At the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games, you are bound to see many beautifully matched and dressed harness teams, four by four, prancing about during testing and practice sessions before the three competitions involving them come under way. These are the driving teams, and their jobs are quite difficult, if they do say so themselves. The very first challenge with developing and perfecting this type of unit is finding the four horses that have the qualities that they need in order to work together and do it well. The mental strengths of a front anchor horse, for instance, may need to be a bit higher than those of the horse behind it.
One could never simply hitch four random horses together and make them go well at the drop of a hat. And these teams are meant to go well under some extremely tiring and rough work. The first phase of their competition will be driven dressage, wherein each of the horses individually and as a team will be graded for their suppleness, lightness, comprehension, movement, skill, and for the way that they bend and arch on the move. If you thought watching the individual horse and rider teams practice and perform the beautiful art of dressage, just wait until you see four horses dance this ancient training method with the help reins only.
The cross country leg of the driving contest will find the four in hand teams journeying masterfully along just under 18 kilometers of natural trail obstacles and timed maneuvers. Time faults will occur for every predetermined increment over the allotted time frame for the course. During this phase, the teams will be judged on their endurance, confidence, strength, and ability to perform under tiring and potentially stressful conditions. The driver will be judged on his ability to encourage, guide, and control his horses with the use and mastering of horsemanship skills.
Finally, agility, coordination, balance, and skill will be tested on a stadium obstacle course comprised of cones. These cones are placed in a stationary maze, and on top of each one is perched a ball. Drivers will guide their horses through this timed obstacle course, and for each ball knocked off or cone disturbed, faults will be added to the overall, three phase score. The lowest score will determine the winner of the driving competition, but each team is commended on making it to these, the most exciting and prestigious equestrian games in the world.
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