On 19 and 20 September, the PSV Texel driving club organised its annual combined driving competition.
Lynley Benneker with Stapleford Joint Venture (nickname Johnny) and Gerard Horst with Now Or Nover (nickname Brammetje) entered this competition.
On Thursday 17 September, the De Heemhoeve driving team travelled to Texel so they could enjoy a refreshing drive along the beach in the late afternoon and explore the courses at their leisure on Friday. And indeed, there was a fair breeze (wind force 6), so the drive was a great success.
On Saturday 19 September, the dressage and obstacle course were on the programme.
Gerard was first to ride the dressage test. Unfortunately, Brammetje was and remained a little tense during the dressage, which meant the test was not a success. It was therefore awarded a score of 58.6 per cent, or 66.17 penalty points.
The cones course seemed to be going better, at least until gate 14. At that point, Gerard made a course error by sending Brammetje through gate 12 again, resulting in disqualification.
Next, it was Lynley’s turn to ride the dressage test with Johnny. Johnny was raring to go, staying relaxed and responding well to the reins. And the judges thought so too! (Apart from not managing to stand completely still.) But with several 8s and even an 8.5 in one element, this resulted in a score of 67.8 per cent, or 51.50 penalty points, securing second place in the dressage.
The cones course for this pair also went to plan. The course was completed at a brisk pace, fault-free and well within the allotted time, securing second place in the obstacle course as well. Thanks to their excellent results in dressage and cones test, Lynley and Johnny were proudly leading the interim standings with a 5 penalty-points lead over the team in second place.
The marathon was scheduled for Sunday 20 September. The weather was nice and dry, though rather bleak, but the wind had picked up a bit.
Gerard was the first to ride the marathon with Brammetje. The A course was completed without any problems, well within the set time limits.
The B course was a different story. Obstacles 1 and 2 were positioned side by side, and obstacle 2 consisted of brightly coloured agricultural plastic flapping violently in the wind. Brammetje didn’t take to this at all; in fact, it worked him up quite a bit. And that had an impact on the rest of the competition, although Brammetje did charge through the water trough with gusto (though this was sheltered by some scrub). At obstacle 6, there was another (remedied) course fault, resulting in an additional 20 penalty points.
However, as the horse had already been eliminated in the agility round, this was no longer relevant to the overall standings..
Lynley also set off on the marathon with Johnny, full of anticipation.
This pair, too, completed the A course neatly within the allotted time.
But at the obstacles, Johnny too became stressed by the gale-force wind and the resulting flapping of parts in and around the obstacles (plastic, flags and the like), and he was difficult (and at times impossible) to steer. It turns out, after all, that for a pony just six years old, the marathon under these conditions is still a daunting challenge. And you can’t really blame such a young pony for that.
The failure to jump at obstacle 2 – resulting in 20 penalty points – was also due to the intense stress Johnny was under. However, the B course was completed neatly within the set time limits, which shows that, in terms of strength and fitness, this young pony is perfectly capable of handling the marathon.
Unfortunately, Lynley and Johnny dropped from 9th place in the marathon to 7th place in the final standings.
But despite everything, we as a driving team enjoyed a wonderful and well-organised competition on Texel and eventually returned home feeling happy and satisfied, thanks to the support of our driving team. Our thanks go to Roos, Tessa, Gerard and Jolanda.