| Cones or Obstacle Driving |
| Thank you Beth Rieselman |
| Fashioned after a jumping class, this section is designed to test your horses speed & accuracy. The course is made up of numbered pairs of traffic cones with balls balanced on top and other obstacles like "L" shape, serpentine & Zigzag combinations. |
| The clearance of the cones for Training level is your cart's wheel measurement plus 40-50 CM (16") and Preliminary level allows only 35-40 cm. |
| Hitting a cone & dislodging a ball results in penalty points against you. |
| In a 2 day Driving Trial, the cones class will follow your dressage test. In a 3 day Driving Trial, the cones class will be held on the last day to test your equines agility after a challenging marathon. |
| You are also timed during the course with the Training level speed of 160 m per minute and Preliminary level speed at 180 M/Minute. The course length will be from 500 to 800 meters. |
| The class begins when the ring Stewart call you onto the field. You must first Salute the judge, who will acknowledge you and ring a bell (or blow a whistle). You then have 60 seconds to pass through the Start flags (white on left, red on right) to start the course. |
| Prior to the start of this class, you should walk the course with your map as many times as needed to learn all the turns. Note on your map rough ground, where your path will run between cones, and landmarks you may need to line up straight to the cones. |
| Penalties: .3 pts for dislodged ball .5 pts for every second over the calculated time 5 pts for not wearing a hat, apron, gloves or not carrying a whip Disobedience's like circling, refusing, run-outs and resistance result in 5 penalty points for the 1st time, 10 pts for the second time, and elimination for the 3d time. Elimination will result from: -passing through a numbered obstacle before starting -showing an obstacle on course before starting -starting before the sounding of the bell(whistle) -failure to start within 1 minute after the sounding of the bell -failure to pass through the Start & Finish flags -taking an obstacle out of sequence -exceeding the time limit (twice the calculated time) -receiving outside assistance |
| You should have a nice forward trot for this class, but may slow down for difficult combinations or even canter on long open stretches between cones. You should be able to see the next set of cones as you proceed through each set. Your time ends when you pass through the Finish flags after finishing the numbered cones. |
| The American Driving society posts more detailed rules on their website at: www.AmericanDrivingSociety.org Cones can be an exciting class and a nice test of obedience for your mini, so don't forget to have FUN! |
| Beth Rieselman resides in Upstate PA & had been showing in CDEs for 4 years with her minis, "LittlePrince" & "Shadow". |
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| Martha Duchnowski and Painted Angel |
| Heidi Sheahan and Jacob |
| Breanna Sheahan and Tanglewoods Sweet Fascination |
| Deb Harper and River |
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| Martha Duchnowski and Painted Angel |
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| Silk Purse Farm "Rainbow Team" |