MEET THE TEAM
Discover the names and faces behind The Carriage Commentator
Welcome to The Carriage Commentator! The idea for a new venture arose over a glass of wine one evening when old friends Sarah & Minta were chatting in October 2018. Both were keen that there should be a better way of sharing their passion, knowledge and experience of carriage driving with the world.
The idea of making it an environmentally friendly, purely digital forum that could be consumed anywhere, at any time, was immediate. Without the constraints of printing deadlines, the notion of a limitless space where information could be shared was liberating.
The name ‘Carriage Commentator’ and our distinctive colour scheme of burgundy, gold and white soon followed. Those early days of planning, branding and developing the website were exhilarating and we launched at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May 2019.
Since then, the website has grown and grown, and The CC has a subscriber following all over the world. Not only are there numerous features and photographs, but our many podcasts with the driving and equestrian world’s legends, and films about the crafts, are especially popular.
With the advent of a new website in July 2024, the CC team has also grown. We have a variety of expert contributors and we have broadened our reach far beyond our initial goals. But our core values remain the same, sharing the passion, knowledge and experience for all areas of driving in an entertaining and informative way.
Editor in Chief
The Carriage Commentator’s owner and editor in chief Sarah Dance has had a lifelong involvement with horses and carriage driving. Raised on a farm in Aberdeenshire, she has always driven and ridden, and aged 16 won the British Driving Society’s Harpers & Queen junior scholarship. A regular driving trials and showing competitor, she was the Scottish Junior Whip champion on several occasions and an active member of the Aberdeenshire Pony Club. Her mother is Jane MacInnes LHHI and stepfather is Ewan MacInnes, who are based at the Maryculter Carriage Driving Centre. On her father’s side, Sarah is related the coaching legend, Sylvia Brocklebank.
Sarah worked with coaching teams in Bavaria during her gap year, then studied History of Art & Anthropology at London University before a spell at Christies in Glasgow. She then joined Thimbleby & Shorland in Reading and ran the carriage sales for sixteen years as a partner and auctioneer, and remains as a consultant. For many years, Sarah has been a specialist driving commentator and is the voice of FEI Driving and their driving sports reporter and conference moderator. She is an AIAT judge, sponsor, chief driving steward at the Royal Windsor Horse Show plus District Commissioner of the Vine Pony Club and a liveryman with the Worshipful Company of Farriers. She has a team of home produced Welsh Section A mares who drive in all combinations and has enjoyed success with them in showing, driving trials and indoor driving.
The family live in Hampshire with their horses, ponies, dogs and many, many chickens, ducks, guinea fowl and pheasants.
Co-pilot
The Carriage Commentator’s co-founder & contributing editor Minta Winn is an authority on all areas of horsemanship and driving. Born in the south of England but raised in rural Ireland, she had an unconventional upbringing and was home schooled. She found she had a way with horses, and she and her brother Jasper rode and drove as children. As a teenager, she brought her tandem of ponies over to England and competed at the BDS Show at Smith’s Lawn and soon after won the overall championship with a team of ponies. For much of her career she has produced driving horses and turnouts for herself and a wide range of clients, who have gone on to enjoy success in all disciplines. As a protegee of Sallie Walrond, she went on to win all the major showing titles and many national driving trials titles, with all combinations, from singles to teams. For 10 years she ran the driving centre at Dounhurst in Sussex.
Minta and Sally Taylor wrote the book ‘Learning to Carriage Drive – A Step by Step Guide’, a publication which is still in demand. Before co-founding the The CC, she regularly produced articles for other publications on all areas of driving and training. She trained in Ireland as a harness maker and has returned to the craft, providing a range of high quality leather goods and turning her hand to all sorts of repairs. She is a LHHI, UKCC level 3 coach, senior BDS and BC judge, President of the Tandem Club and former chef d’equipe to the British horse single and pairs teams. She is based at Ashfields in Essex where she also runs her leatherwork business.
