DIANA HAYES AND HAMEWITH CULMELLIE

The photo and following text is from the FEI Worlds Championships site, www.worldsingles.org:

"Di Hayes is an experienced competitor and also a judge. Di has been driving her current horse, a nine-year-old hackney mare, Hamewith Culmellie, for three years. Before Di bought her, she had done nothing at all for a couple of years, so she came to driving trials very green. In her first season, she was consistently in the first six and won the dressage at the National Championships. It was this phase that emerged as her strength, but throughout last season, Di worked hard in all phases and began recording faster marathon times.

This season, she has won all of the seven national events which she has entered, consistently coming first in dressage - her score usually in the 30s but once achieving 27.7. Improving all the time in the marathon, Di says of this eye-catching mare, 'She has really gained in confidence through the obstacles and is now prepared to go faster in them. We still have to work on getting her to pick up speed in the water, but I'm sure it will come. Once she has made up her mind that it is alright to do something, she will!' In the past Di has attended clinics given by Heiner Merk and also Felix Brasseur.  In 1999, she took this horse to a clinic given by Nikki Pahlsson just before Royal Windsor, which she felt contributed to the mare being a little tired at this international event. She is currently heading the single horse points league (taken from placings at all national events)."