September 30, 2014–Four para-equestrian drivers had strong showings at the Shady Oaks Combined Driving Event held September 18-21 in Lodi, Calif. Competing against able-bodied drivers, Stefanie Putnam, Tracy Bowman, Ginny Leal, and Diane Kastama had solid results at the one of the premier combined driving events of the West Coast.
Stefanie Putnam (Lafayette, Calif.) scored top honors with Bethesda’s After Dark in the Preliminary Single Horse division with a final score of 101.90. Putnam won the dressage phase with a score of 49.22, then adding only 49.68 penalties to her score in the marathon phase. She knocked a single ball in the cones phase, but was still good enough to clinch the win.
Tracy Bowman (Martinez, Calif.) put forth a solid effort in the Preliminary Single Pony division with Taylormore Laurabelle. She drove to sixth place in the dressage phase with a score of 60.11. Bowman then had a seventh place in the marathon phase after adding 60.97 penalties to her score. She finished out the competition with two balls down, coming in fourth in the cones phase and fifth overall with a score of 127.08.
Ginny Leal drove Dancer to a second-place finish in the Training Single Pony division with a score of 60.14. Following the dressage phase, Leal sat in second with a score of 57.14 and held onto her placing until the end with a single ball down in the cones phase in the two-phase division.
Diane Kastama (Arroyo Grande, Calif.) led the Preliminary Pair Horse division with Rupert and Cavalier after scoring 58.22 in the dressage phase. Unfortunately, she was eliminated in the marathon phase, but ended her weekend on a high note by winning the cone phase with just one ball down.
Find out more about Shady Oaks CDE here.
Learn about the United States Driving for the Disabled here.
