Carina Crawford, a Canadian residing in Windsor, SC, will be competing in the 2019 FEI World Driving Championships for Ponies, to be held Sept. 25-29 in Aszár Kisber, HUN.
Photo Credit: PicsOfYou
Carina’s love of and involvement with horses has stayed constant throughout her entire life despite an ever-changing set of circumstances. She grew up in Germany before moving to Canada in her 40s, and now currently splits her time between Windsor, SC, and Lac La Hache, BC – the two locations of her training and breeding facility, The Patchwork Ranch. Carina’s early competitive career focused in dressage, and she even dabbled in jumping before a Haflinger gelding named Major led her to delve deep into the sport of driving.
“After our immigration to British Columbia in 2004, we started breeding Haflinger horses,” explained Carina. “Several visits to their home country of South Tyrol, ITA, and gaining more and more knowledge about the versatility of the breed sparked my interest in driving, this very old form of transportation and help on the farm. I found a gelding (Major) who rode and drove, and was lucky enough to have an EC certified Driving Coach just around the corner from where we lived in BC. Elisa Marocchi – now one of my best friends – is to blame for all that came after.”
Carina fell in love with combined driving in Canada after earlier days spent focused on dressage in Germany.
Photo Credit: PicsOfYou
With Elisa’s guidance and a steady string of reliable Haflingers, Carina dove headfirst into her new discipline. She had a leg up on the learning curve, as her dressage background equipped her with the theory, lexicon and understanding of basic skills that are also applicable to driving. Carina explained, “You know about frame, bending, the horse or pony being on the bit, impulsion, engaging the hind leg, independent rein handling, etc. Applying that to driving is the more difficult part: you replace your leg and seat with whip and voice. There are no shortcuts, training has to be proper and you gain knowledge every time you get into the carriage. There is so much to love about this sport – even the beginner mistakes you make.”
Eventually, Carina worked her way up from the Training to the Intermediate level. But everything changed when she met a German Riding Pony mare named Donna who sparked a passion for this new breed and a desire to take her driving career even further.
“I love everything about German Riding Ponies,” said Carina, who now breeds them at The Patchwork Ranch. “Basically, they are small warmbloods with big movement and an ability for dressage, jumping, eventing or driving. And they have a good brain, which is priceless. Their stamina and willingness to give it all makes them such a desirable partner. They have it all.”
Having found her perfect breed fit, Carina made the jump to the FEI level in 2016. She has since driven several singles and pair combinations of German Riding Ponies to success at the international level: she earned her first win at the 2016 CAI 1*-P2 competition in Goshen, KY, with subsequent first place finishes at the 2017 Little Everglades Ranch CAI 1*-P1 and 2018 Southern Pines Combined Driving Event CAI 2*-P2. In 2019, Carina won the dressage phase in each of her two competitions: the Little Everglades Ranch CAI 2*-P2 and Live Oak International CAI 2*-P2.
While Carina began her driving career with Haflingers, she ultimately discovered that German Riding Ponies were the perfect fit for her and has had great success with the breed at the FEI level.
Photo Credit: PicsOfYou
Carina will be bringing four of her own German Riding Ponies to Hungary for the FEI World Driving Championships for Ponies: two geldings who are full brothers (Nabucco R x Vulkan), 13-year-old Nixon 12 and 11-year-old Noble Boy 17, as well as the 11-year-old Don Ruedi 2 (Diamond Boy x Halenkino) and 10-year-old Dr. Dolittle 13 (Davenport II x Vincente).
Speaking to her four-legged team, Carina explained, “Nixon and Noble Boy have been with me since 2013. I am still in contact with the breeder and will meet him once I am in Europe. They are two truly amazing ponies – I have to work very hard on myself to do them justice. Both Don Ruedi and Dr. Dolittle came to me in 2017. Already a very experienced pair, they captured my heart immediately. I cannot imagine not having any of them in my life. All four drive in any position in the pair and in either phase in the competition. I am a very lucky driver.”
In addition to her horses, Carina’s team is completed by her daughter, Elisabeth Meinert, who acts as both her groom and navigator in competition, in addition to managing The Patchwork Ranch’s South Carolina location. Carina remarked, “This was only possible with my daughter on board – a very hard working, dedicated, passionate and emotionally involved lady. She ran the entire farm in Canada for a number of years by herself. It all comes down to having the ultimate support!”
Looking back, Carina noted that her path to the 2019 FEI World Driving Championships for Ponies has allowed her to grow not only within the sport, but to overcome more personal hurdles too, such as: “The challenge to silence that voice in your head that you can’t do it; That you are too old, that your pony or horse is not good enough, too much work, too much dedication, etc.”
Carina concluded, “Being able to go on this journey with these amazing ponies is literally unbelievable. I will spend the time in Europe with Koos and Marie De Ronde to train and prepare. Koos, one of the world’s best four-in-hand drivers, and Marie, a highly respected judge, are going to be incredible teachers and I can’t wait to take all the passed-on knowledge in. At the end of the day, my goal is to drive the best I can – to let my ponies shine and pay them respect. And, to represent Canada with a pair of ponies for the first time in a very long time is an honour. After that, passing my knowledge on to others is the next step.”