August 30, 2006

James Fairclough Posts Score in First Day of Driving Competition

Driving: Opening Day

If you hear a series of strange sounds, clucks and shouts, you must be near the driving competition. Drivers are known for their voice cues, though frowned upon in most disciplines, drivers are unable to use their seats, legs or weight as aids, so the voice commands are relied upon heavily and commonly heard. Today was day one of a two-day driving dressage phase.

The driving competition will take place over the next four days. Wednesday and Thursday will test the drivers in the dressage competition, 11 minutes that could make or break them. Friday, the drivers will participate in the marathon competition which will take place over a 17-kilometer course, consisting of eight marathon obstacles grouped closely together. Saturday will decide the team and individual honors after the 600-meter-long obstacle course, consisting of 20 obstacles and 26 passages.

There are currently 49 drivers from 19 countries taking place in the driving competition. The U.S. has a full team of three drivers competing: Chester Weber of Ocala, Florida; Tucker Johnson of Hobe Sound, Florida; and James Fairclough of Newton, New Jersey. The best two scores from the three team members will count toward the combined team score for the event. The U.S. driving medals won in Jerez, Spain at the 2002 FEI World Equestrian Games include a Team Silver and no individual medals.

Today’s dressage competition saw only one American—Fairclough—who drove his team to a score of 61.44 or 61.6% overall. These penalty points are carried over to the next competition. Fairclough commented on the condition of the arena after sand had to be placed in the grass to keep horses from slipping and tearing up the grass further.

“For your leaders to be able to show off, your wheelers have to do the majority of the work and pull the carriage,” said Fairclough. “You’re asking them to move, stay round and help create your impulsion and the forward part of the test, and with them struggling with pulling the carriage through the heavy footing it makes it difficult. When the leaders start helping to pull, then you lose the movement. I think you’ll see that the older type horses, the bigger/heavier horses—the seasoned type horses are going to be used to the heavy footing and do a little better here.”

Fairclough plans to change his team around a bit for the next phase, putting the two young horses in the lead, bringing one of today’s leaders into the wheel, and putting the fifth horse in.

Thinking ahead to the marathon competition on Friday, Fairclough said, “It’ll be very challenging. If the weather stays like this, it’s going to be a true endurance test because it’s going to be very heavy for them pulling that marathon carriage around. The marathon carriage weighs 1,320 pounds without anybody on it. So, now you have that cutting through the sod then it’s going to be heavy.”

Aachen has the honor of being the official home of combined driving so this World Equestrian Games, which is also the 2006 World Four-in-Hand Driving Championship, has special meaning to all involved. In addition, there will be no fewer than six previous individual Gold medalists present to contest the medals. Driving is a very traditional sport and may also see the most mature athletes. Representing Great Britain will be a 22-year-old Trakhener and a 73-year-old driver.

The countries that will be competing against the U.S. in the team competing are The Netherlands Antilles, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany. Additionally, the countries of Ireland, Poland and Australia are represented by one driver each.

Today’s leader, with the other half of drivers competing tomorrow, was Gert Schrijvers of Belgium with a score of penalty points of 46.21 and a score of 71.1%.