Ultra Thin Gloves

During the WEG in Lexington, Letty showed me these super thin gloves. They feel surprisingly good on your hands and you can feel everything through them. Letty’s Ultra Thin Gloves

- Jack

Sterling Silver Driving Pieces

We have a selection of beautiful sterling silver pieces with a driving theme, created by Arthur Griffiths in the UK. These pieces were created when silver was $18.75 an ounce, so prices apply to current stock only. You can see the full range here: English sterling silver .
Each is hallmarked indicating at least 925 parts per 1,000 of pure silver. Every piece bears the maker’s mark AG, an anchor representing the English town of Birmingham (testing location), and a lion passant (the standard mark of sterling silver).
Below, you see a photo of Arthur at work in his studio, courtesy S. Beaver.

- Jack

The Unusual at Equine Affaire

Equine Affaire is full of the usual offerings to equip horse owners of all disciplines, along with the unusual.

Chainsaw carving with a sense of humor.

This is definitely a timed event. Liquid fudge folded, scooped and paddled onto it’s final shape, ready for cutting and consuming.

- Jack

Equine Affaire 2011

Equine Affaire 2011 is open and the Driving Essentials booth is full of bits, whips, gloves, harness, carriages, and special gifts and books. Over the next 4 days we’ll see lots of old friends and make new ones. So stop by of you are in the Springfield, MA area.
- Jack

2012 is Around the Corner

Mischka Farm’s 2012 Driving Horse Calendar is out!. Celebrate 12 months of driving with photos from the best of American driving competitions. Ample room to plan your 2012 competition schedule. You can see it here: http://www.drivingessentials.com/calendar.php

- Jack

Letty’s Rein Clamp

Back in production after several years, Letty’s Profi Rein Clamp is in stock at Driving Essentials. Unique in design, this clamp won’t let the reins slip from your preferred settings. No re-tightening – no slippage – no problem. Letty’s Rein Clamp

- Jack

Laurels CDE 25th Anniversary – Wet Again

Although plagued by bad weather for the third time in four years, die-hard competitors negotiated the saturated course at the 25th Laurels CDE without incident.

But it is the generosity of the selfless volunteers who deserve the credit for enduring yet another soggy Laurels to ensure the show can go on. And congratulations to organizer Jamie O’Rourke for overcoming all odds and producing the 25th Laurels. You can read an interesting history of the Laurels here: Laurels History

Laurels organizer Jamie O’Rourke negotiating the marathon course, Millbrook, NY, 1973.

Below, Jamie O’Rourke drives a Four-in-Hand at an event in the UK in 1980.

- Jack

A Treat for Lunch

New Holland is known for a lot of things – the sales barn, New Holland Machine etc. – and the annual Summer Fest. The Fest is held in the borough park a block behind our store, and is actually a barbecue cook-off among 72 competitors. The winner is the PA state champion. The winner receives a invitation to each of the two major national events: the American Royal and the Jack Daniels. These apparently are the Worlds of grilling.

Like carriage driving competitions, there are rules for sanctioned events such as this one. The Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) provides the technical delegates and oversees judging by the 6 sanctioned judges. There are even learner judges.

The two-day event begins Friday morning with meat inspections to confirm it is free of any marinades or rubs. Only after inspection can these be added. Cooking starts Friday (only wood or charcoal allowed), and judging begins Saturday at 11:30 with the sausage division. Every half hour a different meat is presented for judging. A perfect score is 180, and can be achieved only if all 6 judges award a perfect 9. Since 6 x 9 is 54, there must be more math involved – like dressage scoring.

As in competitive carriage driving, competitive grilling is equipment intensive.

You can get started with this unit for just $9,000.

Driven by the appointed judging schedule, the grilling starts Friday night – and the serious chefs sleep on cots next to their grills.

Lunches this weekend were outstanding.

- Jack

Zilco Harness Parts Online

We’ve put all the Zilco harness parts on line, organized in an easy to find fashion. You can see the Zilco harness parts index here: Zilco Harness Parts

- Jack

Back in Stock

Two great DVDs are back in stock – Between the Shafts, and Double Up. Both produced by Jayne and Ewan MacInnes, these DVDs are a staple for any library. You can read more about the DVDs here:   http://www.drivingessentials.com/Dvd_page.php  Along with my invoice, Ewan kindly emailed this photo of their Road Coach in the Scottish Highlands.

- Jack