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Sixth Annual Skunk River Driving Trial June 28-29, 2008
Schooling Show, Despooking, and Driving Lessons August 23-24, 2008
Robin Groves, Brownsville, Vermont, presents clinics at Three G Farms four times a year. In the photo below, she works with Earl and Frieda on a dressage lesson.
Robin and her husband, Wilson, are enthusiastic and serious competitors in all aspects of carriage driving. Driving her Morgan stallion, Clay Gates Fort Knox, and her Morgan gelding, Clay Gates Riptide, Robin has been awarded National High-Point Carriage Horse in the American Morgan Horse Association several different years. She is currently competing with Thor's Toy Truck (T..J.) a 10 year-old Connemara-Thoroughbred gelding, in advanced single horse events up and down the East Coast, winning first place in the fall of 2006 at both Gladstone and Fair Hill. Although not always first overall, Robin and TJ regularly win the marathon. Her first place finish in the Single Horse division at the 2007 Fair Hill CDE earned her her first U. S. Equestrian Federation National Championship.
Although her list of driving accomplishments is impressive, Robin also is known for her ability to help all drivers and riders, beginners through veterans, improve their skills. Like all great teachers, she starts where the horse and rider or driver are, and helps them move to a higher level. Robin is equally at home with riders and drivers, working with carriage drivers, dressage riders, Western riders, and eventers with ease.
2008 clinic dates for Robin Groves at Three G Farms are April 16-20, June 5-6, July 24-27, and October 30-November 2. The clinics are a standard format: eight 50-minute lessons each day. Schedule early; lessons with Robin fill quickly! For questions or to reserve a place or a stall, please contact Mary Winter, mwinter@iastate.edu, 515-450-1041. Auditors are welcome, for a fee of $10 per day.
Sixth Annual Skunk River Driving Trial June 28-29, 2008
The sixth annual Skunk River Driving Trial is scheduled for June 28 and 29, 2008, at Three G Farms. The event, sponsored by the Best of Iowa in Traces Society (BITS) is the only event of its kind in Iowa that is sanctioned by the American Driving Society (ADS). The 2007 event drew 33 competitors from 8 states to central Iowa.
Officiating at the 2008 event are Mike McLennan as Presiding Judge and Keith Yutzy as Technical Delegate. Both men are from Brenham, Texas, and are long-time CDE competitors who have met the standards set by ADS to serve as officials at CDEs.
A Driving Trial (DT) is a shortened version of a Combined Driving Event (CDE). Three competitions must be completed by the same horse and driver:
driven dressage, always performed first, will begin at 8:30 on Saturday, June 28
obstacles or cones, consisting of 15 pairs of numbered cones that the horse and driver must negotiate within a specified time period without dislodging the ball on top of the cone. In a two-day event like the Skunk River, the cones competition takes place after dressage.
the marathon, which will begin Sunday, June 29th, at 8:30 A.M. The marathon course is 6 km with 7 hazards, which are natural (trees, shrubs) or constructed mazes in which openings have been lettered as gates that the horse and driver need to go through in a specified order.
Drivers performing a Combined Test complete only dressage and obstacles.
The event begins with a competitors' meeting Friday at 5:00 P.M., followed by complementary pizza party for competitors and their navigators. The marathon course walk will take place Saturday at 3:00 P.M., followed by a competitors' dinner, for which tickets may be purchased at $20 per ticket.
Eight different classes are offered: training-level horses, ponies, multiples, and VSEs (Very Small Equines) and preliminary-level horses, ponies, multiples and VSEs. There are special awards for Best Training Level Dressage and Cones, and Best Prelim Dressage, Cones, and Marathon, as well as championship awards for Best Training Level score and Best Prelim Level score.
Additional information is available on the American Driving Society website, www.americandrivingsociety.org, click on "Omnibus" at the top of the homepage, then on "June," and finally on "Skunk River Driving Trial."
Schooling Show, Despooking, and Driving Lessons August 23-24, 2008
Saturday, August 23, there will be a schooling show at Three G Farms. We will have two arena classes in the outdoor arena: working pleasure, a "traditional" reinsmanship, and designer reinsmanship, beginning at 9:00 A.M. Classes may be split according to level of experience of both participants and critters, depending on the number of participants. Participants should be ready to enter the arena promptly at 9:00. We will also have Pick Your Route and Numbered Cones courses set up, with the opportunity to drive the courses more than once. Anne Leck, Maple Plain, Minnesota, will serve as judge for the day. Ms. Leck is an ADS-approved judge for pleasure shows. We are delighted that she has agreed to serve as judge for our schooling show.
Sunday, August 24, Anne will offer individual 50-minute driving lessons in the outdoor arena, weather permitting, or in the indoor arena, if it is too hot or rainy for the outdoor arena.
On both days, despooking centers will be set up around the farm: hanging, swinging things; puffy plastic bags; a water hazard; a bridge; a "railroad crossing"; blue tarps; umbrellas; scary black cutouts, and loud noises (PA system, overhead door closing). When not involved in classes or lessons, participants will be free to take their horses to each of the centers.
The costs are: $25 per class or $50 for the schooling show on Saturday; $45 for an individual lesson with Anne on Sunday, and $20 for participating in despooking. Stalls are available at $25 per night per stall. We are also offering a package deal for the weekend: participation in as many of the events as desired, PLUS a stall for the weekend for $100 for BITS members, $110 for nonBITS members.
To schedule a lesson with Anne on Sunday, or for questions, please contact Mary Winter at 515-450-1041 or mwinter@iastate.edu.
The popularity of the last-minute Games Galore day in 2007 has prompted us to offer the event again, AND to get it scheduled well in advance, so people can get the event into their calendars. It is a day to do the things we all love without having to worry about polishing brass or washing the pony. As we did last year, we will offer 6 events:
$ Pick Your Route: 10 sets of unnumbered cones, in which the driver chooses his or her own route through each pair once and only once.
$ Numbered Cones: 10 pairs of cones that must be driven in order, 1-10.
$ Gambler=s Choice: several obstacles with varying degrees of difficulty, each assigned a number of points. Drivers have 2 minutes to accumulate the highest number of points.
$ Marathon Pace: a marked course approximately 2 kilometers in length, with a target time for completing the course based on size of your critter. Every second over or under the target time is one penalty point. Lowest score wins.
$ Cone Weaving: 6 cones, set 20 feet apart. Driver drives through the course twice, once in each direction.
$ Double Jeopardy: 10 pairs of cones numbered 1-10. One driver drives the pairs in numerical order, then hands the reins to his or her passenger, who drives back through the cones in reverse numerical order.
The entry fee for each class is $5, or $25 for the whole day. A stall to park your pony while you are walking courses or eating lunch is available free; an overnight stalls is $25.
Please contact Mary (mwinter@iastate.edu), Earl (ewmorris@peoplepc.com), or Jada (jadaneub@hotmail.com) with questions, or if you want to participate.
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| Contact: Earl W. Morris or Mary Winter:
515-232-3019, 515-450-1041 (C-MW), 515-450-1046 (C-EWM) Email:mailto: info@threegfarms.com |