is the ultimate.
Canada has great hopes to send Four-in-Hand
competitors to the FEI Games in Kentucky in 2010.
(At the FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, the
Driving competition is for the World Four-in-Hand
Driving Championship.) Due to space limitations at
Aachen, the World Singles Championships are being
held in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy, from September 20th
to 24th.” But, this year, Canada is
fielding a team of two Singles drivers, Carole
Dailley of Cambridge, ON and Courtney MacGillivray
of Limehouse, ON. A third competitor, Kristen
Brunner of Hillsburg, ON, also qualified for the
team but is unable to attend the competition.
Whether driving a single horse or a team, the
elements of competition are very similar. In the
1970s, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip of
England, (then President of the FEI) was
instrumental in producing the first international
rules for the (then) new sport of combined Driving
trials based on the three-phase format used for
Eventing: Dressage, Cross-Country and Obstacles
(cones).
WHAT'S THE PLAN?
At Aachen, three Four-in-Hand drivers per country
constitutes a team, with the best two of the three
scores counting toward the team’s placing. In Italy,
since Canada will have only two drivers competing,
the minimum for a team, both scores will have to
count. Chef
d’Équipe,
Bill MacGillivray, said “Having two is limiting; it
puts more pressure on the drivers.”
Strategy is involved in all three competitions. In
Driven Dressage it is “knowing when your horse is ready and
how much of a warm-up is required,” said Bill. “In
the Marathon competition it’s knowing the course, knowing
if your horse is speedy or technical,” and
understanding both the driver’s and horse’s
strengths and weaknesses. “In the Cones (Obstacle
Driving Competition) it is knowing how to approach them,
which to trot and which to canter.”
HOW IT'S SCORED- SINGLES DRIVING CHAMPIONSHIP
In the Driven Dressage competition there are five judges placed
strategically around the 40m x 100m (131’ x 328’)
rectangular competition ring. Like ridden dressage,
Bill said the judges “are looking for accuracy,
clear (and) crisp gaits. (See Driven Dressage guide for
general descriptions.)
In the Marathon competition there are three sections. Bill
said, “In the first section, you get zero penalties
if you are between the minimum and maximum times.”
The drivers may choose whichever gait they prefer
(walk, trot or canter), but most cover the 6
kilometre route at the trot. The second section is
only 1 kilometre long and must be performed at the
walk. Here the driver incurs zero penalties if the
section is completed under the maximum
time allowed.
The third section, covering eight kilometres, may be
done at any gait, except for the last 500 metres
which must be done at a walk or trot.
Throughout the Marathon course there are eight
obstacles including two water obstacles. A obstacle
can be
natural-or man-made that must be negotiated, such
as driving down a slope, through gates, through
water, etc. All six lettered gates must be
negotiated in the proper sequence and if you go
through a gate backward or in the wrong order, you
can be eliminated.
The red (marker) flag on each gate must be passed on
the driver's right. The flag (it’s the same in show
jumping) indicates the proper direction for going
through the gates (or over the jump). Penalties are
also assessed based on the time spent in each
obstacle.
“The Marathon phase pulls the crowd out. The crowds
are much larger in Europe. They can cheer after the
Dressage test is finished, and during the Marathon.
They should be fairly quiet during the Cones.
Drivers can be eliminated if it is perceived that
they are getting outside assistance,” he said.
(Outside assistance means, for example, getting
directions to the next obstacle from spectators,
etc.)
The third competition is the Obstacle-cones. The
championship grass-based arena is 180m x 70m (591’ x
230’) and the driver may choose to do the course at
any pace. Bill said, “The cones
competition can make a big difference in the standings.
Nerves can cause big trouble in cones because there
are only 20cm (7.9”) clearance (between each cone
pair)
and a very tight time allowed. There are 20 sets of
cones, like traffic cones, with balls on top of
them. Some may be combinations (A / B / C – like in
Jumping, which must be negotiated in order). It is
three penalty points if a ball comes off the cone,
no matter what causes it to fall. If the cone moves
but the ball stays, there’s no penalty. Penalties
are also assessed for each 1/100th of a second over the time allowed.”
Each driver has a groom/navigator on board. However, the
groom/navigator must remain silent in both the
Driven Dressage
and Obstacle-Cones competitions.
DETERMINING THE FEI WORLD INDIVIDUAL SINGLES DRIVING
CHAMPIONSHIP
Placings are determined by adding the penalty points
accumulated by each driver in all three competitions. The
driver with the fewest penalty points wins.
DETERMINING THE FEI WORLD TEAM SINGLES DRIVING
CHAMPIONSHIP
The scores of the two best competitors on each team
are added together and the team with the fewest
penalty points wins.
Prize money will be offered in all three phases
totalling
€
15,000 (€
4,000 in the Dressage,
€
7,000 in the Marathon and
€
4,000 in the Obstacles competitions)
For further information, please see
www.drivecanada.org
For details on the official rules governing this
competition, please see
www.horsesport.org/ “Rules & Regulations”.
