Carriages marching to music

Apologies to everyone. We have had difficulties with copying our video footage of the carriages to music onto any other format be it disk , linking it to this blog etc. We are still working on it. In the mean time scroll down to near the bottom of the blog to find links to all the photos of the Oxley weekend.

Cheers

Jack

Benalla Show 14-15 October 2011

The Benalla and District Horse Driving Club will again be sponsoring the harness classes at the Benalla Show. The harness classes are scheduled for Friday.

Oxley Weekend 23-25 September 2011

The photo is of Mike Salmon instructing drivers on the patterns he wants them to drive to music. This before they walk the patterns on the dressage arena. They then harnessed up and practised with their horses before bring it altogether with music blazing.

The Benalla and District Horse Driving Club have been running the multi activity weekend for around 8 years and believe 2011 has been the best event yet. We have been fortunate with everything running so smoothly (touch wood). It couldn't have gone any better. The Oxley Reserve provides a rustic and relaxing setting which everyone enjoys. The weather was fanastic in the high teens with little cloud cover and just enough breeze to keep the flies away.



Mike Thill's lessons were all booked out with a waiting list. All drivers were given a chance to enhance their skills. It was good to see Angela and Joanne from the North Eastern Pleasure Harness Club from lessons with Mike. Ros Knight a newcomer to the Benalla Club took her Clydie Henry for his first lesson. Again we had Shetlands to Clydesdales, singles pairs and teams all coming under the tutelage of Mike, with everyone coming away benefiting from his knowledge and expertise.



Friday night Don Cunningham sizzled the sausages to perfection while Ros Knight added the surprise of stuffed potatoes which went down a treat.



The cones course was open all weekend with timed runs between 1.30-3.50pm. This included the King or Queen of the Cones competition which attracted about 12 timed runs with the ultimate winner being Alison Graves.



Saturday night saw a hearty 2 course meal in the club house catering for 35 people. This followed by an entertaining half hour talk given by former Household Cavalryman and Policemen Mike Salmon describing his life in leather boots. You had to be there to know what we are talking about.



Sunday proved that more people should go on more navigation drives. We had a healthy 11 carriages go out on the navigation drive which included some of the side streets of Oxley. Oxley is a small village of around 2-300 people. However, not everyone went through the same streets as they picked their way through the clues crossing the main road which wasn't meant to be passed. Nearly half the drivers got lost but all seem to have fun. The eventual winner was Karen Rogers and her team.



The highlight of the weekend came at the end. We had seven participans in the carriage driving to music training session conducted by Mike Salmon. The session took an hour and a power of concentration by humans and horses alike. It was based on the principles developed over 450 years in preparing horses for battle. We had Karen Rogers Pony Team, Bruce Hammond's Pony Pair mixing it with single ponies creating patterns in rhythm with the music. To provide such skill and ultimately entertainment in such a short space of time was a fantastic achievement by all. The end result was like watching formations in a military tattoo.

Take a look at the list of carriage driving websites. It has been updated to include scurry driving, shetland pony driving and the Dutch National Coach Museum website. Apparently the National Coach Museum is under threat with funding cuts. They have a petition on their website if you want to sign. The website is translatable from Dutch to English at the press of a button.

Congratulations to Bev Bresanello for being appointed ACDS Vic Branch Show Driving Convenor. It looks like being a busy year ahead Bev.

Multi-Activity Weekend – Friday to Sunday 23-25 September 2011

The Benalla and District Horse Driving Club is again scheduling it's Multi-Activity Weekend around the Victrorian School Holidays. This year it wil be held on the weekend before the the AFL Grand Final at the Oxley Recreational Reserve. Oxley provides a relaxing and picturesque environment.

This is the 8th year we are holding the annual event which is very popular as a warm up to the competition season. Drivers get to train and practice in a a non-competitive environment. We get participants with horses ranging from Shetlands to Clydesdale Crosses from singles to pairs etc.. The ever popular Mike Thill will has been booked for training sessions, so gewt in early if you want lessons. Lessons will be taken from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. Remember lessons don't have to be restricted to dressage or horse movement and control. Mike will be happy to teach you how to attack a cones course or marathon obstacles as well. Just ask him. Cones and the 2 marathon obstacles will be available for use.

Full details are not yet available but you can expect to have dressage tests judged for personal feedback, a cones course set up for practice and this year a navigation drive. If they want to, there is a possibility for some to participate in a King or Queen of the Cones competition.

On Friday night there will be a barbeque. Saturday night will have dinner catered for by Ros Knight and Neville Wright who have done a terrific job at the past 2 events. We can expect some light entertainment and perhaps an intersting speaker as well as the obligatory raffle.

Club members are asked to contact Bev to see how they can help on the weekend. Many hands make light work. As in the past we hope to ensure a friendly and smooth running event.

Joe Hawkins Cup Marrar Level 3 CDE 1-2 April 2011

The Riverina Carriage Driving Society put on another wonderful event a the Marrar Trotting Grounds. The amenities at the grounds have improved yet again with the installation of a new toilet/shower block. The local Lions Club again provided terrific food from their canteen. The weather was also kind providing clear days and temperatures in the low 20's during the whole weekend. Good fun and catching up with friends was had during the dinnerheld at the Marrar Memorial Hall on the Saturday Night.
The Benalla and District Horse Driving Club was again well represented at Marar with Alison, Bev and Belinda competing in their different classes. Jack judged the cones, Sue scored for the event and Mara pencilled for the dressage judges. The highlight of the event was Alison's tussle with Sue from the Mornington Peninsula Club in the Open Pony 91cm to 121cm Class. Alison came out the winner this time. Belinda got a first and Bev a second in their respective classes.
The winner of the Joe Hawkins Cup goes to the competitor with the overall lowest score no matter what class they compete in. This year congratulations go to local club member Ben Rosetta with a score of 94.7 in the Novice Pony 121 to 149cm Class.

Benalla Dressage Cone Day 19 March 2011

The club held another dressage day on Saturday 19 March at the Benalla Pony Club Grounds in relatively mild conditions. Club members and visitors making up 22 dressage tests in all. Thanks to Virginia and Alison for being our judges on the day.
The cones was also quite popular with almost as many drivers undertaking the course as dressage tests.
Club members who pitched in with the setting up and running of the event did a marvelous job in making it a successful day.

Carriage Driving Trials Club Driven Dressage Day and Vic Champs Koonoomoo 26-27 March 2011

Carriage Driving Trials Club put on a terrific event over the 26-27 March Weekend. They combined a qualifying Dressage Day on the Saturday with the Vic Dressage Champs on the Sunday. The weather was kind and it was sunny both days. The club included a small cones course for a bit of fun which also went down well with competitors. This event was held at their new grounds at Koonoomoo near Cobram. Benalla was represented by Bev with Blossom and Belinda with Gerry and Eve. The judging on both days was tough but congratulations to Belinda for managing to take home a ribbon for driving Gerry and Eve in tandem.

Benalla Dressage Day Saturday 19 March 2011

The Benalla Club is preparing to hold their Driven Dressage Day on Saturday 19 March at the Benalla Pony Club Grounds, next to the racecourse, as part of the Victorian Driven Dressage Championships. There will also be a cones course set up, however, it has yet to be decided whether it will be part of the Southern Cones, International or just for fun cones set up. The Dressage Championships will be held the following weekend at Koonoomoo by the Carriage Driving Trials Club. Our event will be the 2nd last time competitors will be able to qualify for the 2011 Championships. CDTC will hold the last qualifer on the Saturday before Sunday's big event.

Pleasure Drive at Warrenbayne

Members of the Benalla Club are looking forward to a pleasure drive starting from the McBain's place at Warrenbayne on Saturday 26 February.

Happy New Year 2011

A lovely time had by all who attended the New Year Party in Glenrowan. Unfortunately there was no twilight pleasure drive. The 38 degree heat making the idea a bit of an uncomfortable exercise. The club meeting was well attended and an official farewell was given to Jan and Neil McBain as they head to Port Douglas in mid March.