The Royal Norfolk is one of the county shows in the British summer calendar where carriage driving is truly prized and promoted.  The Coaching & Multiples class has prime time slots in the Grand Ring, and the Private Driving and Light Trade classes have their own well positioned ring which is exclusively theirs on the first morning of the show.  The Westover ring is an ideal size for driving classes and has the benefit of being next to the stabling and lorry park, with a collecting area tucked round the other side of the hedge, so there’s no need to travel across a busy showground.  The large hedge also provided some much-appreciated shade for the horses as they waited for their classes.

All the driving classes are ably managed by Justin and Ellie Cowles, joined by stewards Ann Melhuish, Sara Evans and James, a local farmer who is excellent company and normally farms 800 acres with 1,000 sheep.  He says the Royal Norfolk is his holiday!  They are a friendly team with a ‘can do’ approach, and the competitors are made to feel very welcome and valued.  Justin brings many years of experience in driving and coaching to the job of head steward, and is a reassuring presence for show visitors.  Ellie quietly keeps him right and manages the prize givings and qualifications.

Justin also doubled up as a Road Coach guard on James Miller’s Tantivy, as he had done at Royal Windsor and the Suffolk Show.  He was kept busy stewarding and managing the ring during the coaching class, while horn blowing – all done while wearing his thick woollen scarlet guard’s coat and brown top hat!

It was a hot week, and a busy one for driving, being sandwiched between the BDS Annual Show and the Sandringham Festival of Driving.  Several of us, including competitors, attended all three, so many miles were travelled, and many litres of cooling water were consumed.

PRIVATE DRIVING & LIGHT TRADE

The Royal Norfolk showing classes benefit from having a HOYS qualifier, which does lure the entries, although competitors don’t always come if they have already qualified.  It’s something that happens in all equestrian classes, not just driving.  Entries numbers were a little lean, and perhaps a few more competitors fell by the wayside due to the heat and not wanting to travel their equines in the searing temperatures.  In addition to the HOYS ticket, there was the full gamut of BDS Iceline Championship qualifiers, and several for the Victoria Foods Championship, also due to be held in September.

Minta Winn was judging and began with the Exercise Vehicle class which had a decent entry of six, with five forward.  It’s one of the classes where quite contrasting turnouts are up against each other because it attracts either new or novice equines, or those new to driving and showing, or those who are quite simply happy to exhibit using their everyday kit, albeit scrubbed and polished.

It was interesting to note that there were some fixed back bands with two-wheeled carriages again, an issue that had been seen at Smith’s Lawn too a few days beforehand.  The problems with this became more obvious when the turnouts went down a slight incline in the ring and the carriage started to bounce more.  It’s something that can be easily rectified, but reasons why a sliding back band should be used need to be better understood.  The winner in a closely matched class was James Titmuss driving his own and his wife Kymberly’s Graiggochfach Mr Tom.

Light Trade followed and there were four cracking turnouts forward, the winner being John Randall with Anfield The Cheerleader and the Costermonger’s Trolley, fresh from their win at Smith’s Lawn.  The Family Produced Turnout class had a winner that particularly impressed Minta; Lauren Austen with her mannerly Fell, Griseburn Imperial.  Lauren told us during the class that the same turnout was going to be used for her wedding a few days later, and her groom, who is her grandfather, beamed with pride. Lauren also won the over 13.2 hh class.

The 13.2 hh and under class winner was Josie Randall with the consistent chestnut cob Crossfield Reflection.  They went on to take the championship and Josie picked up the HOYS ticket; Lauren was reserve champion.

COACHING & MULTIPLES

After cooling drinks and a short rest, we moved onto the spectacle of the Coaching class.  In the run up to the show and as the coaching competitors arrived on site, there had been some debate as to whether the five-mile road drive should take place.  Some competitors wanted it to, and others didn’t, and after extensive consultation with them, Justin decided that due to the heat, the drive would be cancelled and the class would be confined to the Grand Ring.  Instead of in-harness prejudging, Matt Powers inspected the carriages and the harness in the stabling area, but not the horses.  It was an effective initiative and compromise because by this stage, it was uncomfortably hot.

However, by the time the turnouts entered the Grand Ring, there was a breeze and the conditions were better for the horses.  They all coped very well and gave the crowds a wonderful spectacle.  Eight of the ten Coaches entered were forward – only Callum Feltum and Russell Hand opted not to travel their horses in the heat.  Of the two Multiples entered, Jimmy Jeffery brought his Char-a-Banc and Winchester of Highland X Friesians, and added a fun element to the proceedings.

The clear Coaching winner and Matt’s choice was again Misdee Wrigley Miller at her penultimate show before she and husband James, the horses and all the kit and crew returned to Florida.  They have certainly enhanced the classes and events that they’ve been to since arriving in the UK in April, and James said they’re already planning to return next year, and he would like to bring his own horses.

Jack Harris with his Hungarian greys and the elegant Laurie & Marner Park Drag, formerly owned by the Warrenders, was second, ahead of Geoff Dudley in third and Paul White in fourth.  James Miller with the Tantivy Road Coach by Shanks, horsed by the Wests’ commercial horses, was next, then Leigh Phillips with a Park Drag, Ivor Barette with his distinctive red and black Drag, and Paul Carton driving the Royal Logistics Corps Coach with his own team of Friesians.

THURSDAY FUN

The Coaches, and Jimmy Jeffery, were back in the ring on mid-morning on Thursday.  Thankfully it was a bit cooler.  The Coachman’s class is a crowd favourite and challenges the drivers in a different way.  A ‘doorway’ is constructed from show jump wings and the Coaches have to stop alongside, with their door central and as near as possible to the gap (which is meant to be the door).  Measurements are taken to assess the placings, and the class sponsor, Ivan Fisher, also gets involved in pretending to be a footman.

Ivor Barette was the winner, followed by Caroline Court who had taken up the reins of Jimmy’s turnout – although because she was driving a Char-a-banc, the measurement was taken from the rear axle.  Ivor was particularly pleased and wished everyone to know that he was the only person to have beaten Misdee this season!

It was a triumphant two days of elegant driving and the culmination of a year’s work and canvassing by Justin and Ellie, supported by Ivan and his family and business partner.  It’s worth noting that the show took extra measures to ensure that all the animals on site were kept as cool and comfortable as possible.  There was an extra water trough in the Westover ring which some exhibitors made the most of, washing their horses down during the classes and offering them a drink.  If anything, the heat seemed to be worse for the humans than the animals, who are often better as self-regulating their temperatures than we are!