President’s Message

Our first Spokes and Spurs event for 2021 is behind us. We are still following COVID protocol, so we
have had no scheduled socialization, however we were able to have two days of wonderful lessons.
As our participants noted it was great to see how horses and drivers are coming along in training
with Thorsten.

It feels great to have warmer weather and more events planned for this season!! Don’t forget to
check our Schedule of Events as we have added a couple of more fun weekends for our members!

Coming up quickly are also two competitions right in our own backyard! A CDE in May and the
Lexington Carriage Classic in June.

 •   Kentucky Classic CDE - Thursday, May 27, 2021 – Sunday May 30, Hillcroft Farm, Paris, KY
 •   Lexington Carriage Classic - Thursday, June 24 - Sat. June 26, Kentucky Horse Park

I mention these two events in particular because they both will need volunteers. Please consider
spending some time to give back to our sport of driving. While being a volunteer certainly helps the
event (and many of our members work so hard to put on these events) there are many benefits to
being the volunteer. When I first started to learn about driving I volunteered (and I still do). Along the
way I learned about the sport of driving as a groom/navigator; I gained an appreciation for CDEs.
But even long before that I was volunteering at our Intercollegiate events while in college. The best
part of volunteering are the hours spent with others who share a passion of horse sports. The
camaraderie and friendships formed are priceless. While I was in college in the ’70’s (Go MTSU!) I
became friends with some wonderful people and to this day we maintain a closeness. Of course,
over the years, through the driving community we formed more close friendships for which I am so
grateful!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone at upcoming events, our longtime friends, and newer
members who are joining in the wonderful sport of driving.

Ann Katona