A Brecon carriage driver has spoken of her excitement as she prepares to head off to compete at the World Championships.
Emily Ham, 32, is thrilled to be competing at the World Championships in Exloo, the Netherlands, with her Section D Welsh pony Alfie.
The FEI Para Driving World Championships run at the end on August.
Emily has been named in the Team GB five-person Para driver squad and is the first Welsh disabled carriage driver to achieve this distinction.
The format is the driven equivalent of ridden three-day eventing - with a dressage test followed by a gruelling marathon section including water, and cones as the final phase. Cones driving is the equivalent of showjumping and involves negotiating a course driven between pairs of cones with just a few centimetres clearance. Each cone has a ball resting on the top and the slightest nudge will dislodge the ball and earn penalties.
Emily has recently returned to competitive driving after a six-year break due to health issues. She previously represented Wales four times internationally on the British Young Drivers Squad and went to the European Young Drivers Championships as a member of Team GB. She has also been five times British Young Driver Champion.
This is Emily’s first season out competing as a Para driver, after reschooling herself and her horse to manage her disabilities.
“I’ve been passionate about carriage driving since I was invited to sit up alongside the driver on a carriage tour of York when I was 7,” said Emily. “And we bought a Shetland driving pony when I was 10. I loved traditional driven showing, trec, attelage and indoor and outdoor driving trials.”
Emily still has her Shetland pony - now in her 40s and enjoying retirement, alongside the Welsh Section A which she progressed to.
A massive fan of Welsh ponies, Emily took a Section C wagon stallion and schooled him into an internationally competitive dressage and trials pony. Together she and Crossfield Glory (aka Mr J) were also many times champions in the show ring, concours champions, driven trec and attelage winners as well as excelling at driving trials.
Emily explained: “I’ve had my lovely big chestnut gelding Alfie since 2012. He’d previously competed with James Broome as one of his pony pair.
“Alfie is a real character. He’s like Tigger with so much bounce and vitality! I can’t believe he is now having the chance to compete with me internationally. He has waited a long time for this opportunity. He’s had a very quiet seven years in the paddock but has embraced his training and reschooling with gusto. Alfie is 22 this year and definitely proof you are never too old to learn!”
Emily said she is “so lucky” to be supported by the British Young Drivers, which gave her help from top trainers in the three phases of driving trials, and even some sessions with World Champion carriage driver Boyd Exell.
Speaking about her training, Emily said: “Since October I have been training with Robert Buck in Gloucestershire and am so grateful to him for helping me adapt to my disabilities and achieve my best.
“We live on a steep mountainside so I have very limited opportunities to drive ponies or school at home and Robert has been instrumental in schooling Alfie as well as myself. Robert is a driving force for GB POD training and I couldn’t have done this without their support.
“I would thoroughly recommend trying carriage driving as a fully inclusive sport with a wide range of different activities that you can enjoy with friends and family.”
Emily is busy raising funds to help with the considerable expense in taking her horse and equipment to the World Championships, and if anyone is able to make a contribution, however small, it would be greatly appreciated.
Emily’s JustGiving page can be found at: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/emily-ham
She would also love to build up ties with local groups and businesses and is very grateful to Hay and Brecon Farmers for their donation.
You can also follow Emily on social media.