raymondh Loc: Walker, MI

Impressive photography of an event of which I’ve never heard.

W3HII Loc: Weirsdale, Florida

A lot of events like this are held in Marion County, Florida (near Ocala, "the horse capitol of the world").
A huge new "World Equestrian Center" will be opening in 2021. I'm sure more CDE events will be scheduled there:
https://worldequestriancenter.com/

FrankR Loc: NYC

Beautiful animals, terrific photographs. If they call rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming a sport, I guess this is too.

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

Thank you.....this is deffinitely an interesting event to shoot.

blacks2 Loc: SF. Bay area

Outstanding, something new for me.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Hey, What's and "r or two" among friends and if I recall, years ago there was a diving horse act at Coney Island or Atlantic City. And you're right about the carriages. At larger shows, there are spectacular restored carriages with matched horses, custom-made harnesses and custom-made outfits for the drivers/grooms to wear. The ladies definitely outshine the men when it comes to outfits as well. All part of the pagentry.

Glad you looked in and enjoyed the images.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

joehel2, Thanks for looking in and I appreciate your comments. I had to think a while on how to describe the event in a couple of paragraphs as it can get quite complicated and there are sooooo many details that you need to know to compete or even enjoy what you're looking at. Thanks again.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Glad you liked them John. In the Ohio CDE, I spent weeks prior working on the course so I kinda knew where the good shots would be. Most marathon courses are laid out so that the hazards are in one general area with the loops in between arching out into the surrounding areas. Makes them more spectator friendly. There is no practicing allowed on the course before hand but the competitors are permitted to walk the course prior to the competition to familiarize themselves with the layout. A great deal of time is spent walking the hazards and exploring the fastest route thru them. It's complicated but during the event, the gates in a hazard must be done in a specific order and direction, i.e. gates A, B, C, D, E.... You can't pass through gate D in either direction on the way from B to C. The gates are distributed thru the hazard to make multiple passes thru the hazard part of the challenge. Once you pass thru a gate in order, it ceases to exist so you can pass thru A on the way from C to D. It's a lot of fun gating the hazards in anticipation of challenging the drivers. And this is the place where the groom/navigator earns their keep.

Mile Loc: Crescent City Calif

My grandfather use to do this hate to say how old I am Yikes love the photos

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Appreciate the comments on the photography. I made a few bucks on the side selling images to competitors. The better the competitior looks, the more likely he is to buy. Not sure where in Michigan you're from but there is a fairly large CDE in Metamora north of Detroit and just south of Lapeer. The image of the four-in-hand in the hazard was taken at Metamora. You can find out event calendar on the American Driving Society website.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Appreciate the comments and the update. CDE's are at the top of the food chain for these types of competitions but there are a myriad of lesser similar events occuring an a growing scale all over the country. One thing about the horse community in the US, there's no shortage of bragging rights. It's great you folks are getting a new equestrian center but I'm sure the folks in Aiken SC or the Kentucky Horse Park would take issue with you on the "horse capitol" And as far as the number of horses in Florida, you folks are behind California and Texas. My state Ohio ranks 5th but I'll bet we have more bridle trails. And the beat goes on........ Thanks again for your comments.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

FrankR, Thanks for looking in and the nice compliment. As the bard says "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

blacks2, Thanks for the kind comment. Given the popularity of horses in California, I sure there are events like these in the Bay area. Sadly, not sure about anything this year with CoVid. The American Driving Society publishes a calendar of events you could check out. These types of events are great for photographers because you can get up close enough to get great shots with a medium telephoto lens.

W3HII Loc: Weirsdale, Florida

Well, "Horse capitol of the world" is not my term and I don't have any horses, just enjoy watching them compete - that term is what the locals use to advertise the area and attract visitors interested in horses. There's a LOT of horse farms that breed and train horses for any/all events. It's a very large industry here. The airport is specifically set up to handle loading/unloading horses from aircraft and they are frequently flown in/out from Kentucky, California, South Carolina and even Saudi Arabia. Many of the winners at the major US horse races (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, etc) were bread, raised and trained here.
Agree that the bragging rights are big and each area has it's special advantages! We can enjoy them all.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Mile, Mine too (to both parts). Glad you like the photos and takng the time to comment.