Success at the 2008 Royal Windsor Horse Show!

Joan, Sarah and Sally prepare Casper for his big appearance, making sure that every detail is just so. An awful lot of time and attention is put into making Casper and the carriage look sparkling.

A lot of behind-the-scenes work goes on – as you will appreciate – training Casper (and the other ponies), then arranging transport for Casper to get to the showground, before he even gets harnessed up ready for his class!

Note how the usually somewhat 'grey' Casper (he loves the mud!) is a real snowy-white for his Royal appearance! That pony has had a really good wash!

Casper knows he looks good! And he does ...

Casper charges around the course – you can almost see him concentrating! He's determined to go faster than last year!

Sally and Kate have a chat with HRH Prince Philip as he presents the rosettes. Sarah is also in attendance as Groom, looking extremely smart.

Sally, Kate and Casper leave the ring with their rosettes, looking justly triumphant!!

Sally writes ... March 2008

David Mason

Our Group has begun this year on a sad note as two of our Group have recently died.  Chris Burden, a disabled member, died in February.  She had been a very loyal member of the Group and helped us raise funds in many ways and was always very appreciative of our efforts within the Group.

More recently, David Mason died (photo above).  He and his wife Mildred have been with the Group for over 30 years and only ‘retired’ at Christmas last year.  They have both been so supportive in every single way with any aspect affecting the Group.  Nothing was too much trouble to David.  He looked after carriages, changing tyres, etc, he towed the flatbed with our carriages on it to innumerable events, he came up in all weathers to look after the ponies, he helped with fund raising.  I could go on but both he and his wife are irreplaceable.  He hardly ever said ‘no’ when asked to help with any task.  He was 88 and Mildred is 90 and she will no doubt be helping us again and even driving Fred who is aged 30!  David will be much missed.

A Thanksgiving Service for David took place on Friday 7th March in Ascot. At the request of David's family all donations were gifted to our group. This gesture is very much appreciated by us.

Sally writes for the RDA Regional Magazine - report for 2007

"The Group has had a pretty busy season this year. We started driving again in February, after our AGM, and due to the warm weather we have not had to cancel our driving days very often, except when it has been really wet. We have competed at the Royal Windsor Horse Show where Kate Amblin driving Casper was fourth in the turnout section. Karen Edgington, also driving Casper, was fifth at the British Driving Society Show and Rebecca Gale, with Casper again, won the Concours d'Elegance class at the RDA Show at Smiths Lawns in July.

The Group has at last bought a new Bennington carriage which made our turnout presentable! Other than the above events, we have had driving days up at Valley Gardens in Windsor Great Park and across to Sunninghill Park too and our highlight is driving within the private grounds of Windsor Castle which is a great treat. We are also now able to drive around Ascot Racecourse, now that all the work has been completed.

We have four ponies at present – Fred now aged 30 and still going strong, Bomber who is 22 and Casper aged 11 years. We also have a pony on loan called Dexter who we very much hope will soon pass the RDA test. He is 20 and a Shetland, like Casper. We have had quite a lot of bad luck with our ponies – one developed a melanoma under the crupper area so had to go and another one proved to be totally unsuitable for our needs – an expensive exercise!

The season is winding down now but we hope to have plenty more driving days, followed by indoor meetings, bring and buys, Christmas party and hopefully a trip to Olympia. There is a Southern Region Conference at the Berkshire College of Agriculture at Burchetts Green on Wednesday 24th October which we will go to as well. The Driving RDA Show in July was held on Smiths Lawn, a lovely venue and great weather, but sadly there were very few competitors, so it is hoped that groups will be encouraged to join in next year. It would be a pity to lose such a good facility."

September 2007

Rebecca and Joan enjoy winning success at the Concours d'Elegance

Rebecca and Joan looking extremely elegant

Rebecca and Joan in attendance as her groom, were placed first in the Concours d'Elegance with the judge commenting on their distinctive and well-matched outfits.

Many congratulations to both of them!!

Rebecca wrote the following for Carriage Driving magazine:

Queen of the concours

"On Tuesday 10th July, Windsor and Ascot Driving Group (RDA) competed at the RDA Carriage Driving Show (Southern Region) on Smiths Lawn, Windsor Great Park. We entered the Concours d'Elegance class due at 2.00 pm that day and I drove Casper, accompanied by my able-bodied driver Joan Riseley.

It was a lovely venue and luckily the weather was good. However the show could not start until noon as the paramedics did not turn up till then (no fault of the organisers).

Casper, the group's 11-year-old Shetland pony had been shampooed in the morning and looked extremely smart. Joan and I felt very good in our red silk hats, navy jacket and white stocks, plus a red rose corsage and red, white and blue check aprons.

We eventually set off at 3.45 pm with Sarah Clunie on the bike, and had a wonderful drive through Windsor Great Park, stopping near the copper horse statue at the top of the Long Walk with Windsor Castle three miles in the distance, and also stopping to look at the equestrian statue of The Queen.

When we returned to the showground, we drove into one of the rings and lined up for the judges, Susan Bailey and Mrs Ron Hancock. We then heard that we were the winners as our turnout had caught their eye from the outset, and of course we were very happy!

I was presented with the cup, and then drove Casper back to his horsebox to take him home. He had behaved beautifully all the time and I really enjoyed driving him.

I was very grateful to all the people in the group who helped to make everything go so smoothly and am looking forward to the next time."