Home/Events
> About
Us > Driving
> Combined
Combined
Driving Event
The
Combined Driving Event (CDE) is one of the newest
and fastest growing equestrian sports in the world.
The sport was created in the early seventies as an
adaptation of the ridden three-day event. The objective
was to test the versatility of the horse and driver.
There are three competitions within a Combined Driving
Event.
They
are Dressage, Marathon, and Obstacles
(cones).
The first event, day one, is Dressage. Most
of you will at least have seen a riding dressage event,
if not competed in one. Now, just imagine a horse
doing dressage patterns with a carriage attached.
Obviously, there are some ridden dressage manoeuvres
that wouldn't be possible with a carriage attached,
but as a driver you are trying to achieve similar
results. As you perform your patterns the judges want
to see a calm, supple, flexible, confident, obedient
horse. The better score is the lowest, based on the
least amount of penalty points.
The second event, day two, is the Marathon.
This event tests the stamina, endurance and agility
of the horse and driver over a country drive of up
to 22 kilometres. There are usually three timed phases
to this event. The competitor is allowed a two to
three minute window at the end of each phase, and
anyone arriving before or after that allowed time
is penalized. The first is a warm-up drive of three
to seven kilometres at a trot. Terrain and weather
conditions usually dictate the distance. The second
phase is a one kilometre walk after which there's
a vet check. If the horse is healthy enough to continue,
it's on to the third phase. This consists of driving
another few kilometres interspersed with complex obstacles.
Each obstacle has a start and finish gate, and the
total time you spend in the obstacle is penalized
0.2 penalty points per second. Obviously, the objective
is to get through as fast as possible. All penalty
points assessed during these three phases are added
up to give you your marathon score.
The
third event, day three, is Obstacles (cones).
This event tests the ability of the horse and driver
to respond to changes in direction and speed. The
vehicle is driven through a course of obstacles set
just centimetres wider than the carriages' wheel track.
This is commonly called the cones course, since most
of the obstacles are generally sets of traffic cones
with balls placed on top. The object is to get through
the course, within a set time, without hitting any
cones and dislodging the balls. Penalty points are
assessed for any balls or obstacles knocked down,
and any overrun on the time allowed. The winner of
the competition is decided on the total points from
all three events for each competitor. The lowest score,
hence the least amount of penalty points, wins.
