I didn’t write much in 2011 about combined driving—I thought we needed a cooling off period after all the hoopla leading up to and during and after the World Equestrian Games. So please indulge me as I write about a couple of things that I’ve been thinking about recently.

For those who haven’t heard through the grapevine, Jamie O’Rourke, who has been the organizer and driving force (along with his mother, Mary, until recently) of The Laurels for over 20 years, is stepping down. The Laurels grew, as most CDEs do, from a small one-day,  then into a two-day event and eventually into one of the largest, most popular events on the east coast. When it outgrew its first home at Maresfield in Unionville, Pa., the event moved down the road to West Grove, to a piece of property leased from Lisa and Dixon Stroud. The canvas was blank, and The Laurels at Landhope went from a line drawing to a masterpiece.

Things change, times change, people change. Now The Laurels will change. Most likely it will reappear with a new name, a new organizing committee (no doubt with many of the same people) and possibly a new, pared down format. In this economy, raising over $200,000 every year has become more than difficult, it is downright impossible. Jamie should be given the credit he is due for ‘closing the deal’ with so many sponsors year after year. 

The Laurels is not the only major CDE that has closed its doors over the years. Myopia (the first really major event in the U.S.), Fairhill, Yellowframe, Georgia International and Gladstone (as it once was in the 80s and 90s) are no longer on the calendar. Today the major events—with the exception of Shady Oaks in California—are centered in the southern east coast states, predominantly Florida, and almost all are in late winter (if you are from the north) and spring.

The ‘smaller’ events (and I use that term to describe the budgets that these events run under, not to diminish their quality in any way) are holding their own and new ones are cropping up. We need that growth at the base of the pyramid, because the tip is becoming more and more pointed—fewer and fewer are aiming for the top.

Several of the top pony drivers I spoke with mentioned that they felt they had to go to Europe during the summer because there aren’t enough competitions in the U.S. that offer an Advanced level, when they went to those that did (from February-April in the south) they often found themselves the only one in their class. Lisa Stroud is one of these drivers. She says she’d rather not have to go to Europe to compete, but if she wants to test herself against other teams of ponies, then that’s what she has to do—particularly in a World Championship year.

If the growth of the highest level of combined driving depends on those competitors who can afford to spend the winter in Florida and the summer in Europe, the future is bleak. Let’s face it, combined driving probably will never be what it is in Europe. Like many American companies, we need to re-examine and re-tool. Perhaps our strategy should shift from trying to make CDEs a multi media event to a sport put on by, and for, the competitors.  They need to be less expensive for the competitors to go to, and for the organizers to organize. They need to be fun—for the competitor and for the organizers. I’ll never forget something Walnut Hill organizer Bill Remley, said to me years ago, "The competitors are the show."  

"We Just Wanna Have Fun" is the title I gave to the article in this issue about The National Drive, but it is something I hear over and over from competitors as well. Stress should be a word used to describe competition, not the competition. Shows like Live Oak, Walnut Hill, Devon, and what The Laurels once was are important and have their place, but every show should not use these as their models. Can a show be both? A few have achieved that level and balance and they should be rewarded with high entries, spectator attendance and sponsorship. I hope events like The Laurels, Garden State, Gladstone and others will find a new balance of quality, organization and fun.