A Different Day - Photographing My First CAI International Driving Event

Shows

2022 CAI Oirschot

Sometimes for the mind to stay nourished you have to do something differently. Yesterday 16 July 2022 I went out of the box and photographed my first international driving event CAI in Oirschot, The Netherlands. I ventured there to support my long-time friend and mentor Mary Phelps, who competed in her first 3* event driving her ponies four in-hand.

For those who are supporters of Eurodressage from the start (1997!) know that Mary Phelps and I ran a thriving collaboration from 1998 until 2005. In this period Mary got me started as an equestrian journalist working horse shows in the United States as well as chaperoning me on my first European Championships and World Young Horse Championships (1999 in Arnheim) and my first World Equestrian Games (2002).

Mary and I were pioneers in having equestrian magazines and new websites on the internet (Dressagedaily, Belgian Junior Riders Online), when modem dial-up was the only way to get connected, Netscape was your browser, Yahoo your search engine, and only a handful of horse related websites existed on the net.

Mary and her then husband JJ Hathaway, of course, had to pass the review board - my parents - before they would send off their 17-year old daughter across the Atlantic to Denver, Colorado (with two lay-overs in Chicago and Minneapolis) to "some photographers on the internet" in 1998. We met Mary in person in June at my parental home and in August I was off to my first adventure, the North American Young Riders Championships at High Prairie Farm in Parker, CO.

A deep friendship developed from there and although Mary still has her websites, she is now more passionately pursuing a career as an international pony driver, supported by her husband Wayne Humphries. She has attended and placed 10th at the 2019 World Championships Driving for Pony Pairs in Kisber (HUN) after winning the cones phase and has accepted the challenge to qualify for the 2023 World Championships for pony four-in hand in Oirschot and for the summer has based herself in Europe with Bram Chardon to learn from the best.

I have of course seen four-in-hand driving at Aachen and photographed some carriages in the Farewell to Nations there, but I had never taken pictures at a real driving event and I must admit it's quite the challenge to fit all four ponies, and a carriage with three people in the frame and at the same time capture the moment, excitement, and atmosphere of the event. The marathon in Oirschot was exciting (see video here).

The event was held at Steenhof stables in Oirschot, the venue that will host the World in 2023, so it was good practice there for a massive field of drivers from all across Europe. Mary was the only American in attendance. A nice catering section was created and the field was abuzz for the marathon phase. It felt like being at a cross country event with the announcer talking incessantly to keep the spectators informed of how drivers were clearing the hazards.

When Mary appeared on the scene, the speaker gave her a nice plug saying that she is working with Bram Chardon, who was her navigator on the carriage and constantly and emphatically pointing and helping Mary in which direction she had to go. She also explained the breed of her ponies, an American bred Shetland x Hackney cross, which is "something they do in the U.S.A.," as the speaker said. Mary's ponies are the smallest in the field and their fabulous colours and fighting spirit make them eye-catchers. They are called "The Gangsters" as their names are A Caponey, Bugs Maloney, Tony da Pony, and Kimba.

Mary worked the course the well and gained valuable experience at this show in preparation of the meaningful 2023 show year. After she completed her round we chatted briefly by the stable, had a glass and of water, and it was back to the office for Eurodressage business. Although for once, I set aside the mountain of work I'm climbing every day to prepare a photo collection of the day as a memory for Mary.

A bigger photogallery from Oirschot can be found on Mary's Facebook page.