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Lexington Combined Driving Classic
Join us On the Scene as we cover the elegant and excited world of Combined Driving, a prelude to the Alltech/FEI 2010 World Equestrian Games at the beautiful Kentucky Horse Park. Coverage and photos brought to you Mary Phelps a Markel Equine Insurance Specialist Sponsor of the Competitor's party at Spindletop Hall Saturday. PhelpsPhotos is the official photographer of the 2008 Lexington Combined Driving Classic. Please visit our RV located in the KHP campground directly behind the Dressage and Cones Arenea to view and order photos. Check here for our order form and prices, and how it works.
The Kentucky Combined Driving Classic To Host the USEF National Driving Championships in 2009
Katie Whaley FEI Pony Division Winner Moves to Kentucky
Suzie Stafford of Delaware Tops the FEI Single Pony Division
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime pony,” said Suzie. “She’s got the even-keel temperament, but she’s very competitive but doesn’t let it rattle her. Suzie was a world champion in 2005 and a bronze medalist in 2007 and plans on being present for the WEG in 2010 as a helper, volunteer, spectator, or all of the above. Read More... FEI Single Horse Cowboy's Black Cadillac and Donna Crookston Returns From World Singles Championships in Poland to Win Her Division
FEI Pair Horse Winner Keady Cadwell Edges Out Larry Poulin to Clinch the Title
Elizabeth Keathley's Welsh Ponies Win the FEI Team Pony Division
Gary is looking forward to having the World Equestrian Games in the U.S. for the first time. “I think for every horseman it’s a wonderful thing,” he said. “It’s like the Super bowl in our backyard. Read More.... Preliminary Level Features Lots of Driving Talent
Caroline Whittle of North Carolina was the winner of the Pair Pony class with a score of 122. Lillie and Britton are her Haflinger mares, age six and seven, who helped her to the win. Caroline was one of the more vocal competitors in constant communication with her team, especially Lillie. Rounding out the Preliminary division with a win in the Pair Horse class was Rachel Niceley of Tennessee. Rachel’s pair was made up of her Friesian cross mares named Riverplains Bella and Riverplains Ritza. Read more... 2008 Lexington Combined Driving Classic - The Dressage Phase
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The sport of Combined Driving is the great equalizer. Horses and ponies of all different shapes, sizes and colors competed in the very same arena. The 2008 Lexington CDE Classic saw Friesians and Fjords, Arabians and Appaloosas, Saddlebreds and Shetlands, Dartmoors and Dutch Harness Horses, Haflingers and Holsteiners, Paint crosses and Percheron crosses, Lipizzans, Thoroughbred crosses, Quarter Horses crosses, and many, many more. Nearly 70 entries started the event at the Preliminary, Intermediate and FEI levels. There were several entries from Canada, and participants reavelled from many states, as far as Colorado and Texas, to experience the beauty of the Kentucky Horse Park. Only seven of those saw double-clears in the final cones phase. 
The winner of the FEI Pair Pony division, Katie Whaley recently relocated to Kentucky and is as excited as anyone about the 2010 Alltech/FEI World Equestrian Games coming to the U.S. for the first time. Whaley has been pinned Grand Champion at Devon, and the prestigious Walnut Hill Farm Driving Competition - the largest pleasure driving show in the world. She represented the US at the 2003 and 2005 Pony World Championships, and she has been both National Four-In-Hand Champion and National Single Horse champion. She will continue to operate her business Hats by Katie at her new home in Paris, Kentucky, as well as privide training and competitions in the future."Having the World Games here is huge,” she said. “I’m thrilled. It’s going to be a big deal. It’s great for the sport. It’s great for horsemen in general in the states. 
Suzie Stafford of Delaware came out on top in her FEI Single Pony division winning on an overall score of 122.97. Her partner was her 10-year-old Morgan mare who she’s been driving since 2004. 
The top honors in the FEI Single Horse division today went to Donna Crookston of Pennsylvania with an overall score of 129.34. Donna was driving her 12-year-old Morgan gelding RG Cowboy’s Black Cadillac. “Cowboy is a very easygoing kind of guy,” Donna said. “He’s pretty easy to get fit. He’s very easy to work around and very quiet in the carriage.” Donna also foxhunts and has been in the horse industry for more than 50 years. She evented through the Intermediate level but decided it was too much work once she turned 50. "The game is getting so technical,” she said. “With Driving I can get the same thrill I do from Eventing. I actually enjoy driven Dressage much better than I did ridden Dressage. It’s very interesting because you don’t have your leg.” 
In the FEI Pair Horse division Keady Cadwell of North Carolina took home the blue ribbon with a score of 122.85. She came into today’s phase less than one penalty point behind favorite Larry Poulin. Her partners were the Dutch Warmbloods five-year-old Splash and seven-year-old Uniek. “They’re starting to work very well together,” she said. Splash did his first show just last fall. “He just has a really good mind. They’re both really flashy, big movers, but they don’t get very hot. They stay very quiet in their mind. That makes them really easy to work with, and then I can push them.”Keady went to the World Championships in 1993 with a pair and last year she represented the U.S. in Poland. 
Elizabeth Keathley of Tennessee and her trusty team of Welsh ponies won the FEI Team Pony division with an overall score of 178.44. “Oden is the pony who’s been with me the longest,” she said. “We’ve made a lot of mistakes, but we’ve also learned a lot together. Fritz, Hercules and Vidar round out the team with Vidar the newest, making this only his second show with just four months in harness. “I’m really pleased with him. It’s his first time doing the whole show.” Marathon was the phase Elizabeth was most proud of, but she says her team did everything really well. “I feel like we’re on the right track,” she said. 
Gary Stover of North Carolina ended up inching him out at the last minute with a final score of 199. “We were a little disappointed in our Dressage score,” he said. “We came here with the intention of using a horse named Valisco in Dressage, and he wouldn’t settle to do that so we had to put a different horse in so our Dressage wasn’t what we’d hoped for.” Marathon went really well for us. Cones today were okay, we won by the cones, but we should’ve drove a little bit better than we did.” Gary’s winning team consisted of Dutch and Hungarian Warmbloods.
Winning the Single Horse class was Canadian Francois Fleury and his 18-year-old Canadian-bred ZouLou with a score of 109.84. What makes Francois’ win even more interesting is the fact that is legally deaf. 
The thrilling sport of combined driving is back this weekend at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. The three phases of combined driving—driven dressage, the cross-country marathon, and obstacle (“cones”) driving—began Thursday and Friday with two full days of dressage. Multiple National Pairs Champion, Lawrence Poulin competed two weeks ago at the USDF/GAIG Region 8 Dressage Finals winning the Prix St Georges Reserve Championship with one of his Holstiener pairs by Hilltop Farm's Riverman. Poulin is the only competitor in the USA who comptetes at the FEI level in both Driving and Dressage. 
