After an absence of many years, the thrilling sport of combined driving returns this October to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. The three distinct phases of combined driving—driven dressage, the cross-country marathon, and obstacle (“cones”) driving—were originally modeled after the ridden sport of three-day eventing. This year’s event—the Lexington Combined Driving Classic—will be held October 5–7.

Three years from now, also at the Kentucky Horse Park, the world championships in four-in-hand driving and seven other horse sports will be contested at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Each phase of combined driving offers something unique. On the first day, you’ll see the beauty of traditional carriages, top hats, and formally dressed grooms while the horses and ponies are put through their paces in the dressage test. On Saturday, witness the thrilling speed and daring of the horses and drivers as they navigate the maze of each marathon obstacle. On the final day, precision matters most as each competitor must navigate an obstacle course with mere centimeters of clearance between each set of cones.

This year’s event will feature all six combined driving divisions—single horses, single ponies, pairs of both horses and ponies, and four-in-hand teams of horses and ponies. The competition will be divided into three levels—preliminary, intermediate and advanced (FEI).

The international panel of officials includes Klaus Christ (president of the jury) of Germany, Diana Brownlie (judge) of Great Britain, Martha Nicoll (judge) of the U.S., Philip Bateman (technical delegate) of Great Britain, and Richard Nicoll (course designer) of the U.S.

For more information about this event, contact the organizer, Susan Gilliland, at (352) 489-6586 or [email protected]. If you are a driver and would like to enter the event, send your entry to Gilliland at 10575 SW 186th Ave., Dunnellon FL 34432. Entries close on September 14.

If you would like to volunteer at this year’s event, please contact Leslie Hernandez at [email protected].