driving in the bluegrass

I’ve realized that I haven’t posted anything in quite a while that involves actual, living horses being driven. Of course, it’s difficult to find very many, or any at all, being driven this time of year. But you and I are in luck today! Although our weather here in Lexington is horrible today, and was horrible yesterday, Friday was nice (if a bit windy and chilly) and Saturday was gorgeous. Over the weekend, the CAA hosted a program of driving lessons and Driver Proficiency evaluations at the Gayla Driving Center in nearby Georgetown. The special-guest instructors and evaluators were John Parker and Susan Townsend from England.

I made it out to Gayla for just a little while on Friday afternoon, but here are a few photos of, first, Colonel Davis (the CAA’s immediate past president) and, then, Colonel’s wife, Kathi, taking a lesson with John Parker and their morgan mare, Dixie. Then we’ll see Debbie Banfield taking a Level 3 evaluation with Susan. And in the background of all these photos: the Bluegrass in the early spring …

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Earlier today, some of the participants in the weekend program (those, especially, who came all the way from California and are staying in the area for a couple of extra days) stopped by the office to visit with John and Susan and to have a cup of tea. I’ve posted a photo of all those folks on the CAA’s Facebook page … which, coincidentally, is easier to find now: just click on the FB link in the upper right corner of this page and it will take you to our FB page, where you can see everything (but not post or comment) without having to either sign in or even have a Facebook account.

 

Mr. Vanderbilt

One of the ads I’m designing for the March issue of The Carriage Journal is a full-page advertisement our 2014 International Carriage Symposium (next February at Colonial Williamsburg). The focus of this fourth biennial symposium is carriage and wagon accessories, which includes lamps, livery, whips, etc.

In searching for an image to illustrate this particular ad, we went through Jill’s collection of Vanity Fair’s prints of famous coaching men. And we found this lovely print of Alfred G. Vanderbilt. You may remember him as the American coaching enthusiast who took his coach, the Venture, and eighty horses to England, in order to drive them on the London-to-Brighton road for several weeks during the summer of 1908. (You either already knew this or picked it up from yesterday’s tweets, right?).

He was a little too tall for my scanner, but I managed to scan him in two parts and stitch him back together quite nicely.

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the countdown begins now

Sorry for the delay. I meant to post this yesterday and then had some computer issues … and then forgot.

Our second annual CAA Carriage Festival begins just one week from tomorrow today!

I’ve been working on the (full-color!) program for this year’s Festival and have sent it off to the printer. Here’s a peek at the cover:

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If you’re in the Lexington area next weekend, join us at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena. There will be a pleasure-driving show all day (and evenings) on Friday and Saturday, a beautiful horse-drawn carriage “parade” through the Horse Park and neighboring farms on Sunday, and, on Saturday: a display of restored carriages and an antique car show. The restored carriages and the antique cars will be vying for People’s Choice Awards.

One of the extra-special cars we’re expecting is this gem, a 1915 International Auto Wagon:

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We hope you’ll join us at the Festival! If you can’t be here in person, join us online. I’ll be reporting from the Festival each day, and posting photos, here on the blog, and on the CAA’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

 

the CAA Carriage Festival

… is coming up in less than three weeks!

As a preview of this year’s event (at the Kentucky Horse Park, in Lexington, June 29 to July 1), let’s take a look at a few of last year’s entries. These are shown here in the order they were taken, from Friday and Saturday’s ring classes, warm-up, and car show, to Sunday’s carriage “parade” through the Horse Park.

If you’ll be in or near Lexington at the end of the month, join us for more horses, ponies, beautiful carriages (being driven and on display), and antique cars!

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scenes from the 18th century

For a lazy winter-time holiday, here are some scenes from Colonial Williamsburg. I took these in the late afternoon last Friday.

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