On Friday afternoon after the protest meeting we headed off to RDA to pick up Gabe the RDA Carriage Horse and the carriage. On Saturday morning we were up at 4.00 am for the second time this week to get 2 horses and gear loaded and head off for the RDA State Championships in Nambour. We had to be early to groom and decorate our horses. Gympie RDA had 2 Drivers, 2 Whips and 2 horses competing. We had a really enjoyable and successful day with wins in the Turnout, Dressage and Cone driving for our Drivers Darren and Mark :) Alan and Sheena our Whips also won in Dressage and Cones. We were swapping Bobby and Gabe around a lot as we only had one carriage so it was a very busy morning for the `pit crew' which I am a member of as a groom :) This photo shows Alan, Mark and Sheena with their trophies and Darren in the background.
After the presentations we dropped our horse Bobby off at our place, delivered Gabe and the Carriage back to RDA, whizzed home for a shower, packed our camping gear and food and headed off to camp overnight at the property of 2 of our Carriage Club members Jim and Helen. On Sunday they were hosting a Carriage Driving `Combined Driving Event' on and around their property. We arrived after dark and put up our tent using the headlights of our truck (yes we are mad) . Then finally we were able to relax and sit around the camp fire while we cooke
d a barbecue and enjoyed a well earned drink :) On Sunday we were up early again at Kookaburra Dawn. We weren't competing in this event but Alan decided to act as a groom for Ken and I was taking photos. A C.D.E. event consists of competition in 3 areas - Dressage or Equitation, a timed Cone Course and a timed Marathon with obstacles. The distance and number of obstacles varies. This event was 10k with some hills, on and off road and included 3 obstacles which involved driving through and around trees (very tricky). Needless to say the experts drive really fast and it can be a real adrenaline buzz. This photo shows Alan with Ken driving Sparky at the end of the event. Their drive was pretty sedate in comparison to some but they cantered up the hills and trotted all the way. Sparky is fit but he was glad to reach the end :)
