Thirty Years on and Off the Box Seat Book

This frank and lively account tells how HRH The Duke of Edinburgh began driving, and details his early, often catastrophic, experiences and his involvement in the organization of the sport of competition driving. He has woven together the story of the origins and development of competition carriage driving, with accounts and results of the events and championships in which he has taken part. In addition he explains how the International Rules came to be written and follows their development over the last thirty years. In the early years he was president of the FEI, the international governing body for show-jumping, dressage, three-day eventing, long-distance riding, vaulting and reining, and therefore found himself on both sides of the fence between competitors and administrators. As a result he was able to identify with the interests of the competitors when changes were proposed to the rules or to the general administrative regulations. He claims that he must be one of the very few competitors in any international sport who has competed in a World Championship in one of the disciplines of which he was the president of the international governing body. Some of his experiences as a driver are somewhat hair-raising, but he stoutly maintains that the sport is not particularly dangerous. He emphasizes how much successful competition depends on teamwork, both among the driver and grooms as well as among the horses and ponies, and how much they all come to depend on each other. He makes the point that everything has to come together to achieve success in this demanding and very competitive sport. The events are obviously the point of competition carriage driving, but Prince Philip makes it clear that the social life during these weekend events is also an important aspect of the sport. As so many of the competitors are regular participants, he has described the season as a 'peripatetic weekend party' for like-minded people. His Royal Highness also writes about his horses and ponies, his grooms, friends, fellow competitors and his travels in pursuit of the sport. Many of the competitors' horses and ponies become just as well known as many of the humans and, in fact, everyone comes to know the names of the leaders in the tandem classes very quickly. The book contains many hitherto unpublished photographs and anecdotes and is distinguished by the author's inimitable dry wit and humour. It is a book for every driving enthusiast.Read More