Page 39 - SophiesPonyTalesJuly10C

CHAPTER 18 A NEW CHALLENGE

We were getting better at all the phases of a We worked on conditioning by driving three to five miles
pleasure show. I was becoming less anxious around oth- for three to five times a week.
er carriages, even in a ring class. My whip was usually At the compulsory veterinarian check I was de-
able to keep our distance from other entries. termined fit to return to the barn. My heart rate was
My whip decided we should attend the Lorenzo within acceptable limits as was my temperature and res-
Driving Competition in Cazenovia, NY. The Lorenzo Driv- piration rate. Those health indicators showed that I had
ing Competition is one of the premier events in carriage been properly conditioned for the event. We finished
driving. The first class of the event was a blind marathon seventeen seconds early. That put us in third place for
pace. Being blind means that you do not know the the marathon pace.
course ahead of time. No walking of the course is al- That afternoon there were two ring clas-
lowed. ses. That meant the whole turn out had to be cleaned
The assignment was to follow a five mile route at a and polished. After going through mud and crossing a
trot or walk and finish the course in exactly forty four stream it needed a thorough cleaning. I also got a bath.
minutes and thirty four seconds. There is a penalty for When we entered the ring for the first of the two pleas-
every second that you finish faster or slower than the ure classes it was immediately obvious that we were
time allowed. A blind marathon also means you do not outclassed. The turnouts, carts and harness were im-
know how far you have gone. The only marker is the half peccable and looked much better than mine. The other
way point. Another rule is that the last one half mile is a ponies were more poised and composed. They didn’t
mandatory trot. In the rest of the marathon you may show any nervousness. When asked to stand in a row in
walk if you choose to, but no cantering is allowed. A the center of the ring for inspection I couldn’t stop fidg-
navigator can accompany the whip to keep time and eting. All the other stood quietly for their individual in-
watch for route markers. One purpose of this event is to spection by the judge. There were nine of us in the
determine if your whip knows your rate of speed and if ring. Six received ribbons. We didn’t. The second class
you can vary your rate of trot. My whip is fortunate be- was much like the first.
cause I can go from eight mph to twenty mph at the I heard my driver’s wife say, “Maybe we should
trot. During the final half mile we can slow down or drop out and go home.” My driver responded, “We
speed up depending on the need to take more or less placed in the marathon pace, and the cones obstacle
time on the remaining half mile. classes are tomorrow. We should be better in those.
The route was a pleasant drive through fields Those are events based on being an athlete ,and Sophie
and woods with one section up a large hill and down the is an athlete more than a show horse.” I was treated to
other side. Pulling a carriage and passengers that carrots for my efforts to this point and no further men-
weighed a total of six hundred fifty lbs. made me strain tion was made of the rejections.
going up the hill. It had rained before the marathon so in
parts of the route the carriage wheels were sinking in
mud. I was getting tired toward the end glad that we
had been working hard getting ready for the marathon.

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