GOODBYE 2001

Where has 2001 gone, and what a year it has been. The dreadful outbreak of Foot & Mouth put an end to our sport, inside and out. Fortunately, that appears to be nearly at an end now. Let us all hope and pray it does not re appear with the warmth of the spring weather.

We are now half way through our Winter season of qualifiers for the STRONGID – P National Championship. There are still lots more qualifying events all over the country. Competitors are trying hard to qualify for the 2001 – 2002 National Finals, to be held at College EC at Keysoe on Easter Sunday & Monday. College EC has a wonderful arena and a large warm up school as well. Plus very nice stabling, good parking area, café with very reasonable prices and just as a bonus, nice clean loo's AND hot water!

HELLO 2002

What will the New Year hold in store? Who knows what the future holds, but there is one thing for sure The STRONGID – P National Indoor Horse Driving Trials Championship is going from strength to strength, and with your help will get bigger and better. With the continuing sponsorship from Pfizer (Sandwich) Ltd., we are sure of the rest of the seasons qualifying events and the finals at Keysoe over the Easter weekend.

Much of our sponsorship comes from the sale of STRONGID – P & Caramel wormers, paste and granules. As members of the IHDTC you are entitled to the members discount on our already discount priced wormers. The more you buy the cheaper they become. By buying wormers from The Indoor Carriage Driving Co. Ltd., you are helping us to run the events for you. Without the sale of wormers we could not arrange and run all the events. So remember to buy from us, just quote your membership number when you ring Dick Carey on 01424 892051 for a price quotation and to place your order.

THE INDOOR CARRIAGE DRIVING Co. Ltd. & THE INDOOR TEAM Wish everyone A HAPPY & SUCCESSFUL NEW YEAR Dick Carey – Rob Sims - Philip de Leon – Rita Bundock Roger Alway - Andy Brazier - Mick Hazell - Martin Holgate – Mick Hooker - Anthony Petitpierre - Nigel Pullen - Dave Skeggs - Dave Starnes - Dave Watts We are all volunteers, all have full time employment and run events for your pleasure. OUR THANKS to all the organizers who do such brilliant work on our behalf

STOP PRESS – STOP PRESS

There will be a qualifier at Arena UK on 23 March. Please contact the Indoor Driving Trials Club Secretary for more details.

The Middleton EC event IS ON. Contact Douglas Strachan NOW.

NATIONAL FINALS 2000 - 2001

The Indoor Team being what it is was not going to let the 2000 – 2001 season finish without a National Final. With the start of this season, the Finals schedules were sent out again for the belated event at College EC at Keysoe. Many competitors traveled to Indoor events all over the country to get in some much-needed practice after such a long time of no competitions. Did it pay off? Yes, indeed it did. What a Final it proved to be. Saturday was P&P (Precision & Paces) and Cones day. With the large arena, Roger Alway built a challenging cone course complete with a zigzag.

The 10 strong Junior class kicked off with Phillipa Howe from Kent setting the standard. After P&P, Cathy Wood had a six-point lead from Donna Ryder with Claire Parker right behind her. Cathy held on to her lead after cones. This class held a promise for fast obstacles the next day. We were not disappointed. Ben Grose flew the first but a ball dropped, he was taking no prisoners in the second. Claire Parker was on his heels, Jo Fuller; driving Dick Carey’s Dominic flew the first but was slower in the second. Phillipa
Howe was not far behind. With less than 10 points between the first six the last two obstacles were fast. Phillipa was the fastest through three and did not hang around in four, Ben and Claire took up the challenge but could not make up the points on the defending Junior Champion, Jo Fuller who won the class for the third year running. This is the last year in this class for Jo.

The Novice Ponies put on a tremendous fight for the Novice Champions Sash. With Ann Walter – Simmons and Sara Clough equal after P & P the cones decided the placings. Jo Sore hung on to third by 0.5 from Susannah Adderson after Cones. Obstacles one and two were fast but not as fast as some of the juniors. Now Jo was leading with Ann, Sara and Trisha Luxton very close by. The next two obstacles were just as close. What a fight this class was proving to be. It finished with Ann in the lead, Jo second, Sara third and Trisha just 0.5 away in fourth place.

With only five competitors forward for the Open Pony class and all of the very best, we new this was going to be close. Katie Hughes and the dynamic grey ‘Trog” was out to win. Leading the class from Lynn Harrington after P&P and cones, but was well beaten in the first two obstacles by Lynne. Katie did what she has done before and just went like a fiend taking the shortest possible routes in her wrap round. Lynne tried valiantly to catch up but could not quite make it. While this was going on Lynne Day and Judy Broom were having their own competition which Lynne just won coming third with Judy just in fourth place.

The Pair class was something else. Denise Brown and her Shetlands turned in a great score of 26.5 for P&P but did not like the cone course. Trevor Kimber and his Welsh ponies and Jacqui Pillinger and her British Spotted ponies were equal second. Less than a point separated these three as we went into the obstacles. Trevor as usual went top speed into obstacle one, Jacqui equaled his time, in the second Jacqui was faster than Trevor. What a competition. All rested on three and four but these were longer, Trevor’s bigger ponies covered the distance just the bit quicker, and Jacqui knowing that the shortest possible route must be taken as quickly as possible just touched a ball. Trevor won, Jacqui second, Denise third, with Sarah Owlett and Sarah Cooke not far away, it proved a very good competition for the Pairs Championship Sash.

Jo Sugden lead the four strong Novice Horse class after the first day with Jackie Ellis less than 2 points in second. Jo put in some fast times on the second day but unfortunately went wrong and gained 20 penalties for error of course. Jackie won the class, Jo finished second with Brian Burton not far behind in third, James Marshall came a creditable fourth after finding some of the turns a bit tight.

The Open Horse class did not disappoint the llarge audience. Dick Lane did a good P&P with a score of 24.5, but Barbara Nadin was better with just 20points. Hilary Hill, Bev Ball and Ian Bertram were just 1.5points apart after Cones. The spectators roared encouragement and the dust flew as the obstacles were driven at such speed. Ian was the fastest in one but a ball fell leaving Barbara with the best time, the same again in two leaving Hilary with the fastest time, Ian drove the third clear in the best time, with Hilary putting in a real scorcher in four. Barbara’s first day score held her in first place throughout the competition with Dick second and Ian third.

The Tandem class saw Georgina Frith take the Championship once more with her pensioner ponies. Lesley Cox and her Eriskay ponies put on a great show in the obstacles with some very good times, in fact beating the time set by Georgina in the third obstacle. Sarah Jane Cook was well in contention until the third when two balls hit the ground and adding 10 to her score and putting her into third place overall. Amanda Wells finished fourth after a ‘muddle’ in obstacle three. Dave Nuttall drove a good P&P but his leader withdrew co-operation during the cones, so wisely Dave drove the rest of the competition as a single with the wayward leader.

STRONGID – P Supreme Champion - Katie Hughes with Hartspur Trojan (Trog)

Carriagehouse Insurance Services Shield for the best P&P score - Barbara Nadin with Henry

The Best Turned out winning a PARAMO Reversible shirt - Julia Crockford.

The full results are available on the Results Page.

Thank you to all Competitors that found sponsorship and to the spectators that gladly gave £5 for admission on Sunday. The Club donated £5 from each competitor’s entry fee, along with sponsorship, the total will reach over our target of £2000 for International Spinal Research. Jackie Pillinger has the highest sponsorship of well over £400. Well done Jackie, your reward will shortly be on its way.

THANK YOU ALL

EVENT NEWS

MIDLANDS – NORTH WEST

Gracelands - 21 October.

Julie Tomasik and Judith Broom fought for the red rosette in the Open Pony, Julie just kept Judith at bay to take the class. Sabrina de Lise finished third. Single Horse was very comfortably won by Tony Gregory. Pam Neil did some good times in the obstacles to finish second with Christine Jamieson not too far away in third. Jacqui Pillinger and her Spotted ponies threw down the challenge to Sandy Blakeway-Smith and her Shetlands in the multiple class. Jacqui did a better P&P, then threw it away in the cones only to do some blistering obstacles times to take the class from Sandy. Janet Dines finished third. A large Novice Pony class saw some close competition Sara Clough did the best P&P and was fastest in the obstacles and won the class from junior driver Claire Parker by just 7 points. Sarah Baglin finished third with Pauline Thompson fourth.

Rodbaston - 4th November

An excellent venue with easy access from the M6 (bet. J12 & 13) and is well laid out and organized - excellent parking and a 60m x 30m indoor arena. We stabled Henry overnight in the DIY livery yard and he could not have been better looked after by the college staff and students.

Adlington - 18 November

A large entry again produced some exciting sport. Novice Pony was the biggest class. Audrey Foster and Wendy Wadsworth both did under 30 P&P tests but Sara Clough was back on form after elimination at Rodbaston. Sara was the best in the obstacles and won the class with Wendy 5 points behind in second. Sally Edwards did some good times in the obstacles after gaining 10 in the cones and finished third, with Audrey in fourth. John & Cherry Gaynor came from Cumbria and made the journey worthwhile coming second and third respectfully, but Cheryl Buckley just managed to take the first rosette by three points. Judith Broom and Julie Tomasik locked horns yet again. Judy did the better test but lost more points in the cones. They finished with Judy just taking the lead by 1.5points. Barbara Hill came third with Dawn Firbank in fourth by just 1.5 points. Jacqui Pillinger and Sandy Blakeway-Smith resumed their battle of the smalls!. Jacqui was just a little better all the way through the competition and Sandy could not quite catch her. Lesley Cox and her Tandem did the best test of the class but did not like the cone course, finishing third.

SOUTH WEST

Hand EC - Bristol - 11th November

Congratulations to Hillary Mackey for a clear and informative commentary and to the 'Strongid - P' boys for their efficient handling of all the logistics. This was one of the few events where the obstacles were timed to the hundredth of a second rather than to the next commenced second, which is why, the results look somewhat different to the norm.

On this basis, you can see that Maxine Phillips won the Novice Pony class by just 0.24 of a second/penalty. After P & P and Cones, she was 0.5 ahead of Anne Walters-Symons (24.5 to 25). Had the obstacle scoring been based on the rounding up method, Maxine would have been on an accumulative score of 102.5 after the first two obstacles and Anne on 102; as it was the actual scores after the first two obstacles were - Maxine, 101.89 and Anne, 100.68. Things would have been different after obstacles 3 & 4 when Maxine would have won on a score of 173.5 against Anne's 175; not a significant winning margin but clear enough when compared to the actual. How many other narrow escapes have there been? pp. Equifor.com

Hand EC - Bristol, 9th December

This event played witness to a number of firsts - hopefully, we've mentioned them all: Ken Ball in his first ever competition performed in his own unique style, Ken doesn't believe in walking round and round the obstacles in a seemingly endless procession he prefers to stand and watch his groom and helpers do the walking...a man after my own heart; 10yr old Becky Glasgow drove in her first ever event and if that wasn't nerve racking enough Becky's mum was on the backstep; Julie Almond competed in her first event, and Barbara Nadin - UK Open Horse Champion - drove her hackney trotter cross pony, India, in her first time in a competition. India had never been indoors and had never faced an obstacle. And finally, a most important first with all our thanks go to Doreen Lovegrove who helped out as gate steward for the first and hopefully not the last time. pp. Equifor.com

SOUTH EAST

Blue Barn EC - 21 October.

Miranda Purves set the pace in the Novice Pony Class winning by 15 points from Wendy Fielder second and Georgina Crookes in third. The Horse class went to Hilary Hill with Novice Annalie Winter in second and John Perry in third. Once again Trevor Kimber started his winter winning streak. Sarah Jane Cook driving her Tandem was a good second with Sarah Owlett and her young pair in third. Open Pony found Sarah Howe winning with Katie Hughes just 1.5 points away in second and Jo Fuller in third with Dick Carey’s pony.

Golden Cross EC - 3 November

As at Blue Barn, there was no change in placings for the Multiples class. Di Street finished on a good score of 169.5 to win the Novice pony with Sue Starnes and her young coloured pony out for the first time in second place. This is one to watch. Junior Chantelle Kinner (Heather Kinner’s daughter) in third. Katie Hughes got her revenge on Sarah Howe in the Open Pony with Heather Kinner just 1 point away in third. Dick Lane won the Open Horse, Hilary Hill second with John Perry third. Anthea Shipley won the Novice Horse with Annalie Winter second.

Hadlow College - 18 November

As usual was well over subscribed and many competitors had their entry returned as there is only so much time in an Indoor day. Sarah Howe's young daughter, Philipa won the Novice Pony class. Anna Sadler driving Anna Grayston’s Happy finished second with Sarah Perry third. Sarah Howe made it a family double by winning the Open Pony. Patrick Sowerby second and Jo Collings in third. Trevor Kimber again won the Multiples, Sarah Owlett came second with Allan Crombie in third. Hilary Hill took the Horse class with Bob Cox in second and John Perry again in third. Katie Hughes tried her horse at Hadlow and came a good fourth even after several attacks of the giggles!

Golden Cross - 29 December

Many competitors woke up to find snow had fallen over night making it impossible for them to get to the event, but nineteen braved the weather and were well rewarded. The Pony classes were amalgamated, as were the Horse classes. Seven ponies fought out the competition. Sue Starnes led from Sheila Petitpierre after P&P and cones with Sally Bullar and first timer Amanda Glasspole not far behind. Obstacle one was very fast and furious. Sue did it in 21 sec’s, Sheila 23 sec’s. The challenge was on and was taken up by everyone in the class and very close battle followed. Sue was the victor with Sheila second, Sally stayed third. Cathy Millard came up to fourth with Amanda a close fifth. The Horse class followed the same pattern Hilary Hill led from John Perry and Anthea Shipley, Anthea had the better P&P score. Hilary did obstacle one in 18 sec’s!. Anthea had a ball down in three. Ian Collings and Sue Botley were having their own private competition for fourth and fifth place. Hilary comfortably won the class, John second followed by Anthea, Ian and Sue in that order. Trevor Kimber swept all behind him, that is all but Sara Jane Cook, both had double clear rounds in the cones phase. After the first two obstacles Trevor was four and a half points ahead of Sara Jane with Denise McDermott not far away in third with Sarah Owlett hot on her heels. Trevor stormed through the last two obstacles to win the class, Sara Jane hung onto second, Minta Winn came up into third, and Denise slipped back a place as did Sarah. Alan Clarke came out for the first time with his pony tandem. After a wobbly start gained confidence and put in some creditable obstacle times, one to watch out for in the future.

SCOTLAND

Letham - 7 October

The first of the four qualifiers at Letham with Susan Gardner winning the Novice Pony followed by Alison Maynard and Patsy Muir Simpson. Barbara Skett won the Novice Horse. While Ian Bertram comfortable won the Open Horse from Chris Wyllie with Karen Blair – Imrie in third. Junior, Donna Ryder won the Open Pony with Audrey Barron second and Chariots of Fire, Amanda Saville in third. Meanwhile Pat White and faith Szczuka were battling it out in the Multiples class. They finished in that order with team driver, Phillipa Gammel in third.

Letham - 21 October

Once again Ian Bertram won the class comfortably from Chris Wyllie with Andrew Smith third. All change in the Open Pony. Audrey Barron won the class by the smallest of margins, just 0.5 ahead of Amanda Saville, with Donna Ryder in third. Faith Szczuka won the multiples with Ann Varley trying her hand at indoors finishing second. Barbara Skett knocked some points off her previous score to win the Novice Horse. Novice Pony saw Susan Gardner win the class again knocking just 0.5 off her previous score. Alison Maynard was again second with Rachel Jackson coming third.

SOUTHERN REGION

Hurstbourne - 21 October

In the Novice Pony class Maxine Phillips got the better of Ken Osbourne, Jo Munden finished third with Jamie Windebank just 2.5 points away. Novice Horse saw Jackie Ellis romp away with the lead from Averina Snow and Joan Smith in that order. In the Open Pony class, Jo Sore got the better of seasoned indoor competitor, Julian Burleton, with young Ben Grose not far behind in third. Bev Ball and Barbara Nadin fought it out throughout the Open Horse competition with Bev getting the better of Barbara by the smallest of margins, 0.5 points, Di Hayes only 1.5 behind in third and Dick Lane 3 points away in fourth.

Hurstbourne - 17 November

Jamie Windebank pulled out all the stops to win the Novice Pony from Ken Osbourne. Alan Newman finished third with Brenda May a close fourth. Novice Horse Class was won comfortably by Lisa Banks from Joan Smith and Janet Dow. Open Pony driver, Julian Burleton showed his expertise of indoor driving by beating Luke Axel – Berg into second place by 3 points with Julia Crockford and Jo Sore not far off in equal third. Dick Lane got his revenge in the Open Horse, Barbara Nadin second and Bev Ball in third.

Merrist Wood - 2 December

The Novice Pony was won by junior Chantelle Kinner by just one point. This young lady has her Mothers eye for a good course in the obstacles and needs watching! Anna Scoler just second with Jo Percival in third. Open Pony driver Julian Burleton has the bit between his teeth now, he won the class again, with South East invader Patrick Sowerby hot on his heels, just 0.5 separated them. Liz Rowe not far away in third with Pippa Jarman in fourth. The Novice Horse class went to Stefanie Gray. Sara Simmons second and Averina Snow third. Sue Botley and her young horse finished a good fourth. Sara Jane Cooke took the Multiples with Mary Hawkins in a close second and another SouthEast invader, Allan Crombie in third. Open Horse was all change again. Bev Ball came through to win the class with Jackie Ellis second and Caroline Hicks not far away in third.

Medstead - 16 December

Fun was the name of the day with competitors wearing Christmas Fancy Dress with lots of good competition. Dick Lane was in form taking the Open Horse from Bev Ball and Jackie Ellis in that order. Joan Smith and Ken Osbourne fought out the Novice Pony class with Joan just bettering Ken by 1 point. Carol Porter finished third. Minta Winn came out to ‘play’ to comfortably win the multiples class from John Pickford and Mary Hawkins in third. The Open Pony class saw some very consistent times in the obstacles. Julia Crockford took the red rosette with Susan Skeggs in second and Phyllie Robertson in third.

Hurstbourne - 28 December

The Novice Pony was close after P&P with just 4.5 points between the first four. Ester Cope led the class going into the obstacles with Ken Osbourne at her heels. The obstacles were driven at speed and fortunes changed. Ken won the class by five points from junior driver Claire Parker from Cheshire. Jamie Windebank drove well to come from sixth to third with Ester Cope finishing fourth.
The Multiples finished the first two phases with Jo Sore and Mary Hawkins sharing first place, although Jo had the better P&P score. Mary stormed through the obstacles leaving Jo in second, Jacqueline Cooke tried to catch Jo but obstacle three kept her back. Stephanie Nuttall was very close in fourth place.

Dick Lane did his normal thing and won the Open Horse by a large margin from Bev Ball who just could not make up the time. Angie Watts nearly caught Bev, Jackie Ellis was just 0.5 points behind in fourth. The Novice Horse class was won by Lisa Banks with David Matthews in second. Both the horse classes were amalgamated. Qualifying points as per individual class not amalgamated class’s.
Jackie Maule did a good test in the Open Pony class to lead by just one point after the first two phases from Pippa Jarman. Pippa lead after the first two obstacles with Caroline Douglas breathing down her neck just one point away. Neil Swanson and Julia Crockford were battling out third and fourth. The last two obstacle produced a change of fortunes all round. Pippa had a bad time in three, Caroline went wrong in four, leaving the door open for Sue Mayes to take the class by 0.5 from Neil in second. Another 0.5 away were Jackie Maule and Julia Crockford, equal third, but under the rules the best P&P score counts and so Julia finished third leaving Jackie in fourth.

SOUTH MIDLANDS

Stags End - 21 October

Lynne Harrington swept the opposition aside to win the Open Pony class very comfortably. Susannah Adderson fought hard in the obstacles but could not make the points from Lynne’s P&P and cones score of just 12 points. Susannah and Cathy Wood finished on the same score. Placings were decided by the P&P score and Susannah had the better score and so finished second with Cathy third. David Titmus and Mike Marsden battled out the Single Horse class. David’s good P&P score helped him keep the lead at the end of the day. Gareth Roberts took the multiples class by 35 points. Sarah Cooke finished second with Lynne Day in third. There was not a Novice Pony class at this event.

Solihull RC - 9 December

Twenty-one competitors competed at the first event at this venue and produced some very good sport. Julie Tomasik and Susannah Adderson gave each other a good run for their money with Julie taking the win by 5 points from Susannah. Cathy Wood finished third with event secretary, Rosemary Neale in fourth. Paul Chambers tried his luck indoors for the first time this season winning the Single Horse class from Stefanie Gray with Tony Gregory in a close third place. Once again Gareth Roberts took the multiples class with a 20+ lead from Sandy Blakeway-Smith. Jacqui Pillinger got it all wrong but managed to hold onto third place from Tandem driver, Lesley Cox. The Novice Pony class was fairly even after P&P but the cones sorted them out. Sara Clough was well ahead in the obstacles that helped her win the class from Sue Woods with a 35+points margin. Andrew Godden finished third after some very good obstacle time.

EAST ANGLIA.

Swaffham - 4 November

A new region for 2001-2002 started at Forest Edge EC at Swaffham. Mouse Winter did the best test in the Novice Pony class with Fiona Powell hot on her tail but Mouse had not so good luck in the cones. Fiona grabbed the lead and held on to it winning the class from Eunice Gliessberg who almost did a double clear in the cones, just 1 point added to her score. Anthony Martin was the only Horse competitor and won the class! Lynn Harrington and Danielle Twitchen finished equal in the Open Pony but Lynne did the better test and so under our rules took the first rosette. Sally Moreton frightened herself almost to death and came third. The Multiples class fell to Lynn Day after a good test gaining only 1 point in the cones and some fast obstacle times. Clare Bourne finished second with Sue Mills some way back in third.

Towerlands, Essex - 17 November

The first competition took place at yet another new venue on 17 November with a very good entry. Danielle Twitchen did the best test of the day, also some very fast times in the obstacles to win the Open Pony class from Lynne Day and Dave Bowman in that order. Brian Burton comfortably took the Single Horse class with his very classy grey horse. Steven Manyweather, Jill Wood and Fiona Gordon–Clarke finished in that order with just 3 points separating them. Gary Power driving his pair took the multiples class by 11 points from Amanda Wells driving her tandem with another Tandem driver, David Taylor in third. The largest class was the Novice Pony. Junior driver Cathy Wood showed how indoor driving should be and good test and cones put her in the lead going into the obstacles. Which is where Cathy stayed? Fiona Powell did her best to whittle down the Cathy’s score but was unable to do so and finished second. Another junior, Claire Taylor came third with Linda Nuckley in fourth.

Wix Equestrian Centre - 29 December

The first event here needed a few more competitors for the qualifier but a healthy club class made up the numbers. Stephanie Nuttall traveled up from Hurstbourne to compete here on the way home, and very successfully, taking the Multiples class by a very large margin. Claire Bourne finished second with David Taylor a few points behind in third. The Single Horse class was close with just six points separating the three competitors. Mark Mills came from last to first, followed closely by Anthony Martin and Fiona Gordon-Clarke. In the Novice Pony Fiona Powell was a good eight points clear of Maureen Sargent after the first two phases, with the two juniors Claire Parker and Claire Taylor fighting out the next two places. Claire Parker put in some fantastic times during the obstacle phase and was the fastest in every obstacle. Claire won the class by just one point from Fiona with Jill Wood trying hard in third and Claire Taylor in fourth.

STRONGID – P INDOOR HORSE DRIVING TRIALS

2001 – 2002 NATIONAL FINALS

The College EC

March 31 – April 1

All qualifying competitors will be notified and sent schedules towards the end of this winter season.

WHIPS

With the sport of Indoor HDT becoming more popular there is now the beginning of it becoming a spectator sport. Recently it appears that some competitors are using their whip a little more often to urge their horses to gather speeds, or to use the whip as a turning aid much as a rider would use leg aids. Many ‘non – driving’ spectators do not understand ‘whip aids’ and may think that a competitor is beating hell out of their unfortunate horse.

We respectfully ask all competitors to limit the use of the whip.

This will reduce the misunderstandings of the public attending events.

ANYONE USING THEIR WHIPS EXCESSIVELY WILL BE ELIMINATED AND MAY BE REFUSED FURTHER ENTRY TO THIS CHAMPIONSHIP