What is Combined Driving?

"CDE" is short for Combined Driving Event. This 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).
 

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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.
 

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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.
 

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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.

written by Brian Cowieson, of the Manitoba Driving Society