Learning carriage driving in Sisters

Carriage driving enthusiasts from around the Northwest recently enjoyed a week of learning and fellowship at Eagle Bear Ranch in Sisters. A five-day clinic, dubbed a "summer camp for adults" by organizer Gerry Pearson, enabled participants to engage in multiple days of personalized teaching with two world-renowned driving clinicians.

A dozen drivers from Oregon, Idaho, California and British Columbia came to hone their skills. Several Sisters Country residents were in attendance. Kanoe Durdan-Godby found that several days in a row of intense work was of great benefit.

It was the first time that clinicians Muffy Seaton, from Williston, SC, and Bill Lower, based in Florida, had worked together. Both are highly regarded as judges and clinicians.

Seaton is a four-time national champion, was third in the world at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 1997, and in 2005 she trained and qualified the pony that won the Gold at the World Pony Championships. She is a respected judge for the American Driving Society and has a training facility at her farm in South Carolina.

Lower is a former driving judge who still competes in carriage and combined driving. He is a popular clinician who has previously worked with some of Sisters' carriage driving enthusiasts.

The equestrian sport of driving, as defined by the American Driving Society, encompasses three areas of participation - combined driving, pleasure driving and recreational. Combined driving is modeled after the three-day event, with driven dressage, cross-country marathon and cone driving competition. Pleasure driving is a show-ring competition in which horses are hitched to antique or replica carriages. Recreational driving is a planned but non-competitive event.

Pearson, who is an American Driving Society competitor and head of the education committee, decided to hold the clinic in Sisters and chose Eagle Bear Ranch on a recommendation of friends. Participants were able to board their horses at the facility and chose their own accommodations locally.

Two training rings were in use each day, one at Eagle Bear and one at the next-door property. Pearson noted that it was unusual to have two clinicians working at the same time, providing a unique opportunity for participants. They were able to watch other lessons and could drive as often as they wished in the forest behind the facility.

Each day included a private lesson with one of the clinicians. At the beginning of the camp, Pearson said, students set goals, and the first day was spent with the clinicians assessing the horses and drivers to see if the goals were attainable. The rest of the week was spent working on the specifics. On Saturday a friendly competition was held.

Seminars were also held twice each day, covering topics relating to the sport of carriage driving. Participants learned about conditioning their horses, carriage and harness maintenance and repair, veterinary care, bits and bitting, and turnout of drivers.

"Carriage driving is the fastest-growing equestrian sport," said Pearson. "It is the sport of ladies and gentlemen."

She added that many of the adherents are in their 50s, mostly women who have had a lifetime of equestrian pursuits but no longer wish to ride. It's also a sport that makes no distinction between sexes or physical ability.

Horses of all shapes and sizes are suitable for carriage driving. The pens at Eagle Bear Ranch held miniature horses, a pair of Percheron draft horses, Fjords, Welsh, Connemara and English riding ponies, plus a variety of cross-bred horses.

It also holds great spectator appeal. There's the excitement of combined driving and the refinement of a fine harness pair in a carriage class. Watching a pair or four-in-hand working in accord is to witness a multitude of technical and practical skills meshed together in a moment of perfection. Visit http://www.americandrivingsociety.org.