SDMS
coordinated with Tom O’Carroll of Good Hands
Training Center in Navasota, Texas to
conduct an Introductory Combined Driving
Event Workshop exclusively for longears.
The workshop was held at Haven Hill on April
18th & 19th and was a huge
success. Everyone left wanting to come back
for more.
There were
eleven participants and two auditors. We
had people join us from Oregon and New
Mexico. Gay Fowler, one of our SDMS members,
was there and she is a certified equine
massage therapist. She treated each of the
longears to a massage. This was fascinating
to watch and see the results.
It rained
almost all day on Saturday. The morning was
spent in the classroom while Tom O’Carroll
and Marlene Collins defined and discussed
all the elements of Combined Driving Events
– dressage, the cones course, and the
marathon. We learned about The Big E – not
a good thing, such as excellent,
exceptional, expert. It means the dreaded
elimination. Needless to say, “The Big E”
became a catch phrase for the weekend
While it was
raining during the afternoon, we went to the
barn and brought a couple of our longears in
at a time, harnessed them, and put them to
their cart. Tom checked the harness for
proper fit and instructed us on the use of
the various harness parts. He also discussed
different bits, proper whips and lengths,
and how to teach your animal to stand
quietly while being harnessed.
Several of
us expressed interest in driving a team and
Tom put a pairs harness on two of Stock
Markets Miniature Donkeys – Ben & Rebate,
and drove them as a team. Karen drove them
as a team the rest of the weekend. The
corners of her smile went all the way to the
back of her head!
The rain
stopped in the late afternoon and we walked
the dressage pattern, the cones course, the
obstacle and the mini marathon course which
was about 1 ˝ miles. We then got our
animals and practiced.
Sunday we
got to experience a CDE for real. When all
the scores were totaled the overall winner
was Lynda Cornell and Madison. Lynda is
still waiting for their picture on the cover
of Sports Illustrated and Driving Digest.
(We just won’t tell her any differently)
A very
special thanks to Lee Fuhrmann who assisted
throughout the entire workshop and took
photographs. She sent a CD of pictures to
all who attended. Lee and her donkey,
Whisper, compete in CDEs. They are doing
very well and really making a name for
themselves.
Plans are in
the works for a CDE Play Day at Haven Hill
in the fall. Make plans to attend because
it is a great venue for your longears! And
a lot of fun!
Photographs by Lee Fuhrmann
and Elizabeth Moore
Many
thanks to Sally Armstrong for her help in
organizing the workshop
