It proved a spectacular debut for 14 year old Chanie Matthews at the BDS Annual Show on Sunday 24th June, crowned BDS Young Driver Champion and presented to Her Majesty the Queen.
Weymouth teenager made the trip to compete at the British Driving Society Annual Show which took place at Smiths Lawn, Windsor Great Park, with the main purpose of participating in the parade which takes place in the afternoon in front of Her Majesty the Queen and HRH Duke of Edinburgh.
However it proved a ‘win win’ for Chanie and her versatile skewbald pony Lowermoor 606 aka Banjo, as they took top honours, winning the much coveted Thimbleby & Shorland Young Driver Championship on the their first attempt!
“We came to parade in front of the Queen, I only decided to start driving a couple of weeks ago, so just decided to come here have a go and see how we got on.” said Chanie Matthews
Banjo is particularly talented, the 12 year old Dartmoor cross has been driving for only 2 years and has proved to be extremely versatile for the Matthew’s family, also competing showjumping, dressage and eventing.
“Banjo is an all round versatile horse, a perfect example of how any pony at home that has been outgrown by the children can be introduced to driving and I can thoroughly recommend breaking them to harness and to have a go,” commented Chanie’s mum Karen Matthews.
