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Poacher Harness Club stage several different types of events
during the course of a season and an attempt is made here to describe
some of those events, for the benefit of new members.
Marathon – one day event
This competition comprises a dressage test, cones section and a
cross country/marathon section, followed by some obstacles.
Details of which dressage test is being used will be shown on the entry
sheet. Driving dressage tests (unlike ridden tests) are scored
leaving a sum of penalties. It is the penalty points that you will carry
forward to the final marks for the event. Therefore the higher you score
in your test, the fewer penalty points you will incur
Details of which dressage test is being used will be shown on the
entry sheet. Driving dressage tests (unlike ridden tests) are scored
on a
penalty with the actual score being deducted from the possible perfect
score, leaving a
sum of penalties. It is the penalty points that you will carry forward
to the final marks for the event. Therefore the higher you score in your
test, the fewer penalty points you will incur.
The cones section is usually timed and involves accurately
negotiating a route through several pairs of cones, which have a ball
balancing on the top. If you take the wrong course in the cones section,
but correct it, you will incur less penalties than an uncorrected
course. If, for whatever reason, your pony/horse refuses at a set of
cones more than three times, you must leave the arena without attempting
further cones. This is to enable the event to run smoothly and to time.
The marathon may be either marked out with flags for the whole
distance of the route or alternatively you may be given a map and 10
minutes to copy the prescribed route onto your copy, this then takes the
form of an orienteering exercise and the route will not be marked out on
the ground. The exact course shown on the master map must be followed or
you will incur heavy penalties. Details of the marathon will be issued
on the day and it may well be necessary for you to work out the time
that you should take to complete this section of the event. How long a
time this will be is decided by the course builder and will depend upon
the length of the course and the speed at which he wishes to event to
work to. There may be timed sections along the route – which will be
clearly marked – over which you will have to travel at a different
speed. You will be told what speed etc during the event.
At the end of the cross country phase there will be obstacles
which you will need to negotiate accurately. These individual obstacles
may or may not be timed, depending on the availability of stewards.
Swiss Derby
This event starts with a dressage test. . Following this there
will be a route laid out that you must follow. This will include
obstacles, interspersed with compulsory flags and, in some cases, sets
of cones. The compulsory flags are used to increase the distance
travelled and to ensure that everyone follows the set path. The cones
are used to introduce a need for accuracy and care after the more
energetically driven obstacle. The course builder will set a time for
this event and times over or under this will incur penalties. There is
no separate cone section in this type of event.
Epic
There is no dressage test in the EPIC (Equine Precision In
Carriages). There is an orienteering exercise against the clock and also
several TASKS devised by the course builder to test driver accuracy,
obedience of the equine and possibly the agility of the groom. Each of
these EPIC events are different from ones run previously and it is
difficult to specify what you can expect to be asked to do.
Inside-Out
This is a Poacher adaptation of indoor driving, but held
outdoors. It consists of the usual type of dressage and cones sections,
followed by obstacles, there is no marathon section to this event. The
obstacles have gates (as usual), but when everyone has driven them, they
are re-lettered and driven again, thus providing us with double the
amount of obstacles to be driven, in the same amount of space.
Non driving trials type events
Several events are staged each year which leave the driving
trials format behind. These are arranged to give diversity of activity
and to allow members who are not too competitive to enjoy a group
activity with their horses. In the past these have included Treasure
Hunts, Barbecue, Dressage test using bicycles instead of horses, drives
out and training events. The format of these will be decided by your
Committee.
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