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GREAT TIME AT RIVER GLEN CDE by Julia Oliver

The second (and hopefully annual) River Glen CDE was held on September 15-16 despite the horrible tragedies of the week before. There was some question of the propriety of continuing with the event, but organizer Sue Vandergriff was encouraged by both competitors and officials to carry on with the show. This was made considerably more difficult due to the grounding of airline flights. But the judges were determined not to be deterred and Macy Hill and TD Tom Knicker drove the entire distance while Marjorie Margentino waited in airports and managed to catch several standby flights in order to support the show. In addition, the organizer reported that several judges including Boots Wright and Debbie Banfield called and offered to drive in and assist if the other officials were not able to arrive. (Mrs. Banfield ended up judging -and juggling- both cones and presentation, which allowed the competition to continue.) Amazingly, Anne Hayward, who was in charge of volunteers and who also stepped in to help with the courses, was able to fully staff all her positions despite the weekend crisis. Sue Vandergriff was overwhelmed with the spirit and enthusiasm of everyone involved, under the circumstances, and all who attended this show agreed that it had been an encouraging and uplifting weekend. Perhaps it was because things that might have seemed important the week before now seemed trivial, but judge Macy Hill announced at the awards party that she had never seen such a congenial and 'easy to get along with' group of competitors, volunteers, and show officials. I believe that is the way we all felt that weekend.

This show is held at beautiful River Glen Equestrian Park in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in eastern Tennessee. Dressage, cones, and much of Section E are run along the river plain and within sight of the Halston River. Section A of the marathon began high above the park and meandered down 'the mountain,' offering breathtaking views of the valley below along with some challenging grades, mostly downhill. It didn't hurt that the weather was cool and clear and nearly perfect, despite some early morning 'river fog' that delayed the start of Sunday's marathon. Several aspects of the show were improved upon this year, including the layout of Richard Nicoll's marathon course and two new hazards, thanks to Barbara Black. Owner of the Horse Park Bill Graves had also added a new, permanent 40X100 sand arena for driving dressage. The footing in this ring was quite firm and, most agreed, excellent. One drawback to the show is its distance from local motels and restaurants, so this year a food vendor was added (the Graves family), and a tent, which was enjoyed by all the competitors. One of the really nice things about River Glen is the stabling, which is plentiful, close to everything, and allows competitors to park near their stalls. The organizer had spaced stalls so that everyone had a tack stall and an overhang for their vehicle, and many pleasant hours were passed as competitors visited, cleaned tack, and enjoyed the panoramic views. There were 30 entries this year, up from 10 last year, and everyone agreed that the numbers are sure to go up as the word gets out about this event.

Competition was fierce this year among both Training and Preliminary entries. In the end, several places were decided by just a few second's worth of points. Indiana Whip and Wheel's members have been highly successful at shows all season, and this one was no exception. All five Indiana members who had made the trip down found success in their division. Linda Copeland, driving her pair of German Warmbloods, had the Best Training Dressage and was also Training Champion. Sandy Green, driving her outstanding Welsh Cob pony, had the Best Preliminary Dressage and were Preliminary Champions (with professional Klaus Biesenthal from Illinois and his warmblood pony stallion breathing down her throat the whole way). Julia Oliver drove her Polish mare to Preliminary Marathon Champion, Celeste PItts and her four-year-old spotted Canadian draft won Best Turnout and led the Training Horse Division after dressage and cones, only to be beaten by .2 of a point after marathon by Whip and Wheels member Mary Smith. Mary was driving her new, young Morgan and was thrilled with her first win. Other winners included Tammy Bradley and her appendix QH, who won Preliminary Horse and who was on her way back to Florida after having competed at the Laurels. And Dolly Gibbons and her Arabian won the hotly contested Training Pony division. As in many Combined Driving Events, the variety and diversity of breeds competing with each other at this show (and doing well) was amazing. It is certainly one of our strong points that nearly any breed or size of horse can be successfully shown and enjoyed in our sport.

It was interesting to note that 18 of the 30 entries this year were ponies, including Elizabeth Keathley's excellent new four-in-hand Welsh entry. This seems to be a trend in our sport with more and more ponies finding their way into the divisions and an increasingly higher level of training and quality being evident in the competitions. These excellent ponies are also often beating the horses in both dressage and in hazard times, something not often seen in years past. Ponies definitely seem to be in the future of our sport, at least here in the Midwest.