On May 28 and 29, 2011 Richard and Susan Arthur of Elk River Canadians in Barriere under the sponsorship of the Canadian Horse Heritage and Preservation Society (CHHAPS) hosted a Spring Carriage Driving clinic with Equine Canada Certified Driving Coach, Elisa Marocchi of 100 Mile House. Six participants were from BC: John and Jackie Reedy of Surrey, Janine Payne of Vanderhoof, Patti Loukes of Kamloops, Sharon Chaytor of Clearwater and Richard Arthur. Kathy Johnson of Calgary, AB rounded out the group. John, Jackie and Kathy had attended an earlier clinic with Elisa designed for beginning drivers. This weekend was a chance for them to work on advanced manoeuvres.
After private lessons each day, there was a group session on driving through obstacles. Saturday included Pleasure Driving obstacles such as an elevated wooden bridge, an “L” and several cone pairs forming numbered “gates” and a serpentine. Sunday Elisa covered Combined Driving Events, which have their own special obstacles (often designed through trees) created in a cross-country Marathon setting covering several kilometres. A Combined Driving Event is usually held over two days since in addition to the Marathon, the drivers also have a Cones course and a Driven Dressage test to complete.
A second clinic will be held in the fall of 2011.