Dear all, we are very sorry to announce that we have been forced cancel this week's training at Ashfields as the ground is waterlogged and the forecast is more rain tonight and tomorrow. The trainers have some availability for next Thursday and Friday 26/27th April so please e-mail Lorna at sec@eacdg.co.uk if you would like to move your training to those dates or have a refund,
We are planning on running the 2 day event this weekend but further wet weather could possibly jeopardise this. We will make a final decision on Thursday lunchtime and inform you all as soon as we know.
We hope you all understand.

 

Best Regards
East Anglian Carriage Driving Group Committee

Hi All,

We were at Ashfields today checking things out for our first two day event of the season and national novice qualifier, we can report that the fields are drying up nicely, unfortunately rain is forecast for Sunday but hopefully it will be short-lived and the ground will continue to dry. The hazards are looking good and the temporary stables have now been erected.

The stable field will be open from 12pm on Friday for those who are not training beforehand, please do not arrive earlier except by arrangement.

Note that you must use a waterproof membrane or solid matting in side- stabling and in any horse enclosure, which must not be more than 10’ x 10’ for each horse or pony. Electric fencing may be used to make a pen if you do not have a stable. A small number of stables are available for

hire: contact Zoe Morgan, 07770 944868.

The clubhouse bar and facilities are open all day Saturday/Sunday. There will be a 2 course meal for everyone on Saturday evening at £12.50 per head, with a vegetarian choice: you can book meals by contacting Zoe, again on 07770 944868 Please be aware that some parts of the Horsebox field may be soft so please walk to the area that you wish to park in and check the ground first, park in line, at least 6m away from any lorry, trailer, tent or caravan.

Water, toilets, horse waste disposal facilities are on site: please take your rubbish home and leave your site clean. Kindly keep your dog under control and be considerate of other people and animals. EACDG rules

apply: please read them on our website.

Get your season going with our two day spring competition and national novice qualifier. Meet up at our free Pimms reception in the clubhouse at 6:30pm on Friday.

 

We look forward to seeing you all there.

 

 

Best Regards

  EAST ANGLIAN CARRIAGE DRIVING GROUP COMMITTEE.

Hi Everyone, we hope you had a Happy Easter and didn't get too wet.

Our First competition of the 2018 season is virtually upon us, it is a two day event incorporating a National Novice Qualifier held at the Ashfield Carriage Driving Centre at Great Canfield, entries are closing on midnight of the 4th April, that is just 3 days away, please note that if you are intending to enter there will be No Late Entries accepted, so get your entry in now.

Dressage and cones will be held as usual on Saturday with the marathon on Sunday, Marathon will be Three sections, approximately 11km with a maximum of 6 obstacles including water, subject to weather and ground conditions, further details can be found in the events section of the website http://www.eacdg.co.uk/events.html 

If you are unable to compete but wish to come along and help with stewarding or similar then please call Lorna on 07855 451413 and she will discuss how you may be able to help. Don't be shy, its one of the best ways to get involved if you are a newcomer.

As usual we will have a number of official photographers on site during the event, these photographers give up their time to try to give you some special memories of the event, please try to support them by checking out their work and maybe purchasing a little memento of the occasion, if we don't support them then we may lose them, we don't want to see this happen. Our Official Photographers are easily recognizable by their blue tabbards, please feel free to approach them before the show commences if you want something special. On site printing will be available in the clubhouse for this event kindly supplied by Melody Fisher Photography.

We will supply our photographers contact details on your event paperwork when you arrive.

We look forward to seeing you all soon, have fun and drive safe.

 

Best Regards
East Anglian Carriage Driving Group Committee.

Hello all, the first event of the season is fast approaching and its going to be a big event, we already have lots of entries and we will be closing the books soon, so if you are planning to enter please do so without delay (we will not accept late entries).

Please note, in order to get everyone to the correct cones width and make the marathon run smoothly we have very limited availability for competitors sharing grooms , priority will be given on a first entered first served basis, please get your own groom/backsteppers sorted! Thank you.

If you are planning to share grooms/backsteppers can you please make sure you mention this on the notes section of your entry so we can ensure we can try to accommodate your wishes.

Please Note. We cannot accept entries where one person is planning to groom/backstep for three drivers  due to the complexity of organising times etc.

We are all looking forward to seeing you at what's looking like an exciting event.

Drive safe and have fun.

 

Best Regards
East Anglian Carriage Driving Group Committee

Dear all, the training days at Ashfields on the 12/13th April are now full , but I will be running a waiting list in case we have any withdrawals. If you wish to be put on the waiting list please e-mail sec@eacdg.co.uk and let me know, thank you Lorna.

Also, a little reminder that places for our first two day event with NNQ on 14-15th April are filling up and entries close on the 4th of April (just over two weeks). Please note that due to the time involved in organising these events no late entries will be accepted.

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Best Regards
East Anglian Carriage Driving Group Committee

Hi Everyone and welcome to the first email of the 2018 season, this year we are planning to send out regular emails to you to keep you informed of up and coming events, results from events as the season opens up and any other information that we feel you may benefit from.

Our first training day's are on the 12th and 13th of April at Ashfields, your trainers are Anna Grayston, Sara Howe and Minta Winn, they will be offering flat work, cones, and obviously there will also be a hazard open for training purposes should you require. Places are filling up quickly so if you wish to take advantage of this pre season opportunity then get your bookings/time slots in soon. For any newcomers requiring an assessment you can get this done at the same time. As always you can enter directly from the website http://www.eacdg.co.uk/events.html

Our first event of the season is the 14th and 15th of April (immediately after the training days), its a two day event and also a National Novice Qualifier. It will be our normal format of Dressage and Cones on Saturday followed by Marathon on Sunday. Please be aware that all open singles and multiple turnouts will be required to complete the new BC Test 2 (2018) for dressage unless you request otherwise on your booking form. The Marathon will be 6 Obstacles and approximately 13km. Again, as its the first event of the year entries are coming in quickly so please don't leave it until the last minute to get your bookings in. You can book in directly on the link above.

For those of you who haven't already renewed your membership then please take this as a gentle reminder that memberships are now open and due.

We hope you will all have a successful season but most importantly drive safely and have fun.

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Best Regards
East Anglian Carriage Driving Group Committee.

It seems my Sandringham blog went to the cloud when my lap top crashed so here goes again. June seems an age OK and the run up to the event even further but not without a lot of work and paper work trying to keep everyone happy is not always easy. I think the committee felt like a Swan gliding over the Sandringham Water. The 4 inches of rain the location endured within the week of the event caused a wet parking problem for us and mean't we lost some area but overall it went smoothly as we adjusted to sharing with the nationals. The cones area where we normally park was a little disappointing, as we did have to share with the nationals again as there transfer went across the top of the area and so made the course smaller than it could have been but we coped. Thanks to Fiona and Mike for their support over the weekend and for stepping in and building the cones course on Friday as we had been told it was to be built for us but on arrival this turned out not to be the case. However the days seemed to run smoothly with no incidents and the 45 entries seemed to enjoy themselves in what can only be described as a beautiful setting thanks to the generosity of Her Majesty The Queen and Prince Philip.

The next Event was run at Blandings a well supported event run by Louise and Kim  incorporating 17 club members Kim had rearranged a couple of the obstacles and a good marathon ran around the neighbouring stud the weather as with all the events this year was good everyone had a lovely weekend.

 Junior Camp held at Ashfields was well attented by 18 Juniors who had a great time.

20-21st August was the Club Championship at Ashfields attended by 45 entries it blew a gale with a few people getting wet but overall the weather was kind and the going was good thanks to all the Ashfields team for making us so welcome and putting on the event.

Last event of the year was a training day Sept 24th attended by 9 people and the one day event on the 25th was supported by 20 entries Wilf turned this into a world cup type event it was well received with dressage and cones as normal AM a leisurely lunch and 2 hours pm with cones being driven in trot only between the 3 obstacles.

Thanks must also be given to all the stewards who volunteer there day's and keep coming to help without them we cannot run events. You know who you are. Looking forward to 2017 season if you have any suggestions come to the AGM or contact a committee member.