Summer shines on Thoresby

Midlands Carriagedriving shook off the grim Spring weather to enjoy it’s season’s opener at Thoresby Park in sunshine during the warmest weekend of the year so far (11 and 12 May).

Dressage took place in front of the impressive Thoresby Park House while Section A of the marathon enjoyed a new route past the lake and through some woods. Quality of competitors over quantity was the order of the day although the cones course proved somewhat fiendish for some.

Robert Buck, driving two outfits, finished with a one-two taking the class with Charlee, owned by Midlands’ stalwart Elisabeth Greensmith. His dressage scores of 46.38 and 48.85 were closely followed by Sandra Ormerod on 49.99. However, it was Megan Wheeldon, lying fourth after the first phase, who came closest to chasing Robert home, finishing third overall.



Chris Ainscough, current Open Horse National Champion, continued his winning ways in that class, starting with the best dressage score of the day (32.96) before sweeping all before him to finish over 30 penalties ahead of Wendy Wyatt in second with Sue Mart – who had put up a good fight in the first two phases – finishing third. In Novice Pony, Izzy Brunner had a clear advantage following her dressage of 40.80. Lying second at that stage, Lyn Chorlton flew round cones for best score of the day (6 penalties) and produced very quick obstacle times but couldn’t catch Izzy and had to settle for second place.

Chris Ainscough


Izzy Brunner


Lyn Chorlton







Harriet McEntee won both dressage and obstacle phases to head the Novice Horse class while Melody Jones and Joanne Gadsby fought it out for second and third, Melody just having the edge. Horse Pairs saw Peter Bennett lead from the start with a dressage score of 43.02, also heading the cones and obstacle phases for a clean sweep with Angela Flanagan in second; they were the only two to finish in the class.

Harriet McEntree


Peter Bennett


In the Pony Pairs Julie Wedgbury also had a clean sweep over the only other competitor, Matt Illston-Barnsby to take the class comfortably. Angela Smith was in a class of her own in Pony Team, scoring well in the cones phase on her way to completing the competition.

MC’s next Two-Day Event is Onley Grounds in Warwickshire from 27 to 28 July which will host a Two-Day National alongside Club classes. The dressage and cones arenas are on lovely flat ground while the premises boast permanent toilets and showers as well as a café and farm shop. Sadly the ground at Anslow, Derbyshire, is still too wet for use on 19 May so the first One-Day Event to take place at the venue will now be 16 June followed by a second on 24 August.

A third Two-Day Event takes place at Oasby in Lincolnshire from 17 to 18 August which will have classes for all and incorporate the Midlands Club Championships. The host of cups and trophies to be awarded at the AGM include three for Grooms – vital members of the competition. Put the dates in your diary!


Photos: Isobel Corby

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In Memory of ‘Madge’ Edwards

Image
 Those of you of a certain age will remember ‘Madge’ Edwards who passed away in December 2023.  I met Madge when I started carriage driving with the Wolverley Driving Club and enjoyed her guidance and enthusiasm for weekend driving rallies, traditional driving and, most of all, driving trials. Madge was later elected Honorary President of Wolverley Driving Club. In the 1990’s we drove our lorries, sometimes in tandem for reassurance, throughout the summer months to compete at the excellent two-day trials, run by the then Midlands Driving Trials Group, to venues like Chatsworth, Frog Hall and the Silverstone area. This was Madge’s heyday, a keen single pony driver and regular winner with the excellent Georgie. Madge delighted in getting her ponies fit in the forest behind her home and, when she hung up her harness, her enthusiasm transferred to my ponies, grooming for me in the forest and country lanes of Worcestershire. Madge was the manufacturer of ‘Forest Harness’, arguably the best
Read more

Brailsford cancelled; looking forward to Oasby

Image
 Midlands Carriagedriving has announced that, with great regret, it has cancelled its next event at Brailsford on August 19 and 20, due to receiving a low number of entries which made running the event unviable. Competitors who have entered will receive a full refund of their entry fee. Instead, MC Chairman Paul Hart has arranged a one-day-event on Sunday 20th August at Anslow, in Derbyshire. Competitors are welcome to arrive on the Saturday and use the arena, cones and obstacles for practice and schooling. This offer is open to all, not just those who had entered Brailsford. Please contact Paul Hart directly on 07779 922506 to book for the ODE; payment to be made on the day. Onwards and upwards! MC’s last event of 2023 is at the Oasby eventing site, near Grantham in Lincolnshire, from 2 to 3 September. Organisers Ruth & Bob Auton and Chris & Jenny Doughty have set a new marathon course, all on grass tracks which are mostly flat bar two short hills on section B. There will be s
Read more

2024 – Bring it on!

Image
 With longer daylight hours and, hopefully, warmer, drier, weather to come, the 2024 outdoor carriage driving season will soon be here – and at Midlands Carriagedriving, it’s a case of ‘Bring It On!’ To begin, for the first time since 2019 (pre-Covid), the club will be presenting over 20 trophies and shields across all classes at its Championships to be held at Oasby in August; the Points League is to be revamped with some classy new-style rosettes awarded at the AGM in November. Kicking off the season will be the first of four One-Day Events at Anslow in Derbyshire. These are popular competitions open to all, even the smallest equine, and ideal for getting going, bringing on a novice animal – or driver – and refreshing the brain. Dates in 2024 will be Sundays 28 April, 19 May and 16 June plus Saturday 24 August which will end the season. The club’s Two-Day Events begin at Thoresby in Nottinghamshire (11 – 12 May), a great venue with the dressage, cones and obstacles set in parkland. T
Read more