Show Reports: NACHS 2017 & Winter Tournament 2017-18 #1, Driving

Driving Thursday

National Academy Championship Horse Show
Tennessee Miller Coliseum
Murfreesboro, TN USA
November 2-4, 2017
[Show Report]

Friday Morning
16. Academy Pleasure Driving–Horse or Pony, 4th of 8
Saturday Morning
45. Academy Pleasure Driving–Horse or Pony Championship, 3rd of 8
With HB Whizbang, courtesy of the Alvis family.

I also drove.

I don’t understand the criteria for Academy Driving. I understand when someone makes a mistake: trotting during the walk, cantering during the trot, or failing to achieve an extended trot. (I’ve done all three.) Absent these obvious errors, the placings seem a bit of a dice roll. Unless, of course, the result is in my favor, then I think the judging is brilliant.

Therefore, I don’t tend to sweat the driving results.

The classes were about learning traffic management as much as anything else. The entries were mixed, from horses to ponies to a VSE. Imagine eight student drivers all going at different speeds. On Friday, I kept trying to get out of the way. On Saturday, I got better at waiting instead of always trying to get ahead of traffic jams.

In the second class, one fellow cut in front of me, to the point that I had to pull Snippy to a halt to avoid a collision. Twice. Did I get points for being aware of my surroundings, or demerits from not being aware enough to avoid the situations all together? Who knows. My ringside advisory panel said that I might possibly have avoided the first, but no one could have predicted the other driver making a sudden right turn directly in front of me. Everyone stayed safe.

When we managed to pay attention to our own driving, Mr. Whizbang and I continued to improve.
~~~
Alabama Winter Tournament 2017-2018
ERA Stables/Elite Riding Academy
Arab, AL USA
Saturday, Nov 11, 2017
[Show Report]

26. Academy Driving with Alvin Ailey – 1st of 2
Thank you to the Wamble family

Alvin loves to show. On Saturday, we stormed into the ring on the edge of who’s-in-control-here. While I had to apply a fair amount of whoa-there-horsie throughout the class, it was great to see the old man in such a good mood.

A grand time was had by all.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

#bloglikecrazy