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| Thank you Deb Harper |
| But I'm from Canada .... not so different really! |
| CDE's are run over 2 or 3 days. In a 2 day CDE, dressage and cones (because you are dressed in your finery) are run the first day, and the marathon is run on the 2nd day. |
| Here in Canada, the difference between a CDE and a Driving trial is the length of the "show". The scoring is basically the same. |
| In a 3 day CDE, this is considered a "full CDE" so the dressage is run the first day, the marathon the second, and lastly the cones are run the 3rd day. This means, however that you have to be prepared to clean your horse, harness and carriage/cart between the 2nd and 3rd day because you are going to get your animal and equipment dirty and sweaty. |
| Some people with the resources will have 2 sets of harness and even 2 different vehicles - this minimizes the amount of cleanup (just you and your horse). |
| In a driving trial- everything is run on the same day. Dressage and cones are usually run one behind the other- again because you are dressed up in your best clothes and tack you often leave the dressage arena and head straight for the cones course with little time in between. (You have to know both your test and your cones course well ahead!) Your marathon is scaled down in most cases; especially for the full sized horses. |
| Those of us with VSE (Very Small Equines) already have a scaled down version most of the times. |
| We allow marathon clothes/helmets throughout (darned if I am getting into panty hose in Feb!!) |
| We also have something called an Indoor Driving trial - a good winter or foul-weather sport. This is run also in one day, usually in a covered or closed arena. Usually the dress code is a relaxed somewhat. |
| The marathon is the main difference due to the confined space. We set up the "marathon" as a 2 obstacle/hazard affair. The whistle blows and we do a complete revolution of the arena before following the "gates" to lead us to the first obstacle. Once we pass through the obstacles gaits, Prelim and higher can do any gait (i.e. canter) while the Training level trots. |
| In ADT's the order of go is Dressage, Marathon, and Cones. |
| The obstacle is gated A, B, C, D, E just like a real marathon. Then the course leads us to the second hazard, gated in the same fashion. Once we have completed the obstacles, we follow the markers that lead us around the arena and through the finish line. We immediately carry on with the same course, doing it immediately for a second time- usually by now we know what works within the hazard and either we can take a short-liberty that we didn't the first time, or our horses just know what to expect. Therefore, the second round is usually faster. |
| Then the 2 times from both goes are scored. Lastly, the cones course is set up and run pretty much like a regular event. And the horses need to settle back down and be obedient to the tighter turns of the cones without miscalculating the spaces between the cones and dislodged any balls placed on top. These indoor trials are great fun and the horses seem to love them. Plus its fun for the spectators that get to see the entire event, on one afternoon, sitting in the bleachers! |
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| 12/20/2009 |