Keri said:
Are there any good books, websites, etc. on learning how to do CDE? I know there are different courses (dressage, obstacle), but I'm pretty much clueless. Our local club is trying to start the program back up and would love to support them. I'm purchasing a meadowbrook cart, but need to figure out the right harness. So I need suggestions on a good CDE harness (and one that's reasonable affordable for now), where to find the CDE rulebook, and any learning websites/books. And for those that show it, what's all involved? What does the horse need to know? My gelding drives show right now, but I drive him without a check when I'm not working him on headset. Someone told me checks weren't allowed. Thanks!
Hi Keri! You can compete in CDE with a show cart, especially if it's one you can retrofit with steel or wooden wheels to move up the levels. (Some organizers will not let you use pneumatic tires even at Training Level, but most will.) A Frontier or similar cart is great to start with. Any harness that has a good wide breastcollar and saddle and comes with breeching is okay for your first few events, just make sure it fits correctly and that the metal color matches what's on your cart. Pretty much the best CDE harness out there is the Camptown/Chimacum Tack Sport Harness which I love, love, love. It's extremely comfortable for the horse and the price isn't any worse than most of your basic show harnesses at $599 plus any upgrades you want.
As for what the horse needs to know, well...he needs at a minimum to be solid on walk, trot, whoa, stand and back, comfortable having other horses driving around him (including big multiple hitches!), and be confident going for a trail drive alone. He should let you rate his speed, both going faster and slower on command, and he should learn to be comfortable crossing water and driving through spooky things like billowing tarp panels and such. When you let out the reins at a walk he should extend his head down and foreward and "follow the bit," letting his back really swing and move. The nice thing about CDE is that they expect both you and your horse to learn and get better as you move up the levels so you can do well even with a green horse because he's competing against other horses with the same amount of training.
targetsmom said:
The American Driving Society (ADS) website is a great place to start.
http://www.americandrivingsociety.org/.
Some books: Carriage Driving by Heike Bean and Sarah Blanchard and
Sports Driving by Amanda Saville
:
ThumbUp I have a very long list of driving books I like on my personal page with descriptions of what each one covers. I need to add some more though; seems like I'm always finding new ones I like.
The Sports Driving book is really really good but it is written by a lady in England so some of the rules and terms are a little different and you need to read the ADS rulebook or talk to a more experienced driver to know what the differences are. The actual driving advice is spot-on though and very detailed. I learned a lot!
MiLo Minis said:
Actually although overchecks are definitely NOT allowed you can use a sidecheck or anti grazing check if you have a horse or pony that likes to dive for grass.
That is only true at Training Level in combined driving. Overchecks and martingales are never allowed, side checks are allowed only at Training Level, and breeching is required unless your vehicle has brakes.
Keri said:
But I'm clueless on the dressage part or the trail course they throw at you.
Dressage at Training Level is mostly about establishing the foundations a horse needs to move up the levels. His gaits should be rhythmic, his body straight (meaning it follows the path he travels on, so a straight line if he's traveling straight and a bent line if he's on a circle or other figure), his hindquarters engaged and he should stretch through his topline. He should show relaxation and submission to the bit, meaning no gaping or throwing his head or tensing up through his back and neck. His transitions should be soft and prompt, his halts quiet, and in general he should look like a pleasure to work with. Nothing fancy! They don't give a darn what kind of action he has or where his head is, only that he's moving in a correct manner for his abilities.
The cross-country marathon is a book in itself. Let me keep it very simple and say that you go a certain distance at a certain pre-determined pace, in our case a slow 9kph, and interspersed in that distance you have obstacles or hazards where speed counts. Training Level is not timed in the hazards so you just trot through A, B, and C in the right order nice and steady, but Preliminary Level and up are timed in the hazards and must go through the gates in the right order as fast as safely possible. Once you exit the hazard you go back to your steady distance pace and must come in at the end within a 3 minute window. If this is going to be a winter sport in your area it's probably going to be in an Arena Driving Trial or ADT format where you don't actually go cross-country, you just do hazards set up in an arena.
MiLo Minis said:
Cones courses at a CDE are set up with at least 15 pairs of cones,numbered from 1 to whatever, with balls on top to be driven through in a timed course spread over a field. Faults are given for dislodging balls or knocking over cones. Win goes to the fastest time with the least number of faults. Although the cones can be set up in a line to be driven through more often than not they are in pairs.
That is not strictly true at a CDE- in fact in our area the award for best cones is given to the driver who comes the closest to "optimum time," which means essentially the slowest driver who didn't go
too slow!
(It's a bit annoying since the rest of the country gives Best Cones to the fastest driver who goes clean, but hey.) The criteria for "Best Cones" is up to the organizer of the given CDE. The real function of the cones phase is to test the horse's agility and control after a grueling marathon the day before. Does he have the stamina to make the minimum time and still go clean? Does his driver have the precision to hit his mark time after time after time without jerking his horse around? The goal is to avoid adding penalty points to the score you've already accumulated in dressage and marathon and hence keep your placing. The organizer can offer special awards like "Best Dressage," "Best Marathon," "Best Cones," "Best First-Time Competitor" and such but the only ribbon you earn for the actual CDE is the cumulative division placing earned through all three phases. You don't get ribbons for your placing in dressage or cones.
Now at a Pleasure Driving show or other type of competition the cones course is a class of its own and you will get a ribbon for it, and fastest time may be necessary to win. But that's not the case at a CDE.
Hope that helps!
Leia