What is
Combined Driving?
"CDE" is short for Combined Driving Event. This is one of the newest
and fastest growing equestrian sports in the world. The sport was
created in the early seventies as an adaptation of the ridden
three-day event. The objective was to test the versatility of the
horse and driver. There are three competitions within a Combined
Driving Event. They are Dressage, Marathon, and Obstacles
(cones).
The first event, day one, is Dressage.
Most of you will at least have seen a riding
dressage event, if not competed in one. Now,
just imagine a horse doing dressage patterns
with a carriage attached. Obviously, there
are some ridden dressage maneuvers that
wouldn't be possible with a carriage
attached, but as a driver you are trying to
achieve similar results. As you perform your
patterns the judges want to see a calm,
supple, flexible, confident, obedient horse.
The better score is the lowest, based on the
least amount of penalty points.
The second event, day two, is the Marathon.
This event tests the stamina, endurance and
agility of the horse and driver over a country
drive of up to 22 kilometers. There are usually
three timed phases to this event. The competitor
is allowed a two to three minute window at the
end of each phase, and anyone arriving before or
after that allowed time is penalized. The first
is a warm-up drive of three to seven kilometers
at a trot. Terrain and weather conditions
usually dictate the distance. The second phase
is a one kilometer walk after which there's a
vet check. If the horse is healthy enough to
continue, it's on to the third phase. This
consists of driving another few kilometers
interspersed with complex obstacles. Each
obstacle has a start and finish gate, and the
total time you spend in the obstacle is
penalized 0.2 penalty points per second.
Obviously, the objective is to get through as
fast as possible. All penalty points assessed
during these three phases are added up to give
you your marathon score.
The third event, day three, is Obstacles
(cones). This event tests the ability of
the horse and driver to respond to changes
in direction and speed. The vehicle is
driven through a course of obstacles set
just centimeters wider than the carriages'
wheel track. This is commonly called the
cones course, since most of the obstacles
are generally sets of traffic cones with
balls placed on top. The object is to get
through the course, within a set time,
without hitting any cones and dislodging the
balls. Penalty points are assessed for any
balls or obstacles knocked down, and any
overrun on the time allowed. The winner of
the competition is decided on the total
points from all three events for each
competitor. The lowest score, hence the
least amount of penalty points, wins.
written by Brian Cowieson, of the
Manitoba Driving Society
|
|
