Stories
From BCDS
[edit] Mr Darcy does the cones in traditional style
The British Driving Society’s 2nd Concours d’Attelage de Tradition was held at Helmingham Hall, Suffolk, on the 14th/15th August 2010, brilliantly organised by Area Commissioner, Eunice Binder.Sunday’s events were held jointly with the Suffolk Punch Trust and the Suffolk Smallholders Society. Ten traditional turnouts joined in a weekend of carriage driving that was great fun with an element of competition and a taste of French hospitality. Our contribution to tradition was, of course, the working carriage dog.
After a standing presentation on Saturday afternoon, we set off with Mr Darcy and Miss Mollie on an eight mile drive around quiet lanes and sleepy Suffolk villages. At Framsden,we were greeted by crowds who turned out to welcome us and served with refreshments from the local pub. On Saturday evening, the Stable Courtyard and Carriage-house Restaurant provided a fine setting for a reception, dinner and entertainment. On Sunday morning, a Ring Guard in full regalia added to the pageantry, horn blowing to announce the competitors as they tackled the 15 gate cones course and six driving skills tests. While this was Maggie’s first ever cones course and one handed circle, Mr Darcy excelled himself. His performance can be seen at In Harness (scroll down and click the "Latest Videos" button).
The afternoon saw individual parades in the main ring with commentaries on each turnout: a chance to promote the British Carriage Dog Society. The event president, Lady Tollemache, presented the Trophy and Rosettes. This was followed by the opportunity for turnouts to trot up the long, straight drive to the magnificent hall with crowds waiting at the top to applaud! Mr Darcy and Miss Mollie were very proud to receive the Judge’s Special Award.
Read more about this event in the Autumn 2010 In Harness magazine.
Maggie and Ron Gallop
[edit] DALIMILES: A way of life for Cynthia Styles-Forsythe, her cob Talisman and Dalmatians Daphne and Penny Patch
We had been training for the National Road Dog trials, so when I heard about DaliMiles and how it equals Dalimiles, I thought I would give it a go.
DaliMiles is a way life for Daphne and Penny Patch, my two Dalmatians. We get up at 5am on weekdays and ride down to the village and back which is two and half miles, then we go round the 30 acres of land where I keep Talisman until we have completed five miles.
Friday is my day off, so I like to go out in the trailer for a change of scenery. The photograph shows me riding Talisman accompanied by the dogs, after completing a 16 mile ride along the South Downs Way. We started at Harting Down and went to Hooksway, where I met a friend. We rode on to Chilgrove, the next village where my friend keeps her horse, and had a cup of tea and cake. Then we went on to Cocking and back along the South Downs Way. We rode 16 miles of countryside with fantastic views and no road work at all. How lucky are we!
[edit] The Trailblazing Dalmatian by Anne Dickens
Our Carriage Dog Trials have been designed with today’s working conditions in mind. Dogs must be alongside or behind. A dog out front is in an unsafe and unacceptable position as far as the obedience test is concerned. But where does this leave the original ‘Trailblazer’?
How many of us have heard people say that their dog is actually trained to run out front? Sometimes to clear the way, sometimes to find the way, and sometimes just because its owner wants to keep an eye on it and that is, in their view, the safest place.
In past times the trailblazing dog was recognised and encouraged for its particular skills. A Dalmatian running in front of the carriage could warn of potential danger, could clear the way of vagabonds and could encourage the horses. This latter trait is something I believe I experienced at this year’s Trials.
My dog Fenris is not a natural modern carriage dog. Those of you who have seen him work might be surprised to hear this, but it has taken a great deal of dedicated training to get him to run behind a carriage. And he does not much like it. He requires constant reminding and reinforcement.
At this year’s Trials we were running the 25 mile Gold test. We had all kinds of adventures en route – the stuff of another tale – but one of these was that having set out with a pair of ponies, I decided to retire one of them, Parker, after 12 miles when the equine vet expressed concern about his high heart rate.
Parker and Polo had done the same amount of training, but I was, I’m ashamed to say, too lazy to give Parker a second clip prior to the Trials, which with hindsight he had needed. Furthermore, his workmate Polo has perfected the knack of tightening the traces just enough to make me think he is working – whilst allowing Parker to do more than his fair share. The effect of these two things on a very challenging course especially for a pair of 11.2hhs used mainly to the flat lanes of Kent, was that after 12 miles he was pooped – bless him!
So the upshot was that Polo, for his sins, having been given the all clear from the vet, had to do the second 12 miles all on his own!
As an aside, thank goodness for our wonderful equine vet. Not only did he help me make a decision about Parker, which on the one hand was easy given his condition, on the other was very hard after three month’s training. He also gave me the confidence to push Polo on round the rest of the course, having declared him a “jolly fit little pony”. Polo came come in after 25 miles with a heart rate lower than when he came in at 18 miles - probably because we had to lead him the last kilometre pulling only half a carriage – but that’s yet another story…
Now Polo surprised and delighted me. Once he realised that for once I was not going to be soft enough to give into his pretence of being too tired to trot, he got into a truly focused groove. He was flying across the (very rough) ground in our little 2-wheeler, helped no doubt by the fact that it weighs virtually nothing and is on pneumatics, so was absorbing all the ruts (bliss for the crew!).
So fast was he going, that the dogs had to canter to keep up with this flying trot. And they could sense there was some urgency. Oh, I neglected to mention that there had been some confusion about the time remaining to us. We could take no chances and had to get round the last six miles in 80 minutes, when we had been planning on 100. Twenty minutes is a lot of time when you’re 11.2hh!
Half way round the circuit, with three miles or so to go, Fenris picked up on Polo’s energy and concentration and fell in beside him where Parker would normally be. There he stayed for much of the next couple of miles, every few moments glancing up at Polo seemingly urging him on. It was quite extraordinary (especially from a dog that usually keeps his distance from the horses). In the end, his sister Freya noticed what was going on, and she too started cantering along on the other side of Polo doing the same. Now it might be that they just got excited by the speed and thought it was a jolly game. But the way they behaved and the look on their faces made me think they knew the stakes were high and we all had to pull together as a team.
Some of you are blessed with Dalmatians that naturally want to stick their noses under a carriage and require little training and encouragement to do it. Well please spare a thought for those of us with dogs whose instinct is to blaze the trail. Our job is hard indeed in today’s modern competition! But what a good team we make when the chips are down.
[edit] Spots and Spokes - from the British Driving Society Journal 1990 by Elizabeth Ansell
Dotti came to us when she was 8 weeks old as a family pet, but at the back of my mind was the vague hope that she might, eventually, be trained for carriage driving in the traditional manner for Dalmatians, running between the wheels and under the axle of a vehicle. I felt the idea would be difficult to put into practice and probably the most we could hope for was a sort of mascot accompanying us sitting in the dogcart at rallies and the like. How wrong can you be? Dotti, of course, was thoroughly used to horses at the stables but, until she was a year old, we did not suggest to her that she might like to run with us when driving. When the time came, she immediately placed herself in the correct position under the dogcart and trotted at the horse’s heels round the field. She loved the whole idea and gradually got to accompany us to shows and rallies, and became extremely fit, trotting up to ten to fifteen miles – in fact when we suggested she may be feeling tired and would like a lift in the cart she would become most indignant!
My husband made her a special collar of black patent leather brass-mounted and with a brass rumble-bell so I could hear she was still running under the cart. She was very proud of this and knew when wearing it she was “on duty”.
Dotti’s first summer driving season culminated in the large British Timken Show B.D.S. Annual Meet in 1977 when the turnout qualified for the Hermes Concours d’Elegance competition at the Horse of the Year show – she became the first dog to qualify for a major equestrian event! The crowd in the Wembley Arena loved her and she really played to the gallery. We were only highly commended but she did get to appear on television.
The following year Dotti was invited to attend the first British Dog Fair at Hickstead for the special carriage dog performance class, where she was judged Champion British Carriage Dog, with much acclaim from the dog show world who were most impressed with her display and subsequently she received fan mail from various Dalmatian societies around the world!
Sadly, Dotti died aged 13 ½ and is much missed by all her many friends and admirers.
[edit] The CDT Training Weekend – March 2006
by Anne Marie Scott
Our first training weekend, how exciting! Having watched the trials last year, I was really inspired to give the road trials a go this year. So I bought a 'sensible' type horse last August, husband started up the weekly training sessions again at the local dog classes and we started to ride out together.
Unfortunately this is much harder for my husband on a bicycle going over rough ground whilst the dog and horse canter along quite happily! With the bad weather (ice and mud) we have had very little practice this year. So this weekend was a great opportunity to push on with the training.
Day 1, the motivational training day. What fun - but goodness was I exhausted at the end of it. Getting the dog to listen to you and return to you in a room full of Dalmatians (oh, and honorary "spotties" Sheltie and Collie) was what I expected to be a nightmare. But all dogs were so well behaved, and even when a dog was off the lead doing their "thing", they always returned to the handler with wagging tails. Even with the temptation of a kitchen with some yummy goodies on show only tempted the odd dog away temporarily. What can I say, that trainer was a miracle worker!
Alas at the end of the training day Harvey and I returned to Reading (for a Birthday and to feed a horse!) Missed by Anne Marie on the Saturday evening, but attended by 40 local drivers and historians, was a fascinating slide show by Joy Claxton on the history of carriages from Elizabeth to Elizabeth.
Day 2 - instinct test. Up early again but what a beautiful location and such a lovely day. The first hour was about getting your horse fit, how to present to a vet and what to be aware off when doing long rides. This was really helpful, even if it was simple a case of re-iterating what you already knew. It is always nice to know you are doing something right!
Next we moved onto the actual dog, horse and carriage. After everyone agreeing that we wanted Alison's gorgeous pony, (and being amazed at what a wonderful lorry he got to go in by himself!) we headed off to a local cross country course. Well we were warned that there were going to be loose sheep around...luckily though they were far enough away not to cause any distraction.
(I don’t think distraction from sheep is part of the Bronze test!) For the people practicing the road trials, well there were a few hiccups and perhaps we were asking a bit too much of the dogs too quickly in a new environment. However the people trying out with the carriages, well I was certainly jealous! They all looked super and really at home with what they were doing.
For Harvey and I, we had to go then, but what a wonderful weekend, really well organised and certainly one of the most enjoyable times I have had of recent.
Thank you all.
For information on training your Dalmatian click here
