Dual world gold for British driving

Britain pulled off an amazing golden double at the world singles driving championships at Pratoni del Vivaro in Italy at the weekend. The three-strong team of Di Hayes, David Matthews (pictured) and Ian Bertram triumphed over 18 other teams, while individual Paul Sidwell took the highly competitive individual title.

The British team got off to a good start in the dressage to take third place behind Sweden and Germany. This was followed by extremely strong performances by Matthews and Bertram in the marathon to take Britain into the lead. The final phase, the cone driving, is always tense but a clear performance by Haynes ensured that Britain retained the gold medal.

In the individual competition, impressive performances in the first two phases ensured that Paul Sidwell took the gold medal driving Weirbank John. Sweden’s Cecilia Qvarnström took an early lead after the dressage with just 33pen, but finishing 25th in the marathon and 35th in the cones ate into her massive lead to leave her in second place. Third was Germany’s Dieter Lauterbach.

For full results visit www.horsedrivingtrials.com

Carol Phillips

H&H website editor

Carol is an experienced journalist and editor, who is also a passionate amateur rider and dedicated horse owner, having ridden since childhood. She has a particular interest in the emotional well-being and ethical training of horses, alongside veterinary matters, having garnered extensive first-hand experience of numerous equine health conditions through more than 30 years of horse ownership.