US World Pairs Driving Championship Team To Compete in Hungary

Three Drivers were selected to represent the United States at the World Pairs Driving Championships in  Kecskemet, Hungary on August 19 - 23.  This team is the best of the US and holds numerous National Championships between them.  The World Pairs Driving Championships are held every two years, so far always in Europe. This year the High Performance drivers in both the World Pairs and the Pony World Championships are representing the United States in Europe at the highest level of competition in their discipline.
Carrying the Stars and Stripes are:

Larry Poulin of Petersham, MA and  Natasha Grigg’s Mixed Pair Wiley (Hanovarian), Rivage (Oldenburg)and Cody (Holsteiner)
A multi-disciplined equestrian, Larry is as comfortable astride as he is on the box seat.  Natasha’s outstanding horses can be found performing ridden dressage tests more often than competing in Combined Driving Events!   Larry he owes much of his tremendous success in Combined Driving to the solid base he puts on the horses in Dressage, but he doesn’t stop at the lower levels.  He and Cody (LA Baltic Odyssey) were USDF Reserve Champion at Prix St Georges Champion in 2008 in their region and are working on their USDF Gold Medal.   

The talented dressage rider has been selected to represent the US at the World Pairs Championships seven times.  But Larry’s success didn’t start with the lovely warmbloods that he and Natasha hand selected for the job but with the relatively small Morgans Kennebec Count and his son Kennebec Russsel.   With them Larry garnered three National Pairs Championships and Kennebec Count was memorialized as a Breyer model in 2005.   

Sadly, Larry has announced his retirement from Pair driving in favor of pursuing ridden dressage with Natasha’s horses and training other championship hopeful drivers.  Natasha, former American Driving Society President will be spending time with her family.  But we should not rule out a return to competing ponies as she had prior to her affiliation with Larry!    

Lisa Singer of Chadds Ford, PA with Anne ‘Mimi’ Thorington’s  Morgans Count on Me and LR Ami Bengali and her own Tilba (Swedish Warmblood/Morgan)
Lisa has the distinction of being the first woman to win a National Pairs Championship and has since won that title a total of seven times.   Like her team-mate Larry, Lisa is also a veteran seven-time World Pairs Championship contender.   While well known for her own carriage driving prowess, Lisa is coach to several Worlds competitors most notable 2005 Pony Driving World Champion Suzy Stafford .  She may  add more to her success to her coaching record as the World Pony Driving Championships is being held just prior to the Pairs in Greven, Germany.  

Lisa is also a much sought after clinician and travels the US sharing her vast knowledge of the sport.   In addition she is course designer and organizer for the Elk Creek CDE in Fair Hill, Maryland which is a wildly successful ADS recognized event for lower level drivers that she started.  Another competition to her credit is an unrecognized local club event that started on her own farm in PA and is now held on the site of the Laurel at Landhope CDE.   

Keady Cadwell of Southern Pines, NC and her Splash and Uniek (Dutch Warmbloods) and Finlandio (Selle Francais)
Keady is part of a true family affair at Tremont Farm.  Her sister Randy will be competing her ponies at the Pony World Championships  in Germany while Keady prepares her horses in Hungary.  What’s a parent to do?  Perhaps Mason and Jennifer Cadwell will be adding up some frequent flyer miles this month!  

Keady is a former pastry chef who has been in the driving game for a few decades herself.   She competed in the 1993 World Pairs Championship and in 2007,had Uniek along as a six year old.  Keady  has been competing on the International Scene for years.  She has shown at Royal Winsor (UK), Riesenbeck (Germany), and Beekbergen (The Netherlands) as well as battling it out with Larry and Lisa up and down the East Coast.     

Keady has long been involved with the United States Driving for Disabled and served as the Chef d’Equipe at the FEI World Championship for Drivers with Disabilities last year where student Megan Benge won the Individual Gold.  With Keady’s support the US team also brought home the Silver Medal.  
Her relatively young horses will no doubt show the Hungarians some red, white, and blue speed in the hazards this month!