Tag Archives: Green Meadows Coaching

Green Meadows Coaching Keeps ‘Old Times’ Alive at Royal Horse Show

McLain Ward, his wife, Lauren, and their three-year-old daughter, Lilly, joined the Wallers atop the ‘Old Times.’ Photo by Ben Radvanyi Photography.

Toronto, Ontario – Mr. and Mrs. Harvey and Mary Waller of Stockbridge, MA and their ‘Old Times’ coach claimed a third consecutive victory in the historic Green Meadows Four-In-Hand Coaching Appointments Class on Friday, November 9, at the Royal Horse Show, held as part of the 96th Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, ON.

“It never gets old!” said Mary of the win on Friday night. “It’s always special. I love the Royal.”

The Green Meadows Coaching division, generously sponsored by Hugessen Consulting, Inc., is dedicated to the great tradition of the road coaches and park drags of years gone by, and the Wallers’ ‘Old Times’ coach exemplifies a fine example of that tradition.

The ‘Old Times’ coach was famously driven from London to Brighton, England in the 1880s. It has since been conserved in its entirety by the Wallers, who purchased the road coach in 2001 and had the paint stripped down to find the original color and lettering, enabling it to be put back to its exact original appearance.

That attention to detail is part of what helped the Wallers earn the win in the Coaching Appointments Class, judged on performance, presentation, and emphasis on appointments. All three factors were taken into consideration during Friday evening’s Green Meadows Four-In-Hand Coaching Appointments Class in the Coca-Cola Coliseum, while the presentation and emphasis on appointments were also judged during a special reception on Friday afternoon.

“This is a very special coach, so it’s nice to bring it here to a special show,” said Mary. “The way they do the appointments in the other ring beforehand showcases the coaches. You get to see them in a special surrounding, and it makes it that much nicer. All of our staff works so hard, so for them to see it in there after they’ve been working on it for days – and then to have us win – it’s really more for them than for us because it’s our whole team that has accomplished this!”

This year, the Wallers also had three special guests as part of their winning team for the evening’s Coaching Appointments Class. Two-time Olympic and recent World Championship team gold medalist, McLain Ward, rode on ‘Old Times’ alongside his wife, Lauren, and their three-year-old daughter, Lilly.

“We’ve known McLain forever, and he’s probably ridden with us three or four times here at The Royal,” said Mary. “Lilly was bracketed by mom and dad holding her in up there! It was really fun having them with us.”

Finishing in second behind the Wallers was the Canadian entry of Gerben Steenbeek and his park drag entry for Stonecreek Friesians of St. Marys, ON. Third place went to John P. White of Newtown, NJ driving a road coach, ‘Excelsior,’ for Shallow Brook Farm.

For more information on the Royal Horse Show, the marquee event of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, please visit www.royalfair.org/horseshow.html.

Green Meadows Division Keeps Coaching Tradition Alive at Royal Horse Show

Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Waller and their Orleton Farm hitch. Photo by Ben Radvanyi Photography.

Toronto, Ontario – The Green Meadows Coaching competition at the Royal Horse Show showcased four of North America’s top coaches at the Royal Horse Show, held as part of the 94th Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, ON.

Hailing from Stockbridge, MA, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Waller and their Orleton Farm hitch made the trip to Toronto to capture the win in the Green Meadows Four-In-Hand Coaching Appointments Class, as well as sweeping four additional Green Meadows division classes.

“We’ve been coming here for about 12 years,” said Mary Stokes Waller.  “The Royal is The Royal!  It’s special.  It’s a very old and traditional horse show, and it means more when it’s so steeped in history.”

The Green Meadows Coaching division, generously sponsored by Hugessen Consulting Inc. of Toronto, ON, is dedicated to the great tradition of road coaches and park drags of yesteryear.

The Wallers earned the win in the Green Meadows Four-In-Hand Coaching Appointments Class driving one of the most-celebrated and well-known road coaches, “Old Times.”

“It’s the most famous public road coach in history,” explained Waller of the English coach built in 1886 and acquired by the Wallers in 2001.  “We worked very hard to have it conserved and get it back to its original condition.  We took layer after layer of paint off it, and we put it back to the way it had originally been made.  All of the harness is the original brass.  That was taken off of the old leather that was not useable, and put on to new leather.”

That attention to detail and the historical accuracy of the coach are all part of what judge Colin Henderson of Wiltshire, England examined as he presided over the Green Meadows Four-In-Hand Coaching Appointments competition.  Judging of the preparation and presentation of the appointments took place during the afternoon on Friday, November 11, prior to the judging of the performance of the hitch’s four-horse team in the Ricoh Coliseum on Friday night.

“The appointments are not just about the coach itself and the quality and the finish of the coach, but also the correct equipment that goes with it; everything from the cushions to the various leather straps,” said Henderson, who served as the head coachman for HM Queen Elizabeth II for ten years.  “If it’s a park drag, then it should have its own picnic set.  The quality of those can obviously change enormously.  There again you’ve got things like umbrella baskets on board, coach horns, coach horn cases; there’s quite a multitude of equipment to look over in detail.”

Like The Royal itself, the Green Meadows Coaching preserves and celebrates an important part of equestrian history.

For more information on the Royal Horse Show, the marquee event of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, visit royalfair.org/horse-show.

Contact: Jennifer Ward
Cell: 613 292-5439
www.jumpmediallc.com