THE
NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN DRIVING SOCIETY, INC. NL247
Representing Carriage Driving in the United States and Canada
IN THIS ISSUE: NOTES From the ADS Executive Director............ 1 ADS News
• SAVE THE DATE.................................. 2 • Celebrating Our Youth .......................... 2
• New Member Benefit ............................ 2 • Submit Your Nominations for ADS
Volunteer Award ................................... 3
• ADS Members Win BIG at 2018 Live
Oak International.................................. 3
OPINIONS From Between My Blinders..................... 4
Articles that appear in The Wheelhorse do not necessarily reflect the opinions or position of The American Driving Society, Inc. (ADS), its Board of Directors or staff, nor does publication of said articles constitute an endorsement of the view they may express. Accuracy of all material is the sole responsibility of the authors. Appearance of an advertisement in The Wheelhorse does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the ADS of the goods and services therein.
April 2018
NOTES
Visiting the Office By Abbie Trexler, ADS Executive Director
H
appy spring, ADS Members! I’m sure you share my relief that this snowy winter is nearing an end. My friends in the west have seen the emergence, bloom and fade of daffodils, but here in the Mid-Atlantic Region we are just beginning to see the tops of green shoots pushing up out of the soil. With the coming of spring comes the promise of many competitions, clinics, and organized drives. I hope you all are blessed with shedding horses and ponies, and the optimism that comes with all that flying hair! I’m making my first trip to the ADS office in Cross Plains next week, and look forward to familiarizing myself with our home base. Stacy Carlson works out of the office full time, and I am excited to spend some time with her (as well as our graphic designer Cathy Baer). While in the office we’ll meet to finalize some internal processes, including implementation of our disaster recovery procedures. Stacy has arranged a day trip for us to visit John Freiburger at the home of the ADS North American Preliminary Championships and the Hickory Knoll CDE at Hickory Knoll Farm. The staff, board, and committees have been working hard on action items identified at the 2018 Winter Board Meeting, the results of which you’ll read more about in the May issue of The Whip. As this first quarter of the year comes to a close I’d like to extend a special thank you to all of our volunteers who keep this organization moving forward and adding value for the membership.
Abbie
abbie@americandrivingsociety.org
ADS News
SAVE THE DATE
Date and Location Announced for 2018 ADS Annual Meeting
S
ave the date for November 30-December 2, 2018 for the ADS Annual Meeting. Meet us at The Grand Oaks Resort in Wiersdale, Florida! Check back to www.americandrivingsociety.org for details as they become available. A block of hotel rooms has been reserved at the Town Place Suites in The Villages. Mention ADS when you make a reservation over the phone, or for online booking use rate code ADSP. http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/leets-towneplace-suites-the-villages/
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ADS News
Celebrating our Youth
ADS Announces the 2017 ADS Youth Champions
C
ongratulations are in order to our younger members. The ADS Youth Championship program is filled with young people who have been bitten by the carriage driving bug! We salute the following winners, and will publish more on each of them in our May 2018 issue of The Whip.
Combined Driving Riley Wiltison - Oakland, MD, age 13
Pleasure Driving Luke Dahlberg - Solon Springs, WI, age 17
Recreational Molly Neubauer - Ames, IA, age 12
New Member Benefit
Introducing the ADS Driven Dressage Awards Program
T
he ADS Dressage Committee is offering the following Driven Dressage Awards Program:
Blue Level: ADS Training Level Tests Bronze Medal: ADS Preliminary Tests Silver Medal: ADS Intermediate Level Tests and / or FEI 1* Tests Gold Medal: ADS Advanced Level and / or FEI 2* or 3* Tests (or equivalent = tests driven at FEI World Championships)
Requirements:
For each level four tests of the required level - or higher (see Note 1 below) - with a score of 48 penalty points or below, or 70% or above, are required. For all tests that do not have Presentation included (i.e., all ADT Tests and other Training and Preliminary level tests that do not have POM - Presentation on the Move), the score must be 45 penalty points or below, or 70% or above. Each medal may be earned only once by an individual. Tests must have been driven at an ADS or USEF or FEI recognized event (see Note 2 below). Driver must be a current ADS member. Each test must have been judged by an ADS, USEF or FEI licensed Combined Driving Judge, or an ADS licensed Driven Dressage Judge. Each of the four tests must be from a separate drive (e.g. one cannot turn in three tests from three different judges all from the same drive when there were three judges judging). The tests do not need to be from four separate events in case an event offers more than one test - like a Driven Dressage Festival. Tests must be from at least three different judges. There is no time limit. The tests can be accumulated by the driver over any number of years. They can be driven with any number of different turnouts. Individual dressage test results or, where no individual dressage tests are available, verifiable show results (either with individual judges scores or averaged scores) will be acceptable. It is up to the driver to identify the four test results and send them in to the ADS Dressage Committee as specified on the 2
ADS – Wheelhorse April 2018
application form upon completion of all four. Each test should have sufficient information to verify the date, the name, and the location of the event, and the name of the judge. This can either be done by stating sufficient information on the dressage tests score sheet and/or by providing a result sheet of the events showing the required information as listed above. Note 1: “Or higher” to mean: Applicants may turn in one, or more tests from higher level than the one they are aiming for the reward, e.g. for a blue level award, where four training level tests are required, if the applicant has only three - or fewer, but has another one - or more - from the Preliminary level - or even from Intermediate or Advanced (all within the qualifying score) they may use those Preliminary or Intermediate or Advanced Level tests. Similarly for all the other levels. Further: Turning in qualifying tests for a higher level will not automatically qualify for a lower level award as well, e.g. if one turns in tests qualifying for a silver medal, one will not also be awarded a blue and bronze medal. In no case may a single drive be submitted as more than one result for a given level nor may a single drive be submitted as a result for more than one level. Note 2: ADS recognized event that offered driven dressage, so ADTs, HDTs, Combined Tests, CDEs, and Pleasure Driving Shows all are acceptable.
This just in-Announcing Our First Medal Winners
ADS wishes to congratulate its first round of Driven Dressage Awards Medal Winners Daniel J Rosenthal Bronze Kim Cameron Bronze & Silver Kathleen Schmitt Bronze Bill Allen Silver Hardy Zantke Gold Gail Aumiller Blue & Bronze Riley Wiltison Blue Apply for your medal now! https://americandrivingsociety. org/Members/Championships-Award-Programs#tabbed-nav21833=ads-driven-dressage-awards
Submit Your Nominations for ADS Volunteer Award
Recognizing those who give so much to Driving with ADS Volunteer of the Year Award
D
riving shows and club events of all sorts, and the administration of the ADS would not be possible without the hard work and incredible dedication of volunteers. Our volunteers do everything from parking cars in blazing heat to obstacle judging in pouring rain, from office work to course construction, airport runs for officials and opening their homes to out of state competitors. We simply could not begin to run our organization, clubs, and our competitions without this cadre of capable and generous people. All of our volunteers deserve to be recognized, but there are some that stand out for the extra miles they go and the efforts they make. Please take a moment to think of a standout volunteer, and submit a nomination with the following information: • The name and contact information of the volunteer • How was their contribution outstanding? • A few words of praise – how has this particular volunteer made your life easier? An event/show/clinic made better? • What did they do that was above and beyond? Please submit a high resolution photo if available. • Please include your name and contact information on the nomination The recipient will be gratefully acknowledged at the ADS Annual Members Meeting in December and featured in The Whip.
ADS Members Win BIG at 2018 Live Oak International
T
he USEF Network provided live streaming services of Live Oak, bringing coverage of the prestigious show to the homes of the equine faithful. Many of the competitors are ADS members, and we salute each of them for their tremendous effort in a great competition. Our hats are off to the following ADS members who won their divisions at Live Oak: FEI Single Horse............................................................Jacob Arnold FEI Pony Single..............................................................Leslie Berndl FEI Horse Pair................................................................. James Miller FEI Pony Pair.......................................................Jennifer Matheson FEI Horse Team......................................................... Chester Weber Intermediate Horse Single........................... Jennifer Thompson Intermediate Pony Single...................................... Jennifer Keeler Intermediate Horse Pair................................................Scott Adcox Intermediate Pony Pair............................................... Katie Whaley
Nominations should be submitted to: info@americandrivingsociety.org by September 1, 2018.
2 018 A D S A n n u a l M e e t i n g
ADS New Year Party & Award Gala N o v e m b e r 3 0 - D e c 2 , 2 018 a t T h e G r a n d O a k s
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Opinions Editor’s note: Our May issue of The Whip addresses this new safety vest rule in-depth. Look for your issue in mailboxes during the first two weeks of May.
From Between My Blinders
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By Hardy Zantke
“You snooze you lose?” Or one can also win.
W
earing back protectors aka safety vests on the marathon was made mandatory by the FEI some years ago. At that time that FEI rule came on rather short notice. So the ADS did not follow suit but instead only “highly recommended” them. The upper level drivers needed to wear them both for FEI and USEF events. Fortunately with their good example more and more lower level drivers have the good sense to drive with that extra safety too. Last year the Combined Driving Committee (CDC) felt it was time to make them mandatory for all ADS marathons as well and put in a rule change proposal. There were seven comments from the public against and two for that proposal. Arguments against were: We don’t want more of the nanny state and people can decide on their own (count me in on that one too), they are too expensive and too cumbersome, and hard to get in large sizes. The CDC chairman explained the rational behind their decision: safety is after all one of our main concerns. At the ADS fall meeting one board member spoke out against the proposal - and was able to convince the BOD. This was easier as the chair of the CDC had not been able to be there, so could not present his side. So much to the disappointment of the CDC the rule change did not pass. The CDC did not rest their case and brought it forward to the Winter Board Meeting, presenting their arguments anew and this time the CDC chair was there to defend their position convincingly and the board member who had been against it before was not present. So the motion to make safety vests mandatory for all people on the carriage in all marathon type events passed - alas now with a one year delay so it’s effective as of January 1, 2019. Editor’s Note: The Motion Passed reads: To require protective vests for everyone participating on a carriage during a marathon or any competition that includes marathon-type obstacles starting January 1, 2019. Junior requirements would be unchanged.
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ADS – Wheelhorse April 2018
So, even though I also am not in favor of the nanny state, I do realize, safety sells, times change. We did not wear helmets years ago, and many cried foul with the same arguments as some of us now have against the vests. But, friends, let’s face it, nobody really even talks anymore about the helmets. Everybody wears them, and is safer with them, just as we wear seatbelt in our cars (and wasn’t that a similar issue, when we first were made to buckle up?). There was concern that we might lose some lower level events which might then go unrecognized, bypassing ADS in order to avoid burdening their drivers with this new requirement or being afraid that otherwise they might lose entries. I hope they think twice about doing that, as they really could be up the creek without a paddle and in big legal trouble, if, god forbid, they do have an accident and somebody gets seriously injured. Can you image the field day the lawyers would have with such an organizer, pointing out that all the National Organizations (ADS, USEF and FEI) all require safety vests as do almost all other countries too and this organizer knowing and willingly on purpose bypassed that requirement? (FEI & ADS Rule 928.2.2 where the ADS modifier will be removed - and USEF Rule 913.2.2) A safety vest is a one-time investment in your safety, and they come in a large variety of sizes! Hey, it’s only April now, you have eight months to get used to the idea, save for it and then get one for yourself as well as your navigator - PLEASE! So, friends, let’s get with it. We old timers cannot swim against the tide. So, let’s embrace the change of times and let’s all be SAFER! Happy and SAFE driving,
Hardy