Live Oak International

Live Oak International is the largest international-level combined driving and show jumping tournament in the country. The event showcases leading drivers, riders, trainers, coaches and owners from Europe and North America. 

A combined driving event has three different events within it. The first is dressage. Like the dressage you may have heard of for mounted riders, horses and carriages perform specific moves at specified points in an arena. They are judged on their gaits, athleticism, transitions between gaits and their performance and adherence to the required pattern, called a test. The test might look something like this, and explains what is being assessed:

In a large event, such as the Live Oak International, the dressage is held one day. The next day is the cross country. Horses navigate from one obstacle to another. Within each obstacle there is a required pattern of 'gates' to negotiate in specific directions. The teams are timed for each obstacle. They have a specified minimum and maximum time to travel a route between the obstacles. The third event is the cones event. Cones, similar to orange traffic cones, are set in an arena and carriages must follow a prescribed course through the cones. A ball is placed on the top of each cone. There are time penalties if a ball is knocked off. The cones are set 8" wider than the axle of each carriage! The cones event takes place on the third day of a large event. 

Image from the Internet

I went to see the cross country portion of the event. Despite a rainy start to the day, it was fun to see the horses and carriages make their way through the obstacles. Each obstacle is a warren of possible pathways winding through a maze constructed of immovable objects. In this event they were predominantly defined by sturdy wood fencing. The course designers decide what path contestants must make. They throw in plenty of tight turns to the left and right, and sometimes totally around something within the obstacle. The path is defined by gates what are marked with red and white numbers showing in what direction the carriage must navigate the gate (red numbers must be kept to the right of the carriage, white to the left),  and in which order. This is a schematic of the various obstacles. 

Still pictures don't really tell the tale. It's difficult to see the horses when they are within the obstacles. 

This is a video of a four-in-hand pony team negotiating the water obstacle. It gives you a feeling for just how challenging an obstacle can be.

Here's another video that shows how athletic the team of horses, driver and navigator must be. Most of the audio in the background is describing the performance of a carriage at another obstacle. Toward the end it mentions the driver you are watching. You can see the navigator leaning to the outside of the carriage on turns, and working to jump the carriage away from the obstacle. 

As I was walking from one obstacle to another I heard the announcer comment that one of the four-in-hand teams was 'in trouble' in an obstacle. The announcer asked if the driver was OK, made a few more remarks about some sort of difficulty, then finally commented that the driver was on his way. I'm thinking that the navigator may not have been able to jump the carriage far enough away from a post, and the wheel of the carriage may have gone on the wrong side. As this was a team of four horses, working to extract the carriage may have been quite the challenge itself!

All in all, it was a fun day. Earlier in my life I had aspirations of driving in events such as this. Now...I can't imagine doing anything like this! 

Almost Home

When we left California it seemed that our trek across country would never end. Now, as we approach our final destination in southern Florida, it doesn't seem so bad. We have certainly taken a leisurely route. We refer to it as the "Three Thirty Rule" meaning we will travel no more than 330 miles or arrive no later than 3:30 PM. Certainly our trip has taken more days than it could have, but the quality of our days has been so much better. (IE... we aren't bitching at each other ...... as much!!!)

Our travels up to Jacksonville

We arrived in the Jacksonville area on Friday, and spent the weekend with family before moving on to our home near Labelle, FL. We were anxious to see the resort, as Hurricane Irma went right over it. And everyone had reported that although there was damage, it was not anything like it could have been. The staff of the resort has been (and remains) very busy cleaning up debris and broken limbs. The pines, oaks and palms are all a bit thinner than they were, and limbs seem to droop a bit more than in the past.

Last year I took a picture of the palms reflected in the mirror of our motorhome. I took a second shot of it last night. It shows the impact of the hurricane on the palms. They look so sad.

Here is another before and after shot. The first is a picture of our lot with the huge oak at the back and a pretty Bismarck Palm in the front. Compare this picture to the one I took this evening.  What a difference.