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Driving is the oldest competitive equestrian sport, indeed, horses were long driven before they were ridden. When the need for horses as a primary form of transportation subsided, horses and driving became a recreational sport, and a fast growing one at that. It was H.R.H. Duke of Edinburgh (GBR), FEI President from 1964 - 1986, that got the wheels turning in 1969, where interested parties were summoned and the first rule book for Combined Driving was produced. The modern driving competition format thus consists of three phases, namely Dressage, Marathon and Obstacle Driving with the three alternatives - a single horse, a pair or a team of four. Following the elaboration of the first rule book in 1969, it is only natural that Driving became the fourth FEI discipline in 1970. Source: www.fei.org
Driving is a great equestrian sport appealing to and involving all ages, all sizes of horses and all breeds. We have social and recreational activities and various forms of competition from friendly introductory games such as TREC driving through to the highest forms of international competition culminating in World Championships.
Drive Canada is a volunteer member organization governed by an elected Discipline Committee. Our role as the national sport organization is to represent the Canadian driving community within the family of disciplines at Equine Canada, the national governing body for equestrian sport. More specifically, we have six key areas of responsibility.
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Recreational driving – working toward
education, trail access and developing safety
guidelines for social and non-formal
competition.
Rules – under which all Canadian driving
competitions are conducted, based on the FEI
rules adopted by all countries – primary focus
on safety, welfare of the horse and fairness in
competition.
Licensed Officials – professional development programs and licensing standards to promote safety and education and fair competition.
Canadian Equestrian Team – Canada’s national team for international competition.
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Coaching Development – program guides for teaching safe driving techniques, education, and professional development for advancing instructor and coach training and certification.
Competitions – assistance with organizing sanctioned competitions for public participation.
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Mission statement:
- To develop athletes – human and equestrian for recreation and competitive sport.
- To encourage and promote the driving of horses, ponies, VSEs, donkeys, mules and zebras for competition, recreation, pleasure, and work activities.
- To promote and encourage public interest in driving at every level and the art of horsemanship generally.
- To develop and publish general and specific information relative to driving methods, safety and competition.
- To facilitate the organization of driving functions, maintain lists of qualified coaches and officials, records of results and publish calendars of events.
- To encourage educational driving seminars and approved clinics to train coaches and officials.
- To work with other equestrian organizations in the interest of advancing the standard and sport of driving.
Goals:
To create and provide programs for development of human and equestrian athletes through membership in the Sport and Recreation divisions of Equine Canada and participating representation on all material committees of Sport Council considering, but not limited to:
- Coaching Development – program guides for teaching safe driving techniques, education, and professional development for advancing instructor and coach training and certification.
- Licensed Officials – professional development programs, training and licensing standards to promote safety, animal welfare and education.
- Rules – incorporating principles of safety, welfare of the horse and fairness in competition into competitions, effective use and growth of officials and coaches
- High Performance – foster a Canadian Equestrian Team for international competition.
- Recreation – work with community groups for education, trail access and developing safety guidelines and programs for non-competitive sport.
Services to members:
- The Electronic Bulletin - a publication of DRIVE CANADA business news; training articles; calendar of events; results from sanctioned competitions; classified ads and other timely information of interest.
- Safety Packages - Safety information for recreational drivers, show event organizers and competitors.
- Tours – Semi conducted tours to world class competitions and driving related activities of interest.
- Clinics and Workshops – development and certification clinics for competitors, coaches, licensed officials and event organizers.
- Learn to Drive – program for teaching the art and science of carriage driving.
- Event packages - Organizing know-how, scoring forms, result sheets for driving competition organizers.
- Electronic scoring and organizer clinics – for driving events.
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