A Driving Passion

Carriage Driving Action OF YESTERYEAR

Iron hooves

CLATTER as a custom-made

marathon racing carriage

TEETERS

recklessly on the edge

Pulled by a spirited

black stallion, the wheeled conveyance WHIPS at high speed across

The groom, who has a tight grip on the seat next to the driver, stares at the hazard and leans sharply to the left in a bold effort to keep the carriage from tipping over. In seconds it is all over.

What we've witnessed isn't an outtake from John Wayne's classic Stagecoach. It's the Arizona Combined Driving Event that happens every March in Coolidge. It's a spectacle that for more than a decade has drawn the best carriage drivers from across the United States for three days of challenging trials. Carriage drivers, men and women, come from backgrounds as diverse as medicine and agriculture and the fine arts. They do it mostly for love of the sport, not to mention a deep respect and love of the horses. I'm here on Friday morning when the competition day begins with drivers putting final touches on polished brass, braided manes, and glossy hides.

Correctness of "turnout" is crucial. Each turnout the combined appearance of horse, carriage, driver, and groom is judged for presentation.

I stand next to Judd Wright, presentation judge, as he explains to one driver how a too-tight bolt on his carriage affects his horse's "way of going." That's what today's trial is all about; it's called "driven dressage."

Drivers take their horses through a pre-scribed pattern in a large rectangular arena.

Carriage Driving Action EACH HAZARD

CONSISTS OF SEVERAL

MANDATORY OPENINGS

THROUGH WHICH THE TURNOUT MUST DRIVE.

ONE HAZARD FEATURES

A SMALL POND

THROUGH WHICH

TURNOUTS MUST

SPLASH THREE TIMES.

Each movement is scored, I explain to a couple sitting next to me. The judge looks for a horse that's calm and relaxed, listening and responding willingly to its driver while carrying itself correctly through the movement.

At its best, it is poetry in motion. Nowhere will you see so many different breeds competing against each other: huge, black, high-stepping Friesians; Morgans and quarter horses; elegant Arabians and matched Hanoverians; even exotic breeds like sturdy Fjord ponies with black dorsal stripes running through their dust-colored manes, flaxen-maned Austrian Haflingers, and tall, lean Russian Orlovs. You'll also find just about every kind of turnout, as well: single horses and ponies pulling a wide variety of carts and wagons, immaculately turned-out pairs driven by drivers in top hats, dramatic four-in-hands, even a tandem: two horses hitched one in front of the other.

Saturday is Marathon Day, a spectator (PRECEDING PANEL, PAGES 14 AND 15) In Coolidge's Combined Driving Event, Hardy Zanke and his wife, Uta, of Torrance, California, cut a tight turn driving a pair of Hanoverians.

(ABOVE) Marybeth Goree and her husband, Bob, enter a water hazard in the marathon, riding in a stable and maneuverable modern carriage designed for the event. Drivers use the whip only to lightly signal the horses.

THE MARATHON

IT IS NOT A RACE BUT A TEST OF DRIVER SKILL AND ABILITY. EACH TURNOUT IS GIVEN AN IDEAL TIME TO COMPLETE THE COURSE, BASED ON THE HORSE'S LEVEL OF TRAINING. DRIVERS ARE PENALIZED IF THEY COME IN EARLY, OR OVER BY MORE THAN TWO MINUTES.

Favorite. The spectators cluster around seven obstacles, known as "hazards," waiting for each entrant to come through as it makes its way around the 16-kilometer course. Each hazard consists of several mandatory openings through which the turnout must drive. The hazards are challenging. One consists of a series of concentric fences circling a mesquite tree. The turns are so tight most drivers slow to a walk. Then Hardy Zanke, one of the best pair drivers in the country, flies through, taking the turns so rapidly his four-wheeled marathon wagon fishtails in the grass. Farther off, turnouts wind past a herd of cattle, through a stand of tall pines, and around an adobe hut. Another hazard features a small pond through which turnouts must splash three times. The marathon is not a race but a test of driver skill and ability. Each turnout is given an ideal time to complete the course, based on the horse's level of training. Drivers are penalized if they come in early, or over by more than two minutes. Sunday's competition is both elegant and thrilling. Pairs of traffic cones set slightly wider than the carriage's wheelbase form a complex, winding pattern. Drivers and horses, in their best, must negotiate the pattern against a clock. To make it more difficult, there's a tennis ball on top of each cone. Even a slight touch means penalties. Here the competition is fast and tense, as horses gallop to the finish line.

When the event is over, competitors and volunteers take a moment to relive the best of the event, and officials hand out a first-place prize and runner-up ribbons. Photographers snap a few last photos — and I decide I'll be back again next year.

WHEN YOU GO

This year's Arizona Combined Driving Event will take place March 8 through 10 at Goree Farms in Coolidge. From State Route 89 in Coolidge, take Coolidge Avenue east approximately one mile across the railroad tracks to Christensen Road. Turn right onto Christensen and follow the signs one-quarter mile to the site. Admission is free. For more information, call (602) 386-1029.