Brett and Margaret, Hazard 2 through B Brett and Margaret, Hazard 2 going to C Jaye with Dale and Socks, Hazard 1 Dale and Socks, Hazard 1 through A Dale and Socks, Hazard 1 going to B Dale and Socks, Hazard 1 going to C Flash and Jessee, cones course Flash and Jessee, Hazard 2 Linda with Commander and Gwen, cones Julie with Baby Bug and G. Willikers Don Jagel and Peter, Hazard 2 through B Logan and Chance with Sharyn Knecht Linda with Commander and Gwen, Hazard 1

A record number of VSE entries showed up to compete at this CDE, the fifth annual one held at Lord Stirling Stables in Basking Ridge, NJ. Ten entrants were split six in Training and four in Preliminary.

Competing in Training were: Don Jagel with My Dreams Pure Platinum, Jessee Nogradi with Echo Falls Alerts Flash, Margaret Henry with Echo Falls Apollo’s Brett (owned by Pam Corsa), Melinda Feeney with Hunt Acres Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Sharyn Knecht with her pair, Logan and Chance, and Julie Forsyth with her pair, Baby Bug and G. Willikers.

Competing in Preliminary were: Martha Duchnowski with Painted Angel, Linda Willis with her pair, Commander and Gwen, Lori Horner with her pair, and Jaye Ventresca with her pair, Echo Falls Rhetts Socks and Echo Falls Brats Aristascrat.

Although rain threatened through the weekend it held off just enough for all to stay dry. The VSEs started the competition with presentation and dressage first thing Saturday morning. Don Jagel had the lowest score in Training and Linda Willis had the lowest score in Preliminary.

An interesting cones course followed the dressage. There were a couple of tricky spots that seduced a few victims into going off course. The penalty for that is elimination!

Sunday morning the competitors checked in at the Safety Check and proceeded to the start of Section A, a one-kilometer trot section. The sections of the marathon are timed for an ideal pace of nine kilometers per hour. Each competitor tries to finish within the two-minute window of the minimum time and the time allowed (based on 9 kph for the distance).

After Section A, a veterinary team checks each horse to make sure they are okay to continue to Section E, a trot section with obstacles. This is the part of the CDE drivers and horses enjoy the most.

The Training group did three obstacles with three gates each while Preliminary drivers had four obstacles to complete with four gates each. New this year the VSEs were asked to do the Water Hazard!

Lord Stirling has a lovely water obstacle with firm footing and an outlet to regulate the height of the water. The water must not be any higher than the horses’ knees. The gates of the obstacle were set so that each driver could choose from three different ways to enter. One was down a dirt ramp toward a small stream with fence on both sides. The second was down a steep ramp into a pond. The third was a gentler slope into the pond. For the second two options a driver would cross the pond, go up a slight grade and down to the same small stream in the first option. From there all competitors had to cross the stream and go through Gate B. The Training Level drivers would then go through their Gate C and out the finish gate. The Preliminary drivers had to go back into the pond for their Gate C. Then to get to Gate D they had to cross the stream again.

What fun! All the VSEs performed well and tackled the water even though a few needed some convincing. After finishing Section E the horses were checked by the vets again to make sure they were recovering from the stress of the marathon.

All the VSE entries completed the marathon in good shape once again proving these little guys have more stamina and strength than most people give them credit for.

Don Jagel with My Dreams Pure Platinum won the Training Division and Martha Duchnowski with Painted Angel won the Preliminary.

Final Scores
E = eliminated, R = retired, W = withdrew

Donald Jagel also won best training-level Dressage score for the entire event.