Some new stars and fresh faces at another successful Anslow event

 Midlands Carriagedriving’s one-day event at Anslow on Sunday 17 August saw
some new stars in the making and fresh faces, along with the more experienced,
enjoying the venue’s excellent facilities.

Mary Fuller’s eye-catching six-year-old gelding, Bubbles, was making his first
appearance in public, having only been broken to harness four weeks earlier. The
horse has the makings of a real competition contender as he lapped up Best
Dressage of the Day and put up some good times in the four obstacles, showing an
enthusiasm beyond his experience.

The ’best part’ is that Bubbles is a rescue horse, abandoned as a two-day old foal
and bottle-fed, Mary discovered him when he was a bone-racked yearling, so weak
he had to be lifted into the trailer – and now he’s repaying Mary in spades.

Mary Jane Campbell brought along her two novice pony Hackneys which are quite
competed in the Gateway Allcomers class at Onley and continued his education at
Anslow while the darker bay looks to have a bright future in driving trials with a
commendable dressage score, the only double clear in cones of the day and the
fastest obstacle times.

New faces Kirsty Regan and Helen Naden were second and third to Mary Jane
respectively in the Novice Pony class. Kirsty was driving a very pretty chestnut pony
while Helen’s little grey was taught to exit Obstacle 2 at walk instead of trying to take
off - as it had in the previous obstacle – just to prove how valuable Anslow is for
educating as well as having fun.

Matthew Illston-Barsby’s skewbald ponies looked to be having a great time in the
obstacles while Frank Campbell’s horse pair put up the second fastest obstacle time
overall, making the turns look easy. Anslow stalwart Linda Wiggins’ Fell pony had yet
another good day, second-best dressage along with decent obstacle times resulted
in the second-best overall score of the day.

Rounding off the club’s season, the final ODE at Anslow takes place on Sunday 14

September