Four equestrians from the Cowichan Valley combined to bring home five medals from the 55+ BC Games in Kelowna earlier this fall.
Tina Knott, Pip Breckon and Catherine Royal of Shawnigan Lake and Rhonda Scheiber of Cobble Hill represented Zone 1 (Vancouver Island) in carriage driving.
Breckon, Knott and Scheiber swept the podium in the arena driving competition, which included three parts driven each day: a technical driven dressage, cones, and then timed obstacles and course.
The Island team also took two medals in the inhand trail competition, with Breckon claiming silver and Royal bronze. That event saw miniature horses compete in the same course of obstacles and challenges as the larger horses.
“The course included several obstacles done in hand, such as going into water, over a log and out, through gates, into log puzzles, et cetera, over teeter totters, into a ditch and backing out,” explained Carol Ann Rolls, the Zone 1 sport registrar for equestrian events. “The list goes on and took roughly 10 minutes.”
All four Valley competitors said they would compete at the seniors games again.
Rolls encourages anyone interested in carriage driving to check out www.bccarriagedriving.com
“The sport is popular and growing and is suitable to all ages of drivers and equines of all sizes,” she said.