Training schedule update
See the dates of forthcoming training events on the training schedule page, along with full contact and booking details.
Event schedule for 2026
The event list is now published. We’ll be updating it with links to the schedules and the 2026 entry form in the coming weeks. Click on this link to view the dates.
AGM
The Thirtieth Annual General Meeting of the Scottish Carriage Driving Association Limited will take place on Saturday 21st February 2026 at the Blair Drummond Community Hall near Doune. Please click here for all the details. There will also be a guest speaker Dr. Louise Cornish, a round-up of the 2025 season and complimentary teas, coffee & lunch. We look forward to seeing you there.
Ian Gilbert – Obituary
Mary Kusin writes…
Ian and Anne Gilbert from Dalry have a long involvement with the sport of carriage driving. They started out in showing and moved to driving trials in 1982 entering their first National event at Scone Palace (back in the day of bogey times when a clear round was possible on the marathon and most of the rules had still to be invented).
In the beginning, they both drove single turnouts, their sons Alistair and Douglas ably grooming for them. As the boys grew up and developed other interests, Anne and Ian took year about driving and grooming. Many championships were won with Kersryan, a 13.2 bay hackney cross. A brief foray into pair driving was followed by a highly successful tandem with Ryan in the lead. Anne drove this combination to victory on many occasions, notably in the National Finals in 1998 and 1999 with Ian grooming. Following Ryan’s retirement, Ian and Anne returned to pair driving.
In 1982, the Blair estate in Ayrshire was one of the first club driving trials to take place and the Gilberts were assisted by other carriage driving enthusiasts to establish this venue. New equipment was needed and a fire hose was used to mark out the dressage arena most effectively. Culzean followed a few years later, at which an excellent social event was established on the Saturday evening. Over the years many aspiring performers have been persuaded by Anne to entertain the company in a wide variety of ways. In exchange for use of the facilities, and in order to maintain good relations with the estate, Anne and Ian participated in the pageant depicting a “Victorian Christmas” in front of Culzean Castle, on an annual basis. Other volunteers were eagerly sought to join in the festivities, but most found preparing their horse, harness and carriage in December, and then enduring the generally inclement weather, a rather too arduous experience. Anne and Ian bravely turned out year after year to ensure that the driving trials could continue for all to enjoy. In recent years this competition has moved to Eglinton Park with the Gilbert’s continuing enthusiasm ensuring a well organised event.
Things have not always run so smoothly and Anne remembers an early event she and Ian organised in Rouken Glen park. Ian had laid out the course the previous day and Anne was the first competitor out on the marathon. She and her groom successfully negotiated the first obstacle and were heading for the next, when they became aware of a number of irate shouts. They did not lose their concentration and only after completing the second obstacle realised that they had driven across the cricket pitch. There had been no sign of this sporting fixture when the course was marked, but Ian had to rapidly reflag certain sections before any more competitors arrived.
Ian qualified as a national course builder and was the main driving force behind the one Scottish National driving trials event at Dalmeny and then at Hopetoun House. Ian headed up the “Hopetoun A Team” who arrived on site a week before the start of the event to get everything ready for competitors. He even spent a day driving at a brisk 25 mph along the backroads from Dalry to Hopetoun to ensure the event had a tractor on site.
In the early years at Hopetoun, Ian made imaginative use of the barrels supplied by one of the event’s major sponsors, BP, and constructed an eye catching obstacle on the lawn in front of the main house in the shape of an oil rig. Always an enterprising organiser, Ian discovered that there was a dog show at Hopetoun the week before the driving trials. Many floral decorations were present which, due to the canine tendency to distinctively mark territory, became unusable. Out in the open, filling large tattie boxes, this minor problem was unnoticeable, and hence a colourful obstacle joined the oil rig in front of the house.
Ian’s enthusiasm saw the creation of a new water obstacle and sand pit for Hopetoun while an even more ambitious project was the levelling of around 2.5 acres of ground to construct a brand new 100m x 40m dressage arena. Many members of SCDA still remember crawling up and down the arena collecting stones but, if Ian needed it done, the job was done. He felt the event would benefit from a road up to the main arena so constructed one. You felt there was little Ian could not achieve, build or move when he put his mind to it.
Both Ian and Anne were always willing to help a novice get started (many drivers in the West of Scotland benefited from a season spent learning the ropes with the Gilberts’ experienced pony Tippi). In addition to his involvement with driving trials, Ian acted as Area Commissioner for the British Driving Society for six years and hosted many training days for new and aspiring carriage drivers.
Ian served as one of the first directors of the Scottish Carriage Driving Association and was instrumental in encouraging the various smaller clubs in Scotland to join together under the one umbrella. He was also a dedicated director of the British Horse Driving Trials Association, now British Carriagedriving. Having completed his maximum term of nine years, he “retired” for one year and then served a further three year term. He was Chairman of the Competitions Committee for many years and had an extensive knowledge of the sport.
Ian was not one for the limelight and was happier working quietly in the background and he absolutely hated the prospect of public speaking. He was the centre of attention however at the 2019 Hopetoun event where he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The presentation was made by Chris Smith, BC Chairman at the time, who had the audience puzzled initially as to the connection between the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and driving. Chris explained that Ian had kindly offered a secure location for storing the BC archive data and presented Ian with a beautiful book on Saddlery and Harness Making.
Chris then noted that Council had felt that this was insufficient to recognise Ian’s 12 years served as a Council member, his role as Chair of the Competitions Committee (one of the most important committees) and his input into event organisation through Hopetoun since its inception 20 years ago, more recently at Raehills and the transformation of a greenfield site at Cirencester into a venue suitable for the National Championships in 2014. Chris said, “So a book was not enough but Article 25.3 of the BC Memorandum and Articles came to the rescue and it gives me great pleasure to say that Council have elected Ian as an Honorary Vice-President of British Carriagedriving for life, with immediate effect”. Ian is only the second person on whom this honour has been conferred; the first was George Bowman.
The sustained applause Ian received recognised the respect in which he was held by the driving community and there were a number of damp eyes when the significance of this award was realised.
Ian’s death on 29th December 2025, with his family around him, leaves a gap in the driving community that is unlikely to ever be filled.
Ian’s funeral takes place at 2pm on Friday 16th January at the Ayr Crematorium.
2026 Memberships
The 2026 membership form is now available. Please join or renew as soon as you are able – the membership year runs from January 1st to December 31st. You can join online at the website membership page. Bank account details will be provided on the email confirmation. Please pay by BACS as soon as possible after signing up – it makes it easier for the Secretary and Treasurer to check the money is in the correct SCDA Account. You can also download the membership form here which contains all the information you need.
SCDA Party and Prizegiving
The SCDA’s annual Party and Prizegiving was a wonderful event, with 64 lucky attendees enjoying an excellent 3-course meal delivered by the super staff at the Pitbauchlie House Hotel in Dunfermline, followed by our prizegiving and then dancing to The Cutting edge band.
A big thank-you to Cathy Duff for organising the evening, and huge congratulations and thank-you to all our competitors, officials, stewards, volunteers and supporters for a wonderful 2025 season. Roll on 2026, let’s make it bigger and better than ever!
Here is the full list of 2025 trophy winners, presented by our ever-generous Gee-Gee Rugwash Points League sponsor, Ian Bertram.
- Rhoda Davidson – Gateway Champion
- Lorraine McIndoe – VSE/SE Champion
- Pam MacArthur – Single Pony Champion
- Ian Bertram – Single Horse Champion
- Hamish Reid – Pairs Champion
- Sam Rhodes – Young Driver Champion
- Zoe Siddall – Novice Champion
- Bex March – special congratulations gift, for completing her 3rd World Championships with Woody
- Joyce Simpson – Archie Donald Memorial Trophy for her contribution to the sport in Scotland
- Lee Valantine – Buddy Trophy for her help to newcomers to our sport
- Janet Pilling – Fun and Friendship Trophy, given by the Rome family in memory of Vivienne
- Pam MacArthur – Graham Murray Memorial Trophy for this year’s nominated National class
- Louise Kaiholm – Braxfield Jack Trophy for best dressage scores (accepted on her behalf by Ruth Martin)
SCDA Points League
Our Points League is kindly sponsored by Gee Gee Rugwash. Please support the businesses who support our sport. Ian is happy to collect rugs at each event and return them to you at the following one.
News archive
Previous stories have now been archived, but are still available online. Click the link here and you’ll be able to read news from the past couple of years.