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No horsing around in 70 Mile House carriage races

The 11th Annual Combined Driving Competition survives the weekend heat
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There was no horsing around at the 11th Annual Cariboo Trails Combined Driving Competition on July 28 and 29, as Barb Gorsling and Marion Roman won the training and preliminary levels.

“I think it went very well. There were no mishaps, nobody had an accident, no horses were overstressed and the drivers were in very good spirits. The whole thing was a huge success and we had a really nice board of volunteers who really made things go easier,” said Ken Huber, one of the event’s organizers.

The temperature on both days was pretty high, reaching upwards to 30 degrees Celsius but Huber said it didn’t seem to bother the horses, who were fit enough to handle it. There were also no complaints from the carriage drivers either. However, Huber did say there was a suggestion to put on a mist tent so the carriages could drive through to cool off.

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The two winners won a rocking lawn chair and an RV patio mat donated by Meridian RV.

The race committee is also flirting with the idea of adding in a higher level of competition for next year.

“I think what we’re looking at there, is making some changes to the course to entice those people to come in and take the challenge of what we built,” said Huber. “That also means we have to bring in a higher level of judges than we had this year. We’re studying that.”

The training level only had 10 competitors and the preliminary had seven.

With the number of entries they had this year being lower than expected, the race committee will have a lower beginning budget for next year but Huber said they’re okay.


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About the Author: Brendan Jure

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