Clash of colours in high-speed blur of riders and ponies

THE very fast and exciting scurry driving will be taking place in the Main Ring with two heats and a final.

Dating back to the Fifties, it started in America with horses and four wheel wagons and using barrels to negotiate around at speed.

It later came to England and a variety of turnouts were used but generally these were single ponies and the obstacles were red Watney’s beer barrels.

The sport then progressed to using pairs of ponies and red cones. Drivers trotted through the cones although some cantered.

Originally, vehicles had wooden wheels and solid tyres. Metal wheels came into use around 1990 and as drivers became braver, vehicles were adapted to the sport which then became faster, now competitors drive the course at speeds at which they can negotiate the course.

In the Sixties, scurry driving, like many equine activities, was administered by the British Horse Society then, as the sport developed, it transferred to the British Horse Driving Trials Association.

In these early years members attended many shows across the country and eventually, in 1968, were invited to the Horse of the Year Show. In 2001 scurry driving became recognised as a sport in its own right.

Shetland pony racing by JPL Racing & Events, the UK’s largest team of Shetland ponies and jockeys, will also be in the Main Ring with two heats and a final.

Witness a high-speed blur of colour as the ponies and their jockeys fly over the mini steeplechase course. These young riders are the jockeys of the future, so come along and be entertained as you cheer on your favourite combination.