CVCA TDL Mar 2021

The driving lines Cherry Valley Carriage Association The Driving Lines is published by CVCA members for CVCA Issue 231 members in January, March, May, July, September & October March 2021 www.cherryvalleycarriage.com https://www.facebook.com/cherryvalleycarriage CVCA Board Meetings are held monthly online – if you’d like a copy of the agenda or minutes, or if you’d like to log in to attend a meeting, contact any Board member for info. We’d love to see you at a meeting! 2021 CALENDAR OF EVENTS January 16th: Webinar 7PM: Sleighs and Sleighing with Kathleen Haak The CVCA 5-Part Winter and Spring th February 4 : Webinar 7PM: Equine Educational Series will be held via Chiropractic Care with Dr. Courtney Martin WEBINAR February 25th: Webinar 7PM: Equine Acupuncture Care Dr. Alyson Waring Log In Details will be sent to March 20th : General Membership RSVPers (is that a word?) Meeting and Webinar 7PM: “The Silent Drive” with Jeff Morse Any change to these events will be posted on our website and our April 22nd: Webinar 7PM: “Competition Facebook page. and Education” with Dana Bright, ADS May 14th-16th: Robin Groves Clinic Be sure to keep up-to-date by June 5th & 6th: Novice Clinic checking our Facebook page and website for news and updates. July 11th: Lorenzo Driving Competition Work-Day & Summer Picnic August 21st : Sheffield Farm Pleasure The pull for the 2020/2021Annual Drive and Fun Day (rain date 8/22) Fundraiser Raffle Winning Ticket is September 11th: Webinar: Forage moved to our March MeMbership Meeting. Analysis September 18th: Sadoff Davies Pleasure Drive (rain date 9/19) October 9th: 8th Annual Bruce Haak Memorial Drive November 6th: Annual General Membership Meeting at Orchard Vali 1 PRESIDENT’S LETTER Hello and Happy March, Ahhh March…the month of snow, winds, shedding horses, daylight savings time, rain, mud, green beards, March Madness and finally, the glorious long-awaited start of spring! Today with a ground cover of 2-3 feet of snow and blowing and drifting snow, the thought of mud puts a smile on my face! Warmer weather is coming, and I am excited to take to the roads and trails! In the meantime, there is a host of webinars available to help occupy wintery evenings and I hope you will join me and take advantage of the events CVCA has scheduled. Our March Membership meeting is back after being cancelled in 2020 due to covid! March 20th at 7 pm we will have a brief membership meeting followed by a presentation by Jeff Morse titled, “The Silent Drive”. Jeff will share tips and tricks for giving a spring tune up to our wheeled vehicles and quieting the creaks, squeaks and squawks. Full details are in this newsletter We will be drawing the winner of the CVCA raffle that evening. You will probably want a few extra chances to win the custom hand-painted tile by Judy Goldthwait. Tickets are available from Judy Sobczak for $1 each, 6 for $5. Don’t delay, email Judy at [email protected] today! Payment may be made by check or through PayPal. On April 22nd at 7 pm we will welcome Dana Bright for our final installment in our webinar series. Dana is the vice-president of the American Driving Society and chairs the ADS Education Committee. Dana is a licensed ADS Pleasure Driving, Combined Driving and Dressage judge and strong competitor. Dana will share with us about ADS and its offerings for both the recreational and competitive driver and will answer questions on safe harnessing, hitching and driving. I want to give a shout out to two of our CVCA members who reached milestones in their hours driving. Joanne Frechette has logged 1,000 miles at the lines! Sharon Baum has tracked 500 hours on the box seat! Congratulations to you both! Fingers crossed that we will be able to return to in-person events in 2021! Think Spring! Judy 2 JANUARY WEBINAR: A-Sleighing We Will Go Submitted by: Judy Sobczak Sleigh bells ring….were you listening? On January 16 the CVCA held the first club event of 2021, although it wasn’t an in-person event, but a virtual one. A very fitting topic, as on the day of this event, the snow was falling in the region, making for a very fitting tableau. Twenty-one members and guests from other driving clubs and equine organizations attended. Our speaker was Ms. Kathleen Haak, from the Carriage Association of America. Kathleen is a former resident of NYS and told stories of sleighing at past Lorenzo sleigh rallies. She also attended other sleigh rallies in the region where she spent time sleighing with current and past CVCA members. Kathleen began her seminar, entitled: Sleighs: A Look at their History, by defining sleighs, sleds and sledges. A sleigh is a fairly large vehicle, made for transporting passengers and parcels. Sled, an American term, is for a small vehicle. Sledge, an English term, generally means any vehicle used for moving heavy objects. The using of sledges was started in Egypt and were prized for their usefulness. Kathleen started her history in the Viking era of the 1500s, traveling through the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s to the present day. With the Vikings, the sleighs were seen as beautiful works of art. During this time, it could be seen the beginnings of “modern” sleighs. The 1600s brought sleighs that were very ornate, decorative, and colorful, with wonderful craftsmanship. Much of this craftsmanship was apparent with the beautiful wood cravings. The sleighs were “box-y” looking, as there wasn’t the ability or the experience to do any bending of wood to make the lovely curves or shaped lines of later sleighs. The horses wore plumes and bells. Ring jousting was beginning to be a very popular activity in the 1600s but not many sleighs from this period survived, as they were so fragile. The 1700s brought in the era of Russian troika sleighs. The troika hitch formation is three horses abreast. The main purpose for the troika formation: speed! These sleighs would be capable of really moving, sometimes sustaining speeds of 28-31 mph! Yikes! I’d say that “allowed” for some pretty crazy driving! As you can imagine, driving a troika hitch involved a great deal of skill. The Russians during this period continued to enjoy participating in the sport of ring jousting. A few Russian ring jousting sleighs still exist in collections or museums. These sleighs are true works of art. In the early 1800s, people started to desire sleighs that looked a bit more “interesting”. They wanted sleighs that were sturdier and were capable of traveling over greater distances. Bells began appearing more frequently on sleighs and sleighs became more colorful and brighter looking. In 1815, following the defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna held the “Great Sleigh Ride” for royal participants. The procession included 35 sleighs, which delighted the cheering crowd in attendance. As you may have noticed, much of the early history of sleighs, sleds and sledges is from European history. That doesn’t mean sleighs, sleds or sledges weren’t being used or enjoyed in America. The 1800s in America saw the development and the presence of both the Albany and Portland cutters. The Albany cutter was designed/developed by James Gould in 1836. It is known for shaped wood, curved body and being more decorative. The Portland cutter or Kimbell sleigh, as it is also known, was designed/developed by Peter Kimball. Its design was boxy. By 1878 pollution and road waste increased, so the demand was for more practical sleighs, ones without much color. The Portland cutter fit this bill, and therefore became the most popular sleigh in use at this time. 3 JANUARY WEBINAR: A-Sleighing We Will Go Continued… As time passed, sleigh manufacturers were getting better with bending of wood, and the use of symbolism became more evident on sleighs. Carvings appeared on sleighs made by Brewster and Co. and eagle and lion heads appeared on the dash. These were thought to be tied in with royalty and symbols of masculinity. More practical sleighs were designed so that the vehicle had more “give” and flex, so that when traveling over ground, the sleighs would often creak and moan. This give and flex has allowed more of these practical sleighs to survive to present day. How did wheeled vehicles such as buses, funeral vehicles, and even fire vehicles get around in the winter back then? The wheels were removed, and sleigh runners added. As you may know, not all snow is great for sleighing. A great invention, an ice machine vehicle, was used to create smooth, iced over roads, making it easier for sleighs to travel. Kathleen, originally from the Central NY region, discussed two regional carriage and sleigh manufacturers, the Groton Carriage Company, in Groton, NY and the Huber Carriage Company, located in Delhi, NY. Much like today, where there seems to be many different automobile dealerships in each town, “back in the day”, there were numerous carriage and sleigh makers in every town. As she concluded her talk, Kathleen described ways to identify the types of sleighs and their possible manufacturers. Just like with wheeled vehicles, sleigh manufacturers put a nameplate (or tag) on each finished vehicle. Having a tag makes identifying a sleigh very easy. But, without a tag, it is possible to use advertisements or catalogs to help assist with ID. Sometimes the time frame of manufacture is known, and based on certain characteristics or features on a sleigh, this can help with the identification of a vehicle’s manufacturer.

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