Ahead of this year's Royal Windsor Horse Show (10-14 May 2017), world four-in hand carriage driving champion Boyd Exell explains why his sport is so addictive — and what it's like bumping into The Queen

World four-in hand carriage driving champion Boyd Exell is currently in England training at Ashfields Carriage and Polo Club in Essex.

“What I love about driving is that I have four horses — that keeps me occupied and when I drive the team out it’s a bit like a happy family,” says Boyd.

“I love Royal Windsor because when we compete there we often walk our teams of horses down by the river, so we have the rolling green grass and the sun coming through the trees.

“You have a connection with horses — grooms who work with the animal have a connection when they’re handling them and I have a connection when I’m training with them,” he says. “So I can feel a trust with my horses — I can feel down the rein if they’re feeling stiff, or if they’re expressive and wanting to show off.

“I’m especially proud of carriage driving because it’s Prince Philip’s love,” says Boyd.

“He designed a sport from three-day-eventing. So in carriages we still do the dressage phase of the competition which is on the Friday, on the Saturday we do a rough and tumble cross-country and the cones day is our third day of the competition — that’s just a test that you still have control after the previous day.

“It’s always nice to go around the corner at Royal Windsor when you run into The Queen,” adds Boyd. “She’s always standing in a very inconspicuous place and you don’t expect to see her.”

Continued below…

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The CAIO4* Land Rover International Driving Grand Prix takes place alongside showjumping, dressage, endurance and showing at Royal Windsor. Spectators can also enjoy a range of displays, from the Musical Ride of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment to the Shetland Pony Grand National.

Don’t miss our full report from Royal Windsor Horse Show in the 18 May issue of Horse & Hound magazine

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The Netherlands’ Ijsbrand Chardon won his third FEI World Cup driving final, 10 years after his last title, this afternoon (7 February) in Bordeaux, France.

He dedicated his win to his former sponsor, Kees van Opstal, who supported him for some 10 years in the 1980s and who passed away last week, aged 85.

The lead was constantly changing between the top three drivers as this exciting contest developed.

Yesterday, Ijsbrand’s fellow Dutchman Koos de Ronde was the only competitor to have a clean round and he headed into today’s showdown with the upper hand. But Ijsbrand and Australia’s Boyd Exell — six-times World Cup champion and the pre-event favourite — were hot on his heels.

Koos started today’s competition on a score of zero, while the other six drivers were all given a penalty score to carry forward, converted from their time yesterday.

In the first round today, Boyd gained the ascendancy with a clear round, sitting on a total time of 137.29.

Ijsbrand — the only driver who has beaten Boyd in this World Cup season as he also won at Olympia in December — and his team of Lipizzaners had a ball down at the second obstacle to add a five-second penalty to their time and stay in second on 139.27.

Koos was the last driver into the arena and while he stayed clear, he was unable to match the others’ speed and moved onto 141.93.

The other four drivers in the contest could not challenge these leading three and Boyd, Ijsbrand and Koos progressed to the drive-off.

Koos, driving first this time as he was now in third place, had his first penalties of the competition — a ball down at the cones at five and then another in obstacle four, particularly unfortunate as it was incurred while he was driving through the obstacle en route to another part of the arena, rather than while driving it as part of the competition. He finished on 267.67 for eventual third.

“Because I had to go directly back in, I ran out of power with my wheelers, which led to the two mistakes,” said Koos. “I knew halfway through the round I couldn’t win it as I didn’t have the power.”

Ijsbrand drove with total precision to record his first clear of the weekend and sit on 250.09, throwing down a serious challenge to Boyd.

The Australian tried his best, but he was stymied early on by the left-hand ball coming down on the cones at three and, although his final time meant he could have won with that penalty, another left-hand ball at 10 sealed his fate. A time of 254.73 put him second to Ijsbrand.

“Normally the first round is my best, so I wasn’t happy to have a ball in that,” said Ijsbrand. “Boyd’s horses are quicker than mine, but mine are better in the obstacles. I went full gas in the second round and it was a very good one for me.

“It was a good competition with the three drivers very close — any of us could have won, but it’s not luck that I did win. I also beat Boyd and Koos in London when I drove the same horses as here.”

Boyd said: “I gave it my best shot and went as fast as I could, but you can’t have two balls down in the drive-off, as you saw — I could have won with one. But I’m very happy with my horses.”

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One of Britain’s top horse four-in-hand driver Georgina Hunt (pictured) is to quit the sport after almost 30 years competing horse and pony teams.

The 45-year-old pharmacist cited financial reasons as a primary factor, but said there were “a lot of layers” to the decision.

“Sponsorship might have been a way forward, but it is difficult to attract sponsors to driving in Britain as there is not much to offer them,” she said. “We’ve had a bit of a breakdown of the circuit with the loss of some dates.”

Following a concerted two-year campaign for this year’s World Equestrian Games (WEG), at which she finished 24th with her team of black Gelderlanders, she admitted that frustrations over what was achievable for British-based drivers had also played a part.

“I thought I knew what it took to improve by the 5pen necessary to become world class, but there were a lot of barriers, from the quality of horses, time required for training and the competition scene in Britain,” she said. “It was out of my league as an amateur and I got as far as I could, but I couldn’t see myself breaking into the top echelon.”

Georgina started driving a pony team in 1986, and was a seven-time national champion and three-time European champion before switching to horses in 2000. She has been the best-performing British horse fours driver on the national circuit in recent seasons, frequently finishing in the runner-up spot behind world champion, Australian Boyd Exell.

Most of her team will now be sold off, with one of her six horses having already gone to a new home.

“I don’t think I’ll give up entirely. I’ve already been out indoors with a single,” she added. “I might also just be a Pony Club mum for a few years.”

As well as a loss for the British squad, her retirement will also be a loss to the national circuit, which has already witnessed the departure of Boyd Exell this year to a new base in Holland.

Boyd’s move places him in the heart of the continental circuit, where competition is stronger and better supported than in the UK. It’s anticipated that a selection of UK competitors may now base themselves with him for at least part of the season.

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Individual world driving champion Boyd Exell fought to take back his Olympia title in front of a sell-out crowd at the London International Horse Show on Saturday (20 December).

This was Boyd’s fourth consecutive world cup victory having already won in Stuttgart, Stockholm and Geneva this year. In Switzerland last week (14 December) Boyd won with three borrowed horses to save his team for London.

He was competing on a wild card at Olympia, however, so will not score any world cup points.

The Australian faced stiff opposition from last year’s winner Ijsbrand Chardon.

Boyd was last to go in the first round and went into second place, behind Ijsbrand, after he picked up five penalties. Ijsbrand then piled on the pressure in the second round putting in another clean quick performance. However, Boyd then shaved five seconds off his time in the previous round and went clear to take the title.

“My plan was to drive cleanly and quietly in the first round but my leader knocked down a ball with his nose,” Boyd said.

“I knew we could better the time second time round — I really don’t have to push my horses; there’s lots more to come from them yet.”

Ijsbrand, who is lying second behind Boyd in the world cup rankings, said he couldn’t have gone “any faster with this team in order to stay clear.”

“This competition was very important for me, I needed the world cup points so that is why I decided to use my experienced leader horse again,” he added.

“At the moment it is very difficult to win from Boyd. I gave everything I had and I am now in the final so I can test my new leader horse at my last competition in Leipzig [15-18 January 2015].”

Sweden’s Fredrik Persson drove steadily and claimed third place.

There are now just two events left in the world cup series — Mechelen (26-30 December) and Leipzig (15-18 January 2015) — before the final in Bordeaux (6-8 February 2015)

For full report don’t miss 1 January issue of H&H.

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Boyd Exell lifted the individual gold medal in the driving at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games this afternoon.

The British-based Australian had to drive a clear in the cones after the three drivers just behind him were faultless and he did so to secure the title.

“I didn’t see it as pressure because Chester [Weber, silver medallist] has done double clears [balls and time] all year, so I expected it,” he said. “It’s a huge relief. The whole weekend has been good, but not perfect, although today was pretty good.”

The artificial surface caused some drivers problems today.

“The arena moved a lot — sometimes I wondered if I was going to go through the cones in the middle, but it worked,” said Boyd.

The USA’s Chester Weber commented: “It’s my third individual silver and some call it the bridesmaid’s award, but I’m really pleased with it. I couldn’t be happier with my horses. It’s been a good fight and Boyd did a great job.”

Theo Timmerman took the individual bronze and led the Dutch to team gold. 

“My horses were very easy today,” said Theo. “I knew Ijsbrand [teammate Ijsbrand Chardon, fourth] was clear so I had to go clear for the individual medal. But Koos [de Ronde, third Dutch team member] did a great job, which meant I didn’t have to worry about the team and could concentrate on myself.”

Germany held team silver, with Hungary collecting bronze.

British team finish eighth

The British team improved their placing today, finishing eighth thanks to strong cones performances from Wilf Bowman-Ripley and Dick Lane.

Wilf (above) drove a clear round and improved his overall placing to 15th.

“It’s the first time I’ve had the horses in that combination in cones so I’m really pleased, but I’ve been confident all year in cones,” he said. “I had nothing to lose so I gave it a go and pushed on.”

Britain’s first driver, Dick Lane, finished with 3.06 time-penalties for an overall position of 32nd.

“It drove really well — it’s a nice flowing course,” said Dick. “The surface was very slippery and the carriage was moving round all the turns, so you have to compensate for that. On that surface it’s difficult to go very fast because you are worried the carriage is going to slide out [and hit a cone, causing a ball to fall].”

The third member of the British team, Georgina Hunt, suffered disappointment today with two balls down and a few time-penalties for a cones score of 6.79 and a final finish in 24th place.

“It’s a horrid way to finish — I’m very disappointed,” she said. “I didn’t realise I’d had number two down until I went back round and saw it. Then I knew I was tight on time so I tried to come in tight to 19 and had that down too. I should have stuck to my line and not worried about the time. It was a wrong decision.”

Bluffers’ guide to driving

Driving results

Full report on driving, showjumping and vaulting at WEG in H&H this week, out Thursday, 11 September.

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Boyd Exell (above) has taken the individual lead in the driving at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games after today’s marathon.

The Australian, who lives in Leicestershire, finished third in today’s phase with 90.32 penalties, but when that mark is combined with his second-placed dressage score he has overhauled the USA’s Chester Webber. The American is 2.77pen behind Boyd, with the Netherlands’ Theo Timmerman holding provisional bronze, another 5.2pen in arrears.

Defending world champion Boyd had problems in the Land Rover obstacle at number six, where one of his wheelers became caught on a post.

“I tried to turn too quick,” he said. “The recovery was ok, but then I missed a gate and had to do an extra circle. That’s what happens at the top of the game at a World Championships, though — I’m not going to go home regretting number six. I did my best and the horses gave me everything.”

Boyd had the fastest time in obstacles one and seven, finishing in the top four in all the other obstacles except number six, where he was 31st.

Overnight leader Chester finished 12th on the marathon, after problems when one of his leaders made a mistake in the final obstacle, the Alltech Water.

“But I’m pleased with the horses, they did a great job and I couldn’t be more proud,” he said.

The USA has slipped out of the team medals after their less experienced drivers Alison Stroud and Misdee Wrigley-Miller couldn’t match the top competitors today. Germany has moved up from fifth into silver, while the Netherlands continue to hold gold and Hungary bronze.

There were some concerns among drivers before the marathon about the artificial surface which all the obstacle phase took place on, but competitors reported it drove well and was not slippery.

Britain still ninth

The British team remain ninth, the position they held after dressage, with Wilf Bowman-Ripley and Georgina Hunt again contributing the best two scores (in driving, as opposed to ridden eventing, different drivers can contribute to the team mark in each phase).

Wilf (right) has dropped one place from 17th to 18th after 99.71pen on the marathon (18th in this phase).

“It’s not too good really,” said Wilf. “I worked the horses for 30min before I set off, but they were still fresh coming to the first obstacle. I put my borrowed leader, Unique, in the wheel for section A [first part of the marathon test] and then swapped him to the lead in section B, but he was still quite feisty for the first two obstacles and we missed a couple of turns. That was a bit my fault and a bit his fault.”

Wilf also said he got stuck in obstacle five, the Normandie 2014: “That was my fault — the horses got me out of trouble.”

Georgina Hunt’s 107.1pen marathon has dropped her from 18th after dressage to 21st.

“I’m reasonably pleased — I wasn’t too sure how the horses would react to the atmosphere and I should have trusted them more because towards the end they weren’t taking me forwards so we made a few mistakes,” she said.

Georgina had one knockdown in obstacle four which she attributed to the carriage spinning out on the surface and hitting a post.

Dick Lane was first out for Britain and has risen one place from 35th to 34rd with 114.34pen today.

“We just had a little problem in obstacle one where the horses were very fresh and as in the dressage the atmosphere lifted them,” he said. “I was a bit ambitious and we got stuck, although not for long.

“It was a very enjoyable marathon to drive, the obstacles were well marked. There were tight obstacles and flowing ones alternating and the water [at obstacles three and eight] cooled the horses down, so it was horse-friendly.”

The driving concludes with the cones phase tomorrow.

Bluffers’ guide to driving

Driving times and results

More updates from WEG online over the weekend; report on the driving in H&H this week, out Thursday, 11 September.

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British-based Australian driver Boyd Exell won his first world title today at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, rounding off his pillar-to-post victory with just 3.52 time-faults in the cones phase.

“When I walked the course I thought it was good for us,” he said. “Like the cross-country it was a touch easy so it was a good course to be in the lead on.”

Dutch driver Ijsbrand Chardon — whose carriage was vandalised before the marathon — took the silver, while America’s Tucker Johnson celebrated his retirement with his first individual medal, a bronze.

“I had a momentary lapse of concentration after I’d had the ball down at 17, but to be able to hold everything together and get the bronze as I come to the end of my career means everything to me,” he said.

The Netherlands confirmed their team gold, with the USA taking silver, but Sweden, having been third overnight, suffered a severe disappointment when Tomas Eriksson was eliminated for an error of course. As Sweden only had two team members — a driving team consists of two or three competitors, with two scores to count — they dropped completely out of the team standings.

Germany came through to take the bronze, led by Christoph Sandmann, fourth individually.

The cones phase was marred by problems with the timing equipment, which led to a delay of around an hour during the competition.

WEG driving results

Read more about the damage to Ijsbrand’s carriage, the delays during the cones and the rest of the driving competition in H&H out next week, 14 October.

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Ijsbrand Chardon overcame adversity to triumph in the marathon phase of the driving at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games today.

The police are investigating after Ijsbrand’s carriage was vandalised last night — the seat cushions were slashed and there was also interference with the oil.

Fellow competitor Boyd Exell offered to lend Ijsbrand his carriage, as they use the same make, but Ijsbrand was able to get his into order, albeit with a delayed start time. The chef d’equipes all agreed that Ijsbrand could start at 2.10pm as the final driver of the day, rather than at his scheduled time of 1.20pm.

The Dutch driver then managed to record the fastest time in three of the eight obstacles, leaving him less than two points behind Australia’s Boyd Exell, who finished third on the marathon to keep top spot.

“It was a little like indoor driving,” said Boyd of tackling Richard Nicoll’s open, flowing course. “While going fast, you had to keep the carriage tight to the obstacles — going wide loses you time. My horses were machines, they just did it on their own.”

America’s Tucker Johnson has moved up from fourth equal overnight to take third, while team-mate Chester Weber suffered disappointment today when his right wheeler stepped into the right leader’s trace at obstacle seven, and he had to put a groom down, which is penalised as well as taking time. He dropped from second equal after dressage to 19th.

In the team standings, the Netherlands has pulled away from America while Sweden is in third.

WEG driving results

Log back on tomorrow for a final update on the driving at WEG, full report in H&H next week, out 14 October.

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I’ve been feeling neglectful of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games driving, having not seen much of the dressage phase. I intended to go and watch the Boyd Exell and Tucker Johnson — rumoured and indeed proved to be the best of yesterday’s runners — but their times clashed exactly with the Brits in the vaulting. Without a pair of wings, superhero vision or time travel, it wasn’t going to happen.

So, my kind boyfriend rigged up FEI TV on his computer last night in bed — it’s a romantic trip, this — so I could watch Thursday’s highlights show. On the plus side, this let me see day one’s joint-leaders Ijsbrand Chardon and Chester Weber’s tests in full and I now have a much better understanding of what’s involved, and why Chester said at the press conference he had a problem in the rein-back (the left wheeler wasn’t keen and stood up).

On the down side, I then dreamed I was driving — one small pony luckily, not a four-in-hand — through a house, trying to avoid china and photo frames. As Sarah Jenkins says, bear with us, we’ve been away from our shrinks too long.

I nearly had to blog again last night after I’d posted my effort earlier in the day. The team freestyles in the vaulting were so impressive I’ve run out of superlatives. Think of three people on a horse, perhaps with one person sitting backwards on the wither, supporting someone standing up, who is holding a little kid (the flyer) above their head, twirling them around with the ease of a cheerleader’s baton. Or perhaps that standing person isn’t being supported, if you really want to impress.

Just think for a minute about how brave you’d have to be to either be the person holding up the flyer, or to be the flyer. We’re probably talking about being 13ft up in the air (6ft of horse, 6ft of another person, plus a foot of their arms) on the back of a moving live animal.

This was really brought home to me when the South African team horse, Prize, became upset just as the lunger sent him out onto his circle. He tried to pull away, meaning the lunger had to dig in and hold him, reel him in and start again. He settled, thank goodness, but it takes some guts to stand up on that horse after seeing that.

I asked the British team if it wasn’t scary and they said maybe the first time you try something, but once you know how to do it, you’re just concentrating on what you are doing. And that the team spirit is amazing: “It’s brilliant all being able to hug each other when you come out, rather than just being on your own.”

Today, after the driving marathon, it’s back to individual vaulting. Yesterday, Joanne Eccles exchanged a high five with her father and lunger John after her technical test — she knew she’d nailed it to go back into the lead. Can she stay there today? Let’s hope so. I want to add another British gold to the medal table.

Log back on later for updates on vaulting and driving; full reports in H&H next week, 14 October.

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Boyd Exell has taken the lead at the end of the driving dressage at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The British-based Australian scored 30.08, putting him more than 5pen ahead of yesterday’s joint leaders, America’s Chester Weber and the Netherlands Ijsbrand Chardon.

“They are a relatively new team, being in their second season, but the big atmosphere suits them and me,” said Boyd. “This year the horses have been going on rails and I was a bit of a passenger in there. In places I was chuckling to myself because they were helping me so much.”

With Chester and Ijsbrand now second equal, there is also a tie for fourth place — and the Netherlands and America are equal first in the team competition, each boasting a competitor placed second and one placed fourth. With six judges, to have exact ties is a very unusual situation in driving competitions.

Today America’s Tucker Johnson equalled Dutch driver Theo Timmerman’s score of 40.19 from yesterday so they hold fourth place together.

“I was pleased for Chester yesterday and also impressed with Ijsbrand, who has a different style,” said Tucker. “I thought I’d be able to get a little closer to them, but I’m happy with the score I got and the performance.”

Tucker predicted that the open marathon course will lead to speedy times tomorrow: “I think we’re going to see some really fast driving — the hazards are challenging, but more open than we see sometimes. The challenge for me will be to drive fast without making a mistake.”

Boyd confirmed Isjbrand and Chester’s opinion that the most technical obstacle is the final one, number eight.

WEG driving results

Log back on tomorrow for an update on the marathon, full report on the driving from WEG in H&H next week, out 14 October.

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A Belgian man is to be awarded with the CHIO badge of honour after he stopped a riderless four-horse team at the World Equestrian Festival CHIO Aachen 2008, 27 June to 6 July at considerable danger to himself.

The carriage, driven by Australian Boyd Exell, overturned, tipping Exell, his navigator and back stepper out, and the horses carried on out of the arena and through the crowd at full speed.

Brave Dominique Eerdekens grabbed hold of the reins of one of the lead horses and in a feat of daring held on, despite being knocked to the ground by the galloping horses.

He eventually brought the horses under control.

Mr Eerdekend will receive the badge of honour at the CHIO showground on Tuesday, 29 July.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now