ANTHEA GREENLEES SCHOLARSHIP DAY 2008

This year the Anthea Greenlees Scholarship Day was held on Sunday 6 July 2008 at West Newton by the kind invitation of Audrey Barron. Eight young people came forward and enjoyed a very busy day learning about many aspects of Carriage Driving. They ranged in age from ten to seventeen, came from the Borders, West of Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway and Central BDS areas, and had experience ranging from none to lots. We welcomed Kyle Brooks, Kathleen Cook, Carolann Hill, David Jarvis, Rebecca Ling, Rachel McKenzie, Grace Reid, and Jodie Standring. Each young driver had a chance to drive two of the three turnouts, which were provided by Audrey Barron with Bluebell, Eileen Cornish with Dolly and Sheila McNeill with Beezer. The equines all drove very differently and the young drivers had the opportunity to drive in a dressage arena, complete a cones course and go for a mini marathon / happy hacker drive through the woods.

While they were back in the stable yard they learnt to harness up Dylan, and put him to a traditional two-wheeled vehicle with his leather show harness, while discussing the fit of the harness and the balance of the vehicle. They also learned to take apart and put together a set of leather harness, and completed a quiz about different parts of traditional harness.

Lunch was taken around Audrey’s kitchen table with extra chairs appearing from all over the house to accommodate all of us.

When asked what was the most difficult part of the training almost everyone agreed that driving ‘coachman style’ was very difficult to master, but all were very keen to get it right.

At the end of the afternoon the two scholarships were announced. Each winner is given a full day’s training with an instructor of his or her choice. Jodie Standring won the scholarship for the best all rounder, and David Jarvis for the person we felt would benefit most from further training.

It was also agreed that we would award either one lesson or a half-day’s training to the remainder of the candidates to encourage them to continue their interest and enthusiasm for Carriage Driving.

Half day training was awarded to Kyle Brooks, Kathleen Cook and Grace Reid, while Carolann Hill, Rebecca Ling, and Rachel McKenzie were each awarded a lesson with an instructor of their choice.

Thanks must go to Audrey Barron, Eileen Cornish, Sheila McNeill, Isobel Pocock, Gillian and Rachel for all their hard work, with a special thank you to the eight candidates plus their parents and friends who travelled long distances to bring them to Arbroath for the day.