Last week Frankie, Bea and I headed off to The National Drive at the Hoosier Horse Park. The HHP is rapidly becoming my second favorite place in the world :-). This is the same venue that hosted the Combined Driving Event last month and all the arenas and rings and courses (cones and marathon) were still open to play in and that in itself would have made the trip worthwhile, but there was so much more!
The best campsite ever!
There were extra carriage trails set up, several daily workshops to pick and choose from, three clinicians you could take lessons with, train rides with the Indiana Live Steamers, a tack swap, arena derby, pup parade, safari drive, a knit night, bonfire... There was more stuff to do than you had hours in the days. It was like being a kid at pony camp!
"Wait, did you say a knit night?"
I ended up stabled next to a super fun group of spinners and knitters! Thursday night we gathered in front of their stalls to knit and a couple more people stopped by to see what we were working on and share their own projects and we're all looking forward to knitting together again next year.
I took two lessons with Frankie - one working on dressage and one out in the hazards. The arena lesson was excellent and I got lots of good (and stern) feedback, but you'll never beat driving hazards for the best fun and again that was an outstanding lesson and we drove the water obstacle for the first time.
First we worked through three of the dry land hazards that we'd driven for the event. I learned better turning techniques and routes to take through, especially with my two wheeled cart. Most people use four wheeled vehicles now because they handle the tight turns so much easier. I'm not really in the position to replace my cart, nor do I really want to, so I need to be smarter and smoother through the obstacles.
After we finished the third hazard she asked if I'd driven the water yet. I said no, but that I was planning to do so while I was up there. She said "Let's go do it now. My feet are already wet, so if I need to lead you in, it won't be a problem." I told her I thought Frankie would go on in and he did. We let him walk around for a minute, checking things out, and then asked him to trot and then started working on the turns. It was so. much. fun. :-D
The safari drive was another super fun event. There were 50 stuffed animals (be still my heart :-) placed along six kilometers of beautiful wooded trails. Next year maybe my stuffed Fiona will join the safari group. Or maybe 20! He could be set up as a wildlife photographer! He'd love watching all the carriages come by :-).
On the last day I was there they hosted a driving derby. A derby is a group of cones and arena obstacles. Normally it would be a timed competition, but we drove it just for practice. I used it as a sort of "final exam" to see if I could drive the obstacles better now after my lessons. I did much better on everything until the last gate in the second obstacle. I didn't set my turn up as I'd planned and had to regroup to get out, but that's a good lesson in itself. I gave myself a B.
I can't figure out a direct way to imbed the video here, but if you'd like to watch, here's a link to a group of videos posted to Facebook. If that link doesn't open to me and Frankie, I'm wearing a white turtleneck and green vest, so we're not hard to find.
It wasn't just fun and games for me and Frankie. Bea was pretty sure the whole party was set up just for her. One afternoon I didn't see her for almost two hours. Oh, I'd see her buzz by on a golf cart, then a unit, then a different golf cart... She had the very best baby sitters :-).
It was a great time and the first real vacation I've taken in many years, but we were happy to eventually head home.
