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U.S.
Places Sixth in Pony Driving World Championships
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Gladstone,
NJ—August 19, 2003— The United States Equestrian Team
finished sixth in the first World Driving Championships for Ponies.
Teams and individuals from 15 nations competed. Germany dominated
the competition taking all three individual Gold Medals as well
as the team Gold. The team Silver Medal went to The Netherlands
and the Bronze went to the host nation, Austria.
The championships included singles, pairs and four-in-hands and
broke exciting new ground. The U.S. teams consisted of Miranda
Cadwell of Southern Pines, NC, and Sara Schmitt of Glen Gardner,
NJ, driving singles; Tracey Morgan of Beallsville, MD, and Allison
Meyer of Newton, NJ, driving pairs; and Katie Whaley of Southern
Pines, NC, and Boots Wright of Southern Pines, NC, driving four-in-hands.
Allison Stroud of West Grove, PA, drove her pair of Connemaras
as an individual.
Schmitt achieved the highest U.S. placing, sixth, with her Morgan
pony, “High Country Doc”. After coming in third in the
dressage phase, she was tenth in the marathon, maintaining her
third place position before the cones phase. After cones, she
dropped to sixth place. Fellow single driver, Cadwell, driving
Kate Rivers’ Welsh Cob Red Robbo finished 14th overall.
In the pairs, Tracey Morgan was the highest placed for the U.S.,
finishing 11th with her Dartmoor ponies just two places ahead
of teammate Allison Meyer with her Hackneys. Allison Stroud finished
20th.
Up
against the experienced and well-practiced European four-in-hand
drivers, Whaley and Wright did well to hold their own, completing
all three phases of the competition to finish 13th and 17th respectively.
“This
was a new experience for our pony drivers and it is safe to say
that they all gained valuable experience by being there,”
said Wendy Wares-Cooke, USET Director of Driving. “The Europeans
have a great depth of talent and I am quite proud of our drivers.
They put in an excellent performance. All in all, I am very happy
with how things went.”
The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization
that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest
possible standard to represent our country in major international
competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships.
To accomplish this, the USET seeks out and nurtures the development
of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides
the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest
potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908)
234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org
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