Well, what a busy and successful year! With training camps, competitions, championships, medals and new members, it can safely be said that BYD is thriving. There are now over 45 young drivers that have been involved in events in the last 12 months. Let’s see if we can get it to 50 next year.
The year started with a training weekend at Moreton Morrell College. The sun shone and temperatures didn’t drop to the freezing ones we’ve had in previous years. 15 young drivers had tuition from Philipa Howe and Frank Campbell. All phases were covered and great fun was had by all. During the usual Fish & Chip supper there was a quiz on BC and FEI rules. Great fun and educational, especially for those moving up to FEI level competitions.
Easter weekend at the Unicorn Trust was our usual super-busy camp with 26 young drivers taught under the eagle eyes of Bex March, Sara Howe and Marieke Harm, our guest coach. Four days were packed full of driving, on-foot sessions, the trot-up, quizzes, leatherwork, harness fitting etc. The children also had the chance to visit the harness room belonging to the late Sydney Smith. The most improved trophy was won by Jack French, who drove the delightful Dartmoor Hill pony Barney. We welcomed several new members to this camp and l am sure that they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves as we’ve seen most of them out and about since.
The Indoor Carriage Driving Championships at Arena UK saw 28 young drivers compete, with 8 of them, relatively new to driving, competing in the Children’s Challenge. These classes were won by Rose Turner and Layla Mae Bruce. 13 drivers contested the Novice Junior class which was won by Evie Rockall with Ilaria Taylor only 0.3 points behind. Sophie Hunt finished as the highest placed Open Junior driver and Lily French finished as the highest placed Intermediate Junior driver. Well done to all 28 youngsters, what a fantastic display you all put on.
The outdoor season then followed, seeing young drivers competing all over the UK, from Hopetoun in the North, to Cricklands in the West, to Sandringham and Ashfields in the East, and the Glebe in the South, as well as European events at Kronenberg and Le Pin au Haras. What great coverage. Well done parents.
First out was Sophia Routledge who headed to Kronenberg. She gained a win in the dressage and an overall of 2nd place in the U25 class.
Sixteen drivers competed at the FEI event at Chepstow this year. Phoebe Matthews and Sophia Routledge won the 3* horse and pony classes. Theo Charnley won the children’s class; Izzy Brunner won both the Junior pony single and pair classes. The U25 pair was won by Charlie Parker King, and the U25 horse was won by Alex Loveman. These classes all help the young drivers on their way to gaining a 3* FEI rating.
The BYD Championships were held in June at a very warm Sandringham. Eighteen young drivers were competing over 6 classes. The winners were Evie Rockall (class A), Izzy Brunner (class B), Sophia Routledge (class C) and Ella Bowman Riley (class E). New to BYD vet Oliver, supervised the first horse inspection and was pleased with all of the ponies and was impressed with the presentation of both drivers and equines. The event was run during the first heatwave in 2026 and everything was done to ensure pony and driver welfare was the priority over the weekend. Starting the dressage early in the morning was good for the early starters but it meant that the poor juniors were out in the hottest part of the day wearing the compulsory body protectors. They all survived. On marathon day, Lily had an unfortunate tip up; the pony went back to the lorry on its own and Lily and groom, Rhiannon, were deemed fit to carry on with their second turnout after thorough checks by the paramedics. The drivers who drove class E, our beginners’ class, are keen to compete in the full marathon classes next year.
The squad that would be travelling to the European Championships in Osorhei, Romania, were chosen after Sandringham. GB would be taking 11(!) drivers to this event. Drivers then made the most of extra training and event practice with Tara Wilkinson and Sara Howe at Glebe and Anslow.
At the beginning of July, Theo and Charlie made their way to Le Pin to compete. Theo finished 5th in the children’s class and Charlie won the U25 pony pair.
Osorhei, Romania – well what can I say, a truly wonderful competition. Six months ago, this venue was 2 football pitches. I suspect now the only trace of the driving event are the 6 obstacles and football will be resumed. Eleven drivers, their equines and support crew made their way to a very hot and dusty venue in western Romania. I was there in my role as Chef D’Equipe, ably supported by Mary Jane Campbell. Our two wonderful coaches were Sara Howe and Tara Wilkinson.
There were 4 in the children’s class – Evie Rockall (4th), Ilaria Taylor (16th), Lacey Llewellyn (18th) and Jack French (22nd).
Five juniors competed in this category: 4 in the pony class– Izzy Brunner (1st dressage 6th overall), Nellie Lock (13th), Jamie Hordern (17th) and Lily (21st); and Eti Kember in Junior horse (4th).
Phoebe Matthews finished 6th in the U25 Horse class and the highlight of the week was Sophia Routledge winning the Gold medal in the U25 pony class.
The GB team finished 4th, missing out on a team bronze by only 3.03points. An amazing result out of 10 teams and a total of 111 drivers.
Next up was the National Championships at Ashfields. As expected, there were fewer young drivers competing after the trip abroad, but 14 youngsters entered. Maggie Hick won the Novice Horse class; Ella Bowman-Ripley won the children’s class and Sophia Routledge won the Advanced Pony class.
Good luck to the two young drivers that are heading out to Le Touquet to compete shortly. I hope that the weather is better than last year, it can’t be any wetter!
Overall, it’s been an amazing year for BYD and their super equines. Congratulations must go to Sophia Routledge for winning her Gold medal, and also to the squad that went abroad to the European Championships. Well done to all of the young drivers that have been out and about training and competing over the last year.
Thank you to Mary Jane for organising BYD events, to our wonderful coaches – Sara, Tara, Frank, Bex, Philipa and foreign coaches Marieke and Dries. Thanks also go to parents, grandparents and supporters of our young drivers. Please don’t add up the mileage you’ve driven or the hours that you dedicate to driving, but we, as BYD, are grateful to you for doing it.
Events are still happening in some regions, and by October 1st the Indoor season will have started again. Some areas have already had training events and World cups – well done to Rose Turner for winning the junior class at the Somerset World Cup.
Dates for the diary (so far)
- October 1st Indoor Championship qualifiers commence.
- October 29th & 30th Moreton Morrell College. BYD Training and activities over two days. Fish & Chip supper with horsy Halloween fun.
- January and March 2027 FEI pony measuring sessions in Leicestershire – dates to be confirmed.
- February 18th to 19th Moreton Morrell College BYD training.
- March 26th to 29th BYD Easter Camp at The Unicorn Trust, Stow-on-the-Wold.
- April 9th to 11th Indoor Championships at Arena UK (including Children’s Challenge).
- May 21st to 23rd Hopetoun National.
- June 2nd to 6th Chepstow FEI (including children, junior and U25 classes) and Cricklands National.
- June 12th & 13th Seacliff National.
- June 25th to 27th Sandringham National.
- July 30th to August 1st Glebe National.
- September 17th to 19th National Championships, Frickley Park, Doncaster
- BYD Championships and Summer camp venues and dates are still to be decided.
Please enter BYD events as early as possible to help the organisers with planning.
If any parent would like to help Mary Jane and myself with the running of future BYD events, please get in touch.
Well done to everyone and thanks for a great year
Jo Alvis – BYD Chef d’Equipe