Latest News - Traditional Driving

It was a daring decision when Roman Kusz resolved to organize a CIAT himself. Roman, being a devoted horseman and successful driver in international competition driving, had withdrawn from the sport and taken up traditional driving, a much calmer and joyful sport.

No wonder, he was successful at so many CIATs and was full of enthusiasm for this idea.

Putting this idea into effect is difficult enough in normal conditions and in his case, it was a very risky project as living in the remotest corner of Poland, Masury, and having no proper venue it seemed certain to fail. But Roman turned out to be a lucky person. Masury is an area where there is still open landscape without fences, structured by pastures, fields and large forests, small lanes not covered by tarmac, many lakes and ponds, cranes and storks in the fields and at least two storks’ nests on the roofs in every village.

Moreover, much of the historic agricultural structure has been kept up. Many of the historic stately homes of the former local nobility and the estates belonging to them have been preserved and are undergoing renovation today.

Roman was lucky enough to find such a place very apt for a venue as he needed it for his project. The stately home at Galiny in the possession of a family from Warsaw was open to his project and offered the whole estate for CIAT use: the hotel built in the former barn, the historic stables, the show ring connected to the stables and, last but not least, the lovely courtyard in front of the Great House. As a venue to put one of the PCs and use for presentation, it would be difficult to find a better setting for such an event! In these circumstances it was not too difficult to find sponsors – and participants. Despite the long distances they had to cover on the – brand new – motorways in Poland, 21 participants had enlisted, one of them from the Czech Republic and even one from Austria!

The traditional Evening of Nations was held in the old forge of the agricultural estate. The forge being transformed to an inspiring festival hall - containing the original fireplace and a lathe still driven by a transmission - soon resounded with the sound of cheerful conversation and toasts being given. The delicious local dishes produced by the participants were eaten up in no time. The drinks however, were sufficient for hours…

The Presentation on Saturday produced fine turnouts amongst which were two traditional rural turnouts with the drivers and passengers in traditional costume, nice sporting turnouts driven to Phaetons and Wagonettes, and fine Town turnouts to Mylords and Landaulets.

The Routier was shortened due to the heat and the soft ground (there had been much rain falling in the days before) but the well-designed course lead along small lanes, through meadows and along the edges of spinneys and the shoreline of a small lake, through the village and the courtyard of the Great House. Despite the heat of the day the horses were still fresh when they arrived at the finish. The PCs drove well and everybody was satisfied and in good spirits when they returned to the hotel to eat lunch.

The Cone Driving in the afternoon had attracted many onlookers and hundreds filled the show ring stands despite the heat of the sun having risen considerably during the day. The course was not too difficult and permitted a fast gallop between cones 14 and 15; a chance not taken by all drivers.

By the time the prizegiving ceremony was held the horses were tired and having had to drive the routier and the cones on that hot day the drivers were glad that the ceremony did not last too long. The judges and celebrities, who had the honour of giving cups and rosettes to the drivers and their horses, were well directed by the technical staff so that the event was over in half an hour to the benefit of the horses and the drivers who were proud but tired. As there were no trees surrounding the show ring to give shade, the laps of honour were fast but short and everybody returned to the stables proud and satisfied. It is a pity that the organizers forgot to play the traditional tune to the laps of honour: “Good bye, my little Officer of the Guard…”

The winners were:

Singles

1^st Czeslaw Trzos                  PL

2^nd Tomasz Pelka                  PL

3^rd Rafal Landowski             PL

Pairs

1^st Justyna Przyborowska     PL/UKR

2^nd Gregorz Jachimiak          PL

3^rd Lukasz Panek                   PL

Tandem

1^st Ireneusz Koslowski          PL

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Annual General Meeting at Utrecht (NL)

25^{th -} 26^th February 2022

Due to current Corona problems the committee decided to cancel the meeting at Utrecht and have a video conference instead. It took place on February 25th from 11:00 till 11:55 am.

The participants were

Christian de Langlade F         (President AIAT and Chairman of the conference)

José Juan Morales E              (Vice President and treasurer AIAT)

Ad van der Pluim NL

Richard James GB

Enzo Calvi I

Katerina Jetmarova CZ          (on behalf of Dr. Oleijnicek)

Koon Depaepe B

Hartmuth Huber D                 (on behalf of Josef Steigenberger)

Christian de Langlade started by greeting the national representatives taking part in the conference and thanking everybody for their interest in AIAT activities. He congratulated the organizers, judges and technical delegates for all their achievements made despite the problems caused by the pandemic. He expressed his joy that the philosophy of the AIAT is generally adhered to, the events being friendly gatherings run in a non-profit spirit. He announced the publishing of a provisional calendar of events for 2022 and suggested a judge’s clinic to be run at one of the events taking place in 2022. He thanked the treasurer and the secretary for their dependable collaboration and expressed his hope for more activities in the 2022 season.

José Juan Morales reported on the accounts of the AIAT, expressing regret on the one hand - as there were only few activities last year - and his joy on the other that there is now more money in the accounts that can be spent.

Christian de Langlade informed the participants about the reform of the AIAT rules concerning the PC >The Rail<: The line >...without crossing the outside lines…< must now be >… without touching the outside lines…<

Koen de Paepe announced a CAT to be held at Wingene (B) in September. The date still to be published.

Richard James informed the participants of a >Newcomers Award of L 150.--< that has been endowed for the CIATs being organized in the UK and highly recommending this idea for all countries.

Christian de Langlade thanked the participants for their interest and wished everybody much success in their efforts.

6th CIAT GLAMIS CASTLE 2022

18th and 19th june 2022 - follow by the debrief from the judge Don Raimondo Coral Rubiales

The 6^th CIAT at Glamis Castle was again a great success in the splendid surroundings of the Royal Estate. Twenty-four participants were entered, amongst them nine “First time competitors” !

You could also find two drivers from Wales and seven from South of the Border, having travelled to enjoy the beautiful Scottish Countryside, most of them arriving on Friday afternoon to make their horses comfortable in the stables.

As to the drivers and their passengers and grooms, sixty-four of them got prepared for the Friday evening supper, provided by Sandy Lanni and her team of helpers in an excellent atmosphere.

The weather was kind with sunshine and remained like that during the whole event.

On the Saturday, the three Presentation points were situated directly in front of the Castle. The judges were Raimundo Coral (Spain), Paul Mills (GB) and Andrew Counsell (GB), and the commentator was the very knowledgeable Jane Macinnes.

During the Gala Dinner - 83 guests in Black Tie in the Castle State Dining Room - the best Presentation winner, Jimmy Jeffrey, presented with Scottish Quaich, which in true Scottish tradition he filled with malt whisky and passed it round for all to enjoy.

On Saturday, the Routier of 13 km, all within the Glamis Estate grounds with wonderful roads and tracks, was designed by Alan Ross and the difficulties by Clive Rushton Green.
The Cone Driving was designed by Alex Hogg.
Judges , Stewards, Helpers – and Organizers -are fundamental to a successful event along with Sponsors. Once again, it must be said that the atmosphere between all was absolutely excellent and that everyone enjoyed a marvelous event !

Please, find the results below.

VI CIAT DE GLAMIS by Don Raimondo Coral Rubiales - Judge

The Glamis CIAT is based on three basic pillars, the Castle with its gardens, the Lanni family and Scottish hospitality. Held on the weekend of June 18th and 19th, it began on the 17th with a welcome dinner for participants, collaborators and staff in the backyard of the Glamis House. The aforementioned House was the logistic center, shelter and improvised club during the whole weekend, not in vain in its ample kitchen were organized the most amusing gatherings of the whole weekend, even in Spanish, coincidences of life.

On saturday and in the vicinity of the main entrance of the Castle were located the three judges of presentation, the British Mr. Paul Mills, Mr. Andrew Counsell and Mr. Raimundo Coral Rubiales from Spain. With a total of 24 turnouts in different modalities, the participants paraded in front of the façade of the castle. The quality, especially in the harnesses, was a constant in all the contestants. Although it was windy, more than three hats flew, the Scots were euphoric, because according to tradition, when the wind blows the rain goes away. Nobody spared us from the cold, but in the temporary tent set up next to the camp, hot coffee and English pastries were served, a blessing.

The route, which was presented on Saturday itself, showed us both arboreal and wild areas, as well as manicured gardens and rural flowerbeds, a delight. The Compulsory Steps were distributed throughout the race, although three of them were located along the undulating path that connects the main entrance of the property with the entrance of the Castle, where a piper dressed for this occasion with the classic costume of the house entertained the competition.

Attendees List

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1st CIAT ELVEDEN (GB)

What a wonderful weekend of camaraderie, what Concours d’Attelage de Tradition is all about.
Earlier in August, twenty five beautiful turnouts came forward to compete over two days in the very beautiful Elveden Estate in Norfolk.

Gordon Marks, Event Director worked tirelessly with his team of Paul Mills, Liz Harcombe and Wally and Eunice Binder to produce the inaugural CIAT Elveden.

Thanks must go to The Earl of Iveagh for allowing us to use Elveden and to his staff who were very accommodating, patient and lent willing help aplenty.

We are hugely grateful to all our very generous sponsors and volunteers who allowed us to put on a lovely weekend of competition.

After a lovely get together on Friday night, the competitors were presented on Saturday morning in front of our judges Andrew Counsell, Elizabeth Cartwright-Hignett and Richard Lanni whose experience and encouraging remarks lent panache and experience. There were some excellent scores and surely a record for regular winner, Sharon Wotton of 2.17 with her Welsh Pony and beautiful 1909 Dog Cart. A beautiful turnout and beautifully driven.

Unusually, the competitors left the presentation and headed straight out on the routier. This format was positively received despite the viewing being via a YouTube video link rather than seeing the difficulties for real! The estate is very picturesque and the short stretches of public roads brought many smiles to passers-by. The champagne difficulty placed near the lovely church under the cedar trees provided the usual challenge with much concentration and skill to negotiate.

We had a delicious barbecue on the Saturday night and the big tent was abuzz with fun  and laughter as people enjoyed being together after so long with restrictions.

The cones course on Sunday morning provided a real challenge with some tight turns if drivers chose the direct route. Some skilful driving was seen of course.
Let’s not forget the focus of the weekend: the carriages. We saw a number of newcomers to CIAT which was very encouraging and delightful to observe different turnouts.

To encourage even more people to ‘have a go’, a Learning weekend was enjoyed by a group of people on foot. Devised and led by Richard James, this idea was very successful and the group had an interesting and informative two days. They could ask questions at any point and analyse the carriages, horses and harness close up. We hope that they will take part next year having been inspired by Richard!
It just remains to say that we’d love to do it all again at Elveden next year. We’ve already been chatting to the estate representatives to secure the spot.. Watch this space! 🌟

Results:

Single Horse
1st Trish Lebus
2nd Liz Jarman
3rd Kimberley Titmus

Single Pony
1st Sharon Wotton
2nd Ruth Martin
3rd Kate Cooper

Pairs
1st James R Jeffery
2nd Rosemary Neale
3rd Claire Bourne

Supreme Champion: Sharon Wotton
Reserve Champion:James R Jeffery
Best Newcomer : Andy Bircher
Best junior : Kate Cooper.

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Obituary : HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh
The Carriagedriving Community is saddened

The passing away of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, saddens us a lot, even if this was apprehended since quite a while.

This news generated a lot of statements in grieving for the Duke and of highest acknowledgment, too, not only in Great Britain but also round the world.

On behalf of the Association Internationale de l’Attelage de Tradition (AIAT) I like to express my deepest condolence with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and also to manifest the sorrow of the driver’s community worldwide. They all felt the highest respect and veneration for Prince Philip.

I like to emphasize Prince Philip’s achievements in favor of driving. When he ceased his Polo activities at the end of the sixties it was quite clear for him to pick up with driving, having horses, coaches, and the most elegant harnesses at home, including all the competent experts within the Royal staff. In consequence he dedicated himself to the new driving, his new field of activity, with a very good sense of proportion and gentleness.

„New Driving“ means that just at that time this sport was about to be newly defined.

Taking over the presidency of the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI), Prince Philip has yielded driving by adapting the existing set of rules of the cross-country competition:

the presentation and dressage, the cross-country and long distance driving referring to the Marathon, and the cone driving as equivalent to the jumping competition.

In those days the competitions first were driven with the existing coaches. But quite soon it turned out that the coaches needed to be adapted to the requirements of the modern type of Marathon driving. In consequence the old coaches were replaced by modern replicas for the dressage competitions, and very versatile metal carriages were developed for the Marathon obstacles.

I was given several occasions to discuss the developments of our sport with Prince Philip, in particular during the competitions held at Windsor Castle. He always kept his ears open for any kind of innovations and was all set to get them done.

In particular I am thinking of the topic how the reins were to be held in the driver’s hands. The “purists” would only accept “four in hands”. The Prince, however, quickly had understood that the evolution of the course and the obstacles would make the “Hungarian method” eligible for the Marathon competition, especially as no regulation existed about how to hold the reins. Hence the drivers were free to deploy their favored method.

Modern driving did absolutely not get along with just the traditional techniques.

When I presented my concept of rules and standards for “Attelage de Tradition” to Prince Philip at the turn of the millennium I was more than happy to find him giving his blessings to this new setup right away. He was very much aware of the importance to reintegrate the elements of tradition into a sport which had become very technical.

During the last International Traditional Sandringham Carriagedriving Trials in 2019 Prince Philip was attending the entire presentation, and he had a lot of questions and comments on the judgement criteria. He was pleased with the judgement scheme applied.

At the award ceremony I could take the opportunity to express my public address of appreciation to the Duke of Edinburgh about what he had achieved to the benefit of our sport, being the founding father of the modern driving sport, and we owe all to him.

From his pony turnout on which he followed the entire event he gave me a sign of appreciation. This gesture touched me deeply, and it should become our last face-to-face encounter.

We all, the friends of carriage driving worldwide, owe endlessly much to Prince Philip, always being so much at ease and accessible, intelligent, and with such a good portion of humor – just a model for style and class.

                                                                                                  Baron Christian de Langlade,

                                                                                                                     President of AIAT

Good news : Inauguration of a new carriage museum

In the old Tatoï Palace in Athens

The creation of a carriage museum is quite exceptional nowadays. This is why we rejoice in the opening of a Greek royal carriage museum in the historic Tatoï Palace.

The Greek government has started the renovation of this palace, the former summer residence of the Greek royal family, for 1 400 000 euros. It had been deserted since the coup of the colonels, which chased away Constantin II, the last King of the Héllènes, and replaced him by a military dictature.

Abandoned since 52 years, twelve carriages, the property of the Greek royal family, were found in an old shed on the Tatoï estate during the renovation. The Greek authorities decided to exhibit them to the public in a special museum on the very place of Tatoï. This new museum has been inaugurated by Mrs Lina Mendoni, Minister of Culture, on 27^th December 2020.

This collection of carriages is composed of a d’Aumont Chariot cut eight springs, three State Coaches, a Landau (in fact a State Coach transformed into a landau after the drawing of the interior designer Leandros Spartiotis), a Shooting Break, three Broughams, a George IV Phaeton, a Tilbury gig, a light two-wheels carriage.

One of the three State Coaches was built by the Frères Binder. In 1962, it was used for the wedding of Princess Sofia of Greece, the sister of King Constantin II, with Prince Juan Carlos of Bourbon, who became King of Spain in 1975. This State Coach is specially linked to the history of the French carriage building industry. After the fall of Napoleon III and the end of the Second Empire, the restauration of the French Monarchy was contemplated. The Count of Chambord, the last representant of the eldest branch of the Bourbon family, was approached to become King of France, under the name of Henry V.

For his solemn entry in Paris, eight carriages were ordered in 1872 to the Frères Binder, the most celebrated Parisian carriage builders of their time, called by the critics of the time “the princes of Carriage building”: a State Coach, a Dress Coach, a d’Aumont Coach, three d’Aumont Barouches, a d’Aumont Landau, a State Chariot.

These carriages were never delivered, as the Count of Chambord finally renounced the Crown of France in 1873. The Binders kept them carefully in their stores until 1891. Four of the were then sent to the château de Chambord, at the request of Robert of Parma, new owner of the castle. Four others were sold by Binder : a State Coach to the Duke of Brissac, nowadays kept in Chambord, too ; a State Coach to the Khedive of Cairo, now at the Royal Carriage Museum of Cairo, another one to George Ist, the King of the Héllènes. This last one was used for the wedding of Princess Sofia of Greece with Prince Juan Carlos de Bourbon and is today the most splendid piece of the Royal Carriage Museum of Tatoï.

The only UK AIAT event – Euston

Dicky Jim recalls

It was only the resolve and bulldog attitude of Wally and Eunice Binder that allowed nineteen traditional carriage drivers to gather together (respecting social distancing) on the Duke and Duchess of Grafton’s glorious estate in Suffolk for a CIAT event. It was a CIAT event with appropriate safe-guards but still following the well-established AIAT format and rules but held over only one day.

Stabling was the first challenge for the Binders – there wasn’t any!   Instead, the AIAT enthusiasts were allocated areas in the spacious “stabling area” with suitable space for their lorries and vehicles beside a separate “corral” area for the equines, all well attired for the unfortunate damp weather.

The President of the AIAT, Baron Christian de Langlade was unable to judge because of the pandemic so Colin Henderson joined Richard James and Elizabeth Cartwright-Hignett on the judges' panel, and what a challenge they had, not in finding their winner in the Presentation but in splitting them up, it may be a corny comment but the majority were all winners. The standard is getting higher and higher, judges needing to knit pick to reach a result.

Jessie Dudley Apicella took the Show Championship, winning the Best Harness and also the Best Presentation awards driving her pair of Hackney Ponies to a four-wheeled Ralli Car, and top of her class despite coming second in the cones.

Two heavy horses put their toe in the CIAT scene, John Latham and Hazel Chapman’s Suffolk Punch and David Curtis and Emma Scotney’s Percheron to a Stud Cart.

James Jeffrey took the Horse Pair class with his Friesian x Highland to a varnished Dog Cart from Colin Varle’s Wagonette and Roger and Gill Derryman, up from Cornwall, with their Sporting Dog Cart.  

In the hotly contested singles classes, Liz Harcombe won the top pony slot with her Canterbury Cart despite coming fourth in the Presentation, her driving skills coming to the fore. James Foley with his Hackney horse Crowside Gay James put to a classical Stanhope gig won the horse singles and took the Reserve Championship in addition to the Best Newcomer. Ben Lawless was the best Young Driver, a clear round but just a few time penalties in Paul Mill’s flowing cones course, pulled him up to third in the horse class.

The Euston event proved that a very satisfactory and enjoyable AIAT event can be held over one day with the three full sections completed, no stables but sadly lacking the hospitality and social element but with a grand collection of prizes and rosettes.

The GB AIAT enthusiasts are most grateful to the organisers, the volunteers, the exhibitors and support crews for ensuring that we kept traditional carriage driving going during these most difficult of times.

Last update Calendar AIAT COVID-19 du 04/07 au 05/12/2020