A round up of 2024…
BC Chairman’s Award
Scottish Carriage Driving Association would like to congratulate Ian Bertram, aka “Competitor Number 1”, on winning this year’s British Carriagedriving Chairman’s Award.

Ian has been involved in the sport for over 45 years and recently attended his 5th Single Horse World Championships.
I think we can all agree that Ian has done an incredible amount for carriage driving in Great Britain and we feel incredibly lucky for the support he provides to all of our events here in Scotland. Ian, we salute you and thank you!
The late Mags Gray
We’re sad to report the passing of Mags Gray, sister of Mary Bryson. You can read an obituary to Mags here. Her committal will be held on the 21st November at 11.30 a.m. at Dunfermline Crematorium, Masterton Road, Dunfermline, Fife KY11 8QR. All friends welcome.
SCDA sends its sincere condolences to Brian, Mary and the family.
Jayne McGarvie

Scottish Carriage Driving Association would like to congratulate our member, Jayne McGarvie, on winning “Para Perfomer of the Year” at the recent HorseScotland National Equestrian Awards.

Jayne started carriage driving in 2015 with the RDA after a car accident which resulted in a stroke. Jayne spent many months in hospital before her friend took her to the Garioch RDA Carriage Driving Group and her love of driving has grown ever since. She progressed to Para carriage driving Grade 2 in 2022, with help from groom / backstepper Fiona Smith and the GB POD Training Group. Jayne’s dedication towards her craft and continuous training culminated in her being selected to represent Great Britain at the Para Driving World Championships in 2023

Jayne was very fortunate to drive Julie Camm’s pony Pandora’s Diplomat, a 17 year old Welsh Section D gelding, alongside backstepper Lucy Scott. Jayne was placed 8th in the Para Equestrian G2 class and was the fastest through the water obstacle on Marathon day. Jayne also won her class at the Para National Championships at Glebe House in 2024. She regularly trains with Robert Buck at the GB POD Training Group, at clinics across the UK , and is extremely grateful to them for their ongoing support.
We spoke to Jayne after winning her award and she said “I was extremely honoured and touched to have been nominated for this award. I am so very grateful to those that put me forward and believe that I have worked very hard to promote Para and carriage driving. it’s not been easy and travelling up and down the country to train and compete does take it out of me but I love the sport and I am thankful for the opportunities that have been given to me. I never thought I could win an award such as this and I look forward to helping others achieve similar goals. I would like to thank all of my family and friends for their support as well as the GB POD Training Group without whom I could not have achieved my goals.”
Jayne, we are all extremely proud of you and your dedication towards the sport and your own personal development. We look forward to following your progress and training towards the World Championships in Germany next year.

Please join us in congratulating Jayne and her team on this wonderful achievement.
Coxhill Event 13th October 2024
Well done to everyone who competed, and congratulations to overall champion Jennifer McCreath. For full results, click on this post
Points League Update – 2024 Final Standings
Here are the final standings in the Points Leagues for 2024 (with corrections for Cardross). A huge thank you to Ian Bertram and GeeGee Rugwash for sponsoring the league again this year.

Please make sure you’ve bought your tickets for the presentation of awards at this year’s SCDA Prizegiving and Dance!
Congratulations to all of our drivers and their teams for a fantastic 2024 outdoor season.
Strathallan SCDA Club Event
28th – 29th September 2024

Final results have been posted – congratulations to all our class winners and our overall champion Sanchia May and reserve champion Joyce Simpson. Best marathon was Joyce Simpson, best dressage Sam Rhodes and best cones Vicky Largue.
For all the results, just click on this link:
Thanks to all our stewards and helpers who’ve done a wonderful job over the weekend. Thanks also to our judge Carol Lumsden, our organizer Robbie Elliot who’s done an amazing job organizing his first club event, to Cathy and Garry for their hard work and for organizing the stewards, and everyone else who helped out to make this a great event.

Brechin National / Club Event 31st Aug & 1st Sep
Final results now posted. Congratulations to Ian Bertram, our overall champion, to reserve champion Louise Kaiholm and all the individual class winners. As always, thanks to our judges Joyce and Carol, our TD Katy, writers, helpers, stewards and course builders without whom these events would not take place. Special mention to Sanchia May who organized the event and did an incredible amount of work to make it happen and run so successfully.
We’re off next to Strathallan which is near Auchterarder – it’s a stunning venue and we’re looking forward to what will be our last outdoor event of the season. If you haven’t already sent your entry in, please do so as soon as possible. It makes such a difference to our organizers to have the number of competitors well in advance. See the events page for more details and the schedule.

Introducing SCDA Stewards’ Liaison – Callum Dougan
I’m delighted to announce that Callum Dougan has volunteered to take on the role of Stewards Liaison for the SCDA.

This is a new role for the club, reflecting the increasing focus we want to bring to our wonderful stewards who enable us to enjoy our events throughout the season. Callum’s primary mission will be in ensuring that our club can provide individual Event Organisers and Stewards’ Convenors with help in finding and looking after their stewards, as well as working more broadly on what we can do to provide more information, communication, training – and fun! – for our volunteers.
Callum has great experience in being a Stewards’ Convenor in his own right, and he is passionate about our sport. We are very excited to have him bring his creativity and enthusiasm to this role and are confident that everyone involved in our events will benefit from his contribution.
Graeme MacArthur
Chairman, Scottish Carriage Driving Association (SCDA)
Townfoot event 17th/18th August – marathon day and final results posted

Final results now posted. Just click on the link below. Well done to all our competitors. Huge thanks to Ivor our judge, Graeme and Janet our organizers, our hosts Gerald and Margo Smith. Also to Graeme and Pam for the use of their land for Section A, all the wonderful stewards and helpers (and Callum for organising them) without whom these events would not run.
We’re off to Brechin in a couple of weeks’ time – hope to see you there!
Seacliff National and Club event – 22nd/23rd June 2024

All of the weekend’s results are now available. Well done to all our winners and everyone who took part in the competition. Thanks to all the helpers and volunteers who’ve made this a wonderful event.

The late Tommy Fawcett

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of another carriage driving great.
Tommy Fawcett passed away peacefully in the early hours of Monday 3rd June 2024, after many years of heart problems, including a heart attack in 1994, and a triple heart bypass seven years ago.
A beloved Dad and Grandad, Tommy was also a much-loved member of the carriage driving community, that we are all proud to be members of. We were so lucky to have him with us for so long. His knowledge, wit and kindness will be missed by all who knew him.
Tommy was an Honorary member of SCDA, and a frequent visitor to SCDA Events, including as Show Director at Hopetoun for many years. He helped the Raehills team to establish that event and gave valuable advice in his lovely, quiet but respected manner. He was often seen in his judging role too. Tommy was a true gentleman and a great ambassador for the sport. He will be very sadly missed and we offer our sincere condolences to his widow, Elaine, his children Adam, Robert and Sarah, and grandson Sam (also an SCDA member) and Tommy’s other five grandchildren, all of whom he enjoyed being with so much. A true family man, now re-united with his first wife, Barbara.

Hopetoun National and SCDA Club Event 24th-26th May 2024
Hopetoun 2024 – the final results are in. Thanks to all the competitors who participated, our judges, stewards and helpers who did a fantastic job in spite of the weather conditions. We’re grateful to the A-team, Morag our event organizer, our sponsors and supporters without whom this event would not happen. Wishing everyone a safe journey home and onto Seacliff in a couple of weeks’ time.
Click below for the final results – just one note, the Gateway competition had to be curtailed because of the weather conditions, so their results appear under the “Dressage + Cones” category.
Cardross Event 11th-12th May 2024
Congratulations to Ian Bertram, our 2024 Cardross Event champion and Joyce Simpson, our reserve champion.
Thanks to Sanchia, Patsy and all the team who put in so much hard work to create a lovely event in a stunningly beautiful estate. Thanks also to Carol Lumsden our judge, Yvonne Anderson our course designer, and all the volunteers who came along to help out over the two days of the event.

We’re all off to Hopetoun in a couple of weeks’ time. Hope to see you there.
In the meantime, you can find all the weekend’s results by clicking on the following link:
Hopetoun website now live!!
It’s great to be able to announce that the Hopetoun event has its very own website. There’s lot of information about the event, carriage driving in general, how you can get involved, links to enter the event and much more. Take a look now at hopetoun.scda.co.uk. Many thanks to Callum Dougan for his work in designing and building the website!
Progression from Novice to Open
Quick reminder that the rules for 2024 can be found in this post. You can also find a link to this on the reference page.
AGM
Thanks to everyone who turned out to our Helpers’ Lunch and AGM. Our guest speaker Roly Owers, Chief Executive of World Horse Welfare, gave a fascinating talk covering a wide range of topics, but with focus on Social Licencing and the public perception of horse sports in general. We also heard from Lucy Barclay-Carr from HorseScotland (SCDA is now a member of HorseScotland), and met Chairman John Burns. We’re looking forward to working closely with HorseScotland and we’ll be highlighting some of the exciting work being undertaken by them, by World Horse Welfare and their partners.
In the meantime, for more information about Roly, please see this link to his bio on the WHW site: https://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/about-us/our-people/staff
Chairman Graeme MacArthur, in his review of 2023, highlighted the “what3words” he would use to summarize last year: “Successful”, “Transitional” and “Encouraging”. He gave an upbeat assessment of the 2023 season and we’re looking forward to another exciting and successful season in 2024. He thanked Eileen for producing the Omnibus and OPG for its support in designing and producing it. (he also pointed out that the what3words location success.transition.encourage is just off the coast of Hawaii – but that doesn’t mean that next year’s AGM will be held there!!!)
One point that Graeme mentioned in respect of the coming events season: most events this year will have a zero-tolerance policy towards late entries. Late entries cause nightmares for organizers and officials – so please respect the closing dates for entries. They are shown on the events page, in the Omnibus, and reminders will be posted on Facebook.
On that subject, note that the closing date for the Strathorn event (which will be held on 2nd March 2024) is Monday 19th Feb.
The minutes of the AGM will be published shortly and will be uploaded to the reference page.
Website updates
We draw your attention to this post (Disclaimer of Liability), you can find it listed in the Recent Posts and also in the main reference section.
SCDA Welfare Liaison
Equestrian sport (in all its various forms) is coming under ever-increasing scrutiny from the public and, most notably, animal rights protestors. The SCDA Directors have therefore created a specific Welfare Liaison role on the Committee, to inform and assist our members on the emerging concerns and actions that may be required from this complex area of Equine Welfare.
I am delighted to inform you that Sanchia May has volunteered to take up this role as part of her (many!) existing activities on the SCDA Committee. Please join me in thanking Sanchia for taking on this important new role.
Graeme MacArthur
SCDA Chairman
Website updates
SCDA has adopted the British Equestrian Safeguarding Policy. This policy is available on the website under the “Other Pages” menu option, on the reference page and also can accessed via this link. It is important that all members of SCDA read, understand and implement the key principles of safeguarding as set out in the BEF policy and should apply that policy itself as far as they can.
Looking back at 2023
We had a wonderful mix of indoor, outdoor and training events throughout the year. To round it off, the SCDA annual party was held at the Huntingtower hotel back in November.
First up – thanks again to Ian Bertram of Gee Gee Rug Wash for sponsoring the Points League. The 2023 winners were:
Single Horse: Ian Bertram
Single Pony: Susan Don
Horse Pairs: Elinor Bosanquet
Pony Pairs: Hamish Reid
VSE: Cathy Duff
Multiples: Sanchia May
Club Novice: Robert Elliot
Young Driver: Sam Rhodes

A number of special awards were also presented:
Buddy Trophy: Team Seacliff Carriage Driving
Archie Donald Quaich: Mike McCutcheon
Graham Murray Trophy: Hamish Reid
Melville Trophy: Cathy Duff
Braxfield Jack Trophy: Sam Rhodes
Fun and Friendship Trophy: Alan Clark and Ann Miller

That just left the serious job of partying, and silly games to be won. Winners of the ICED prize (Imaginary Cones Eliminations Dance) were Joyce Simpson and Brian Don. They navigated an eye-watering variety of elimination cones:
- exposing all four knees
- having a third nipple
- rolling tongues
- >10 year age gap
- 4-eyed homochromatism, and
- black underwear!
Well – they look happy with their prizes

Here’s to another enjoyable and successful season in 2024!!
Gee Gee Rug Wash / SCDA Points League 2023
The final results are in…

You can download this as a PDF by clicking on this link
Coxhill Results 15th October 2023
Congratulations to overall champion Jade Christie. Full results can be found in this post
Brechin event – final results posted
Day two started bright and breezy, perfect for a marathon day.

We’ve had some excellent marathon scores, and a very close run final result with Ian Bertram ahead of Alan McIndoe by less than a point to claim overall champion at Brechin 2023.

On this link you’ll now find all of the final results.
Thanks to the estate owners, our organisers Sanchia and Susie, our judges, stewards and helpers, and all the competitors who took part.
Townfoot event -final results online
That’s it – competition over for another year. Click on this link to see the final results. Thanks to all the stewards, helpers, our hosts Gerald and Margo, Graeme and Pam, organizer Hamish, and all the competitors who made this a great event.
New SCDA Secretary

Eileen Cornish was recently appointed as SCDA Secretary, taking over from Sheila McNeill, who has a change in her work commitments.
The SCDA Directors extend a huge thank you to Sheila for her commitment to the post, and thank her for remaining as a Director.
Hopetoun National and SCDA Club Event May 2023

Click here for the full set of results from the Hopetoun May event.
Cardross 2023 event – final results now posted

Final results from the Cardross 2023 SCDA Club event are now available online – please click here for all the details.
Huge thanks to all our stewards & helpers without whom these events would not run, Zoe our judge and all the other officials, Sanchia and Patsy our organizers, and especially to the competitors who turned out for what proved to be a wonderful, sunny and super fun event. Looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks at Hopetoun!
SCDA Executive Committee
After over 4 years in each of their roles as Chairman and Treasurer, both Colin Smith and Louise McCutcheon have decided that it’s time to step back from their Officer roles within the Executive Committee. We are sure you will want to join us in thanking them for their huge contribution to date, and we are grateful that they will both continue to serve as Directors on the Committee.
In terms of their replacements, Graeme MacArthur has offered to step up to the role of Chairman and Sharron Vass has offered to replace Graeme as Event Liaison. Both these appointments have been unanimously agreed by the Committee and so Colin, Graeme and Sharron will now work on a quick handover of duties.
The Committee has decided not to fill the role of Treasurer from the existing Committee members. We are therefore immediately embarking on a process to find the right candidate, from our existing membership or beyond, to take over this important role from Louise. To that end, anyone who feels they have the right skills and who wishes to register an interest should send an email to eileenjcornish@gmail.com
Policy and guidance documents
In addition to the Safeguarding Policy, we’ve now published the SCDA Whistleblowing Policy and Equality Policy documents. You can find them in the reference page and also in this year’s Omnibus.
Please also see the following post:
SCDA advice regarding vaccinations
Should you have any queries on any of the above, please contact the SCDA Secretary at secretary@scda.co.uk
Irene Donald – Obituary

It is with much sadness we share the news of the passing of Irene Donald. Irene was a long time supporter of Carriage Driving in Scotland, and around the UK, with her late husband Archie Donald. After Archie’s passing, Irene continued to support our Scottish events from National to Grassroots level, covering a number of different roles from stable manager, dressage writing, catering and most of all just being a wonderful friend to all who knew her. I am sure everyone will have fond memories of Irene and will have many a tale to recall from time spent in her company. We offer our deepest condolences to the Donald family at this time.
Coxhill October 2022 Event – Results
See this post for the full results from the Coxhill October event. Congratulations to Jade Christie on her success across the board!!
Shortage of equine influenza vaccine
British Carriagedriving has issued a statement regarding the current vaccine shortage. You can read the full text here.
Brechin Castle results
Sorry for the delay in getting these results up onto the website. Anyway – thanks to Sanchia, Eileen and all the stewards and helpers for running this event. Hope everyone enjoyed it.
Townfoot SCDA Event 2022
Final results now posted. Thanks to Hamish, our judge Julie Tomasik and all the team who made it such an enjoyable event. Also to Margo and Gerald for hosting the event, to Pam and Graeme MacArthur and to the neighbouring landowners who kindly allowed us to run a new Section A over such beautiful countryside. Next week we’re running a grassroots event at Brechin Castle, see you there!
Lourin Grassroots Event Results
Congratulations to everyone who took part in the event. The final results are now available for download.
Hopetoun Regional / SCDA Club event July 2022
Seacliff SCDA Event 2nd/3rd July 2022

That’s our SCDA Seacliff competition over for another year. Well done to all the competitors and congratulations to Rosie Mould – our Seacliff champion for 2022. Huge thanks to Jamie, Bex and all the family for making us so welcome, and all the hard work they put in to make this a wonderful event and a beautiful venue. Full results on the link below.
Hopetoun May 2022 -Results
The points league table has also been updated. For all the information about the Scottish Points League, sponsored by Gee Gee Rug Wash, please click here.

All SCDA results can be found on the results web page
Progression from Novice classes to Open classes
Please see this post for important changes that apply to the 2022 season. If you have any questions, you can send us an email – just click here.
Anna Grayston training clinic
Unfortunately, the first Anna Grayston training clinic that was scheduled for 14th/15th May has had to be cancelled. Anna suffered a fractured leg in an accident whilst driving over in Belgium. We wish Anna a speedy recovery and hope to see her in Scotland later in the year.
Congratulations
Two awards that deserve to be mentioned – in the 2021 Carriage Driving awards Jane Isaac won the Event Organizer of the Year. Sophie Moore won the 2021 Grassroots Driver of the year award.

Congratulations to both of them!
Gateway Classes
The latest guidelines & rules for competitors are available on the reference page. You can also download them here.
John Bates (Bates Sound)
It is with great sadness that we pass on the news that John Bates died at the end of February 2022. Please see this post for more details.
Indoor Driving Trials in October
We have secured new venues for the October Indoor Trials:
10th October – Ardmedden Equestrian, Oldmeldrum AB51 0AG
24th October – Ladyleys Equestrian, Oldmeldrum AB51 0DR
Entries for the Ladyleys Equestrian event close this Thursday (14th October). To enter please visit the Indoor carriage driving UK site
Cancellation of Garth & Coxhill events
Unfortunately, neither the Garth event nor the Coxhill event will be going ahead due to the very low numbers of entries.
BC National Championships 2021
Well done to the SCDA members who qualified for and competed at the National Championships at Ashfields this weekend (13-15th August).
Not only did we have some great individual performances, but SCDA won the title of “Best Affiliated Club”

Carol Boswell won the marathon in the Advanced Horse FEI 2* class, and finished second overall.
Susie Don won the dressage phase of the competition, and finished 4th in the Open Pony class, with Patsy Muir-Simpson finishing in 6th place.
In the Novice Pony class, Yvonne Anderson finished 7th.
Having won the dressage in the Pony Tandem class, unfortunately Sanchia May had to withdraw after the marathon.
Wishing all the competitors, helpers, sponsors and officials a safe journey home.
Thanks to the sponsors of the Championships from the SCDA area: Riding and Harness Stuff (Sanchia May), OPG (Owen & Janet Pilling) and Paddockhall Farm (Ruth & John Martin).
Hopetoun BC National / SCDA Club Event
(23rd – 25th July)
Message from your webmaster / scorers…
First of all – thank you to everyone who entered Hopetoun’s July 2021 event and made it such a wonderful competition. We were blessed with glorious weather – but enough of a breeze to make it comfortable for competitors and horses (and dogs!!). The Hopetoun Estate is such a beautiful venue – our thanks to the Marquess of Linlithgow and the Earl and Countess of Hopetoun for permission to hold our events there.
If you have any feedback or comments on the event, we’d love to hear from you. You can send us a message here, or head over to our facebook page and leave a comment there.
Events would not take place without the generous support from our sponsors. Margo and Gerald Smith have been major sponsors of Hopetoun for many years and for this we are truly grateful – they also sponsor the shower facilities for which so many competitors and officials (us included) are appreciative!!! Their venues Netherby Hall and the Pentonbridge Inn were kind sponsors of Obstacle 7. Owen and Janet Pilling (OPG) sponsored Obstacle 1, Paddockhall Farm and Holidays Cottages (Ruth and John Martin) sponsored Obstacle 2. Benview Garden Centre (Wendy Scott) sponsored Obstacle 3 and the flowers around the main arena. The Spirited Bond (Tom MacArthur, son of competitors Pam & Graeme MacArthur) sponsored Obstacle 4 . Halspan Ltd (Ruth and John Martin) sponsored Obstacle 6. Thank you to all of our sponsors.
So much work goes on behind the scenes – Jane Isaac our event organiser, the A-team, the stewards convenors, the event secretary, the stable managers all work long hours to make things just “happen”. We have an amazing set of volunteers who steward the obstacles, the main arena, man the road crossings, provide lunches – anything they are asked to do. Our judges and their writers, our safety officer, our commentator, our TD and probationary TD all travelled quite some distance to contribute to the success of the event. Thank you to everyone who has helped in the run up to the event and during the three days of the event itself.
It’s great to be able to announce that several SCDA members have qualified this weekend for the National Championships:
Novice Pony: Katie Cameron
Open Single Pony: Patsy Muir-Simpson
Open Pony Pairs: Ian Gilbert & Hamish Reid
Pony Tandems: Faith Szczuka
Pony Fours: Mary Kusin
Open Single Horse: Susan Henry, Margo Smith and Lyndsey Brown
Full results can be found using the link below.
Best wishes,
Mike & Louise
Seacliff Event – 3rd / 4th July
Final results are now available

Hopetoun – June 2021
Congratulations to SCDA members who competed at Hopetoun and qualified for the National Championships:
Yvonne Anderson – Novice Pony
Stephie White – Open Single Pony
Sanchia May – Pony Tandems
Carol Boswell – Advanced Single Horse (2*)
All of the results can be found on the BritishCarriagedriving website (link opens in a new window).
Huge thanks to all those who took part, and to everyone who helped in any way – as stewards, course builders, obstacle painters, A-team, judges, organizers, commentator, stable managers – it was a great team effort and in spite of some restrictions, it proved once again to be an enjoyable and friendly event. A personal thanks from us (Mike & Louise) to those of you who worked with us to get dressage sheets and marathon scores and timings to us electronically. It made the job of producing results very straightforward and remarkably quick and safe. There’s room for improvement (I know that getting an internet signal at the start of A was a real challenge) but we got some very positive feedback and we look forward to using this system again at Seacliff. If you have any comments you would like to share on any aspects of the event, please feel free to send us a message – just click here.
We had a lot of positive feedback about the new Gateway classes – well done to all the competitors and congratulations to Stephie, Dougie and Lorraine who won their classes.
We’re heading to Seacliff this coming weekend – look forward to seeing you there, or at any of the events throughout the season.
His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh
It is with much sadness we hear today of the passing of one of the founding members of our sport of driving trials, and long-time supporter of our events in Scotland – His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.
His Royal Highness was a strong supporter of our national events in Scotland as a competitor and, more recently, as an obstacle steward making the annual pilgrimage to Hopetoun House to accompany, among others, Bobby Simson on the water obstacle.
Our thoughts are with Her Majesty the Queen and all members of the Royal Family at this time.
Colin Smith
Chair, SCDA
(You may like to read an obituary on https://www.britishcarriagedriving.co.uk/ )
Cancellation of SCDA events in March and April 2021
Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, we have had to cancel all SCDA events planned for March and April 2021. For more details see the post here. We do hope to be able to run the Dunbog event later in the year. The updated event and training dates list is here.
The Late Barry Hilditch

Barry died recently and director Eileen Cornish was asked by our Chairman to send a sympathy card on behalf of SCDA to his wife Judy and their family.
Barry was a very good friend of SCDA and supported us as a steward in recent years. Previous to that, he had been a backstepper for Judy until ill health overtook him.
He was always supportive to all, and a very helpful mentor to our director Eileen Cornish as a National Organiser.
A true gentleman with a wealth of carriage driving experience and knowledge, he was always willing to help everyone in any way he could.
His obituary can be found on the British Carriagedriving website
SCDA directors’ meeting 12th November 2020
The minutes of the recent meeting of the SCDA directors are now available for download here.
British Carriagedriving Privacy Notice
As SCDA is a club affiliated to British Carriagedriving, the privacy notice published on the British Carriagedriving website applies to members of SCDA. The notice is attached here for your information.
SCDA directors’ meeting 10th September 2020
The minutes of the recent meeting of the SCDA directors are now available for download here.
GB Pod Training 8th & 9th September
Last week we welcomed POD training to Scotland for the first time with trainer Robert Buck ably organised by Julie Camm. The clinic was well attended by drivers from far and wide ranging from the Scottish Highlands as well as Central and Southern Scotland, we even managed to tempt Deborah Daniel over the border to the north. It was a great two-day clinic and lovely to catch up with everyone after such a long dry spell. We welcomed some drivers new to the training clinics as well as the junior driver Katie Cameron driving Claire’s wonderful cob Jim.

I think everyone was delighted with the training and left feeling inspired to carry on and improve.
Huge thanks must go to Owen and Janet Pilling for hosting the clinic and being thoroughly helpful and welcoming.
SCDA directors’ meeting 20th July 2020
The minutes of the recent meeting of the SCDA directors are now available for download here.
Training update
We are sorry that our training opportunities for 2020 have not materialized – we had a lot planned for 2020 and coronavirus has changed many things, including that plan.
Hopefully, many of you can continue with some form of riding and driving and training in the meantime and will have seen the updates on potential competitions on the BC website.
We know that some of you have been getting involved with the Eye Spy Training with the GB POD Training Group. Feedback from this has been really positive – ‘complements what I learn at the SCDA Training days’, ‘a chance to refresh on the basics’ and ‘as a learner driver I feel very comfortable in commenting and asking questions’. Their training group had hoped to run a ‘taster’ training day for us in Scotland in July, but Covid-19 restrictions are still making it impossible to run a training for more than 2 people at present.
In the meantime, we have attached some information from the GB POD Training Group – please get in touch with Julie Camm if you have any questions julie@juliecamm.co.uk 07778 931950
Option 1 On-Line Membership £35.00 which would include:
- Inclusion in our GB Pod Training WhatsApp Group
- Option to Join C19 WhatsApp Group with many short training videos
- Video Review from home training
- Eye Spy – member rate £8.00 per session not £10.00
- Special Member rates for Annual Events
- Simple Training Plan
Option 2 £75.00 Full Pod Member, includes all of the above plus special member rates for the following:
- Performance Review (Zoom meeting discussing Aims followed by Preparation of detailed Training Plan)
- Special rates at Pod Days – Cost £60.00 per driver to include 2 sessions per driver (driven, ridden, lunge or longrein plus demonstration session. Attendees encouraged to watch other sessions and be involved in discussions. We would have to charge travel at cost and if it was a 2 day clinic would need somewhere to stay. Day rate for training is £350.00
- Specific Cones Training Days
- Reduced rates for Training Livery
- Short Residential Training for Horse and Driver
- Competition Support at Events,
- Support if competing abroad.
- Zoom Review of Competitions, all phases reviewed from video provided.
For any queries about training please contact Rebecca or Jane via secretary@scda.co.uk
Kind regards
SCDA Secretary – Erica Mancini
Raehills Event – cancelled
Raehills event is now officially cancelled – see posting here
GB Pod Training
GB Pod Training is an independent training initiative that has been taking place for some time now and until the Covid-19 lockdown was always a practical session mainly held in the south of the UK. Due to the current restrictions GB Pod have now started Zoom sessions which are aimed at drivers of all levels, judges, and trainers. Films of riders and drivers are watched & commented on by a judge and a trainer, then the Zoom participants are involved through comments and questions.
Carol Boswell, Rebecca March, and Jane Isaac were all invited to participate in a session to find out about it, and found it interesting and helpful. It is in no way intended to be an alternative to the extremely popular training that the SCDA has been offering until now, and intends to resume as soon as is allowed. This is an alternative to keep interest up and challenge our knowledge.
A Zoom Session will last up to 1½ hours and costs £10. There must be a minimum of 8 participants. If you are interested in joining a session, please contact secretary@scda.co.uk
Advice and Guidance for coaches and trainers in Scotland
(effective 28th May 2020)
The following guidance has been issued by the Scottish Government:
One on one personal training or coaching is permitted if it is outdoors, physical distancing can be maintained, and is with members of your household and/or members of 1 other household.
A coach or personal trainer should not deliver training to more than 1 household at any one time or provide training to more than 1 household per day.
When participating in training or coaching, where possible, avoid touching surfaces and sharing equipment and touching your mouth and face.
For Facilities, the guidance is as follows:
Indoor sport facilities must remain closed at this time.
Play parks must also remain closed due to the increased risk of transmission via surfaces such as playground equipment.
Unmanned, open facilities such as outdoor skate parks or cycle pump tracks can be used, with strict physical distancing in place.
Full information can be found here:
Latest update from Horsescotland
22nd May 2020
Following the Scottish Government announcing its road map out of the COVID-19 crisis, Horsescotland has compiled a few reminders about changes we may see within the equestrian sector as we move forward to Phase One. For all the details see this post.
A Message from the Chairman of SCDA
29 March 2020
Dear Members
I hope this e-mail finds you well and you and your loved ones are safe and healthy.
As we near the end of the first week of government lock down I would like to take this opportunity to extend the thanks of SCDA to our members working on the front line and in essential services in what are very testing and trying times.
The world and the United Kingdom are currently facing one of the biggest challenges we have faced in modern times. From the news reports around the world there are some long and difficult days ahead and we look forward to a time when life will return to a semblance of what we remember as normality. It is likely to be some way off but we must remain positive in the ever-changing circumstances created by the virus sweeping the world.
Whilst we would hope this situation passes quickly the early indications are that we will be facing several months of disruption and restrictions to our daily lives. This will have a significant impact on the activities of SCDA and the directors have already taken the difficult decision to cancel all programmed events until restrictions are lifted, in the hope that if and when restrictions are lifted we can resume and resurrect any events still to run.
The Hopetoun team have already made the difficult decision to postpone and then cancel the FEI and National event for 2020 with the next event now scheduled for May 2021.
Some of our members are currently in self-isolation due to age and underlying heath issues. I would urge you if you know anyone locally who may be having to self-isolate, to give them a call and check everything is ok; unlike the 2001 season which was curtailed due to foot and mouth it is more difficult this time as we need to restrict human to human contact.
We will endeavour to stay in touch and provide updates as regularly as possible until things return to what we can regard as normal, as such all published dates for the 2020 season will be regarded as provisional until restrictions are lifted.
For now please stay safe.
Best Regards
Colin Smith
Chairman SCDA
CONGRATULATIONS
Please welcome Zara Margaret Rose March into the world – born 10th March 2020.
Very best wishes to her and her proud parents Jamie and Bex, and to Granny Carol Boswell too!!
Statement from the British Equestrian Federation – COVID-19
The BEF has released a statement regarding the current outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The statement can be read or downloaded here
Previous articles
Obituary – Jimmy Park
Jimmy Park, a stalwart of the West of Scotland BDS and SCDA, has sadly passed away. He had a long interest in driving and showed in private driving classes extensively with great success. He was also a regular helper when organising the numerous driving trials events held in the West of Scotland. His speciality was organising the cone driving and he regularly added extra events in which the grooms participated with activities such as rolling the girdle and cleek. Jimmy organised many fun days for carriage drivers and set out the BDS Long Distance Driving courses at Aberfoyle, including Britain’s first Gold Award event.
Jimmy’s funeral takes place on Friday 28th February at 10.30am at Paisley Crematorium and afterwards at the Riverside Inn, Crosslee.
Updates for 2020
Following a well-attended and very informative Helper’s lunch and AGM, we are pleased to announce that Colin Smith has been elected as Chairman of SCDA. We wish Colin every success in this role – his contact details can be found on the Contact Us page. We also welcome Jamie March as a director.
The 2020 omnibus is available for download – please click on the events menu. You will also be able to download the entry form for 2020 events. Please remember to enter as early as possible.
Event dates for 2020 are listed along with the details of vaccination requirements for each event – please click on the links in the events menu.
The updated membership form for 2020 is also available for download or you can complete the form online and pay by BACS.
We look forward to seeing you soon at one of our events.
Former chairman of SCDA
Dear Members and Friends,
It is with great sadness that I have to tell you of the passing of Campbell Bosenquet, former chairman of SCDA.
Campbell died peacefully at home with his family at his bedside early on the morning of Sunday 26 January 2020 after a long battle with bowel and liver cancer, which he stoically accomplished with his usual positive outlook on life, and some black humour thrown in by him to help him through some darker days.
Campbell had been in hospital since just after Christmas, but came home last Saturday where he was nursed around the clock by his devoted wife, Carole, his three daughters, Lydia, Victoria and Elinor, and Carole’s sister. He asked to see as many of his friends as possible so the house was very busy, and the family’s hospitality to visitors was second to none.
Colin Smith visited last Saturday and Sheila McNeill and I visited on Wednesday. We joked to him that we were just passing by, which he was amused at!!
He was very weak, but still able to approve articles and schedules for the Omnibus, and was still organising everyone so that he left SCDA in safe hands.
He was very touched and pleased that he was given the ‘Fun and Friendship’ Trophy from SCDA in November and it is in pride of place in their lounge. The trophy was given by the Rome family in memory of Vivienne, to someone ‘who has made a light-hearted contribution or has lent a helping hand’. Campbell lent a helping hand to everyone who required it – he was the Mr. Fixit of the Scottish Carriage Driving world and Hopetoun in particular.
There was very little that he could not repair in the middle of a driving field – how many of us have arrived on site with a lorry, ramp, caravan, quad, fridge, cooker, generator or other piece of equipment performing inadequately, and Campbell with his cheery smile, and boyish grin, fixed it? His blue van had the most amazing array of tools, spare parts, and useful bits for making running repairs to almost anything. These were all tidily stowed so that he could always find the piece of kit he needed.
We will all fondly remember Campbell and his wee green tractor busy at Hopetoun, moving portaloos, obstacle and arena building etc.
He also ran four very successful Indoor Driving competitions at Fountains each year with his family heavily involved in the organisation required for those.
His outdoor Grassroots Event at Cothal gave many Novice and Young Drivers the opportunity to drive a dressage test, followed by a testing cones course in the morning, before driving a short marathon with four obstacles, two of which were permanent, in the afternoon. Strawberries and cream completed the afternoon just before Prizegiving. He very much wished to encourage the younger drivers and helpers to be involved.
SCDA wish to send our condolences to Carole, Elinor, Victoria and Lydia and the extended family,
In sympathy,
Eileen Cornish
SCDA Secretary
Scottish Points League – the final results are in…
Final placings have now been announced. See the Scottish Points League page for the final 2019 standings