Scurry Driving at the Herts Game Fair

I'm the first to admit that I don't know a great deal about equestrian sports. Show Jumping and Racing (does that even count?) are probably the only two disciplines that I could name that involve people riding horses competitively. So when I went along to the local game fair & country show I was quite interested to see people riding around very fast on small carriages pulled by pairs of ponies. It's a sport called Scurry Driving and it's quite exciting to watch.

The basic premise of the sport is to get around the course in the shortest possible time. The course itself is marked out by pairs of cones which the ponies, carriage and riders have to get through without knocking off the balls that rest on top of the cones. 

Given that the gap between the cones is only marginally wider than the carriage itself this is quite a challenge. Clearly to be successful you need to have a well drilled pair of ponies together with a large amount of horse steering talent.

Did I mention that they ride around very fast? To prevent the carriage flipping over with disastrous consequences the second member of the team spends a large amount of time hanging precariously over the edge of the back of the carriage to keep the wheels firmly rooted to the ground.

I hadn't been expecting to be shooting action sports that day but it was a good opportunity to refresh my autofocus tracking skills. I'm fairly pleased with the results despite the heavy overcast skies and occasional rain not providing much interesting light.

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