ADS Picnic Class

Gail's American Driving Society's Picnic Class
	The paraphrased ADS rule says that for this class a picnic appropriate to the turnout must be carried on the vehicle and the class has two sections: a performance section, counting 25%, which is judged on performance manners, and overall impression, and a staging section, counting 75%, which is judged on the quality of the picnic presentation. Additionally, all picnic participants must ride along in the rail portion of the class, and when horses are unhitched for the staging section, they are to be returned to their stalls. In 2022 the ADS invited Gail to participate at their annual meeting and to present insight about what entering a picnic class entails. That recorded slideshow presentation, "The Picnic Class A to Z," can be found here. In 2023 Gail also shared her picnic class slideshow presentation during a Zoom meeting with the Brandywine Valley Driving Club, and that video can be found here.
I have been mesmorized by the picnic class ever since I saw my first picnic class at Walnut Hill years ago. I immediately launched a hunt for an antique wicker carriage that would fit my Friesian mare, and quickly learned that most of the ladies wicker carriages were made for much smaller horses and were very expensive. Frustrated as I began my 3rd year of searching, in exhasperation I posted an "I am looking for a ...." in the CD-L and within 30 minutes received a reply, "I don't have one for sale, but my friend does." I was elated, and within a few months of that email, Thomas and I made a 2015 trip between February snow storms to NY and came home with a 1910 Moyer Ladies Wicker Phaeton and a matching hat! Its shafts were too short for Sjaantje, so off to Carriage Machine Shop I went and ordered a set that would fit. Because it was burgundy, I had no matching aprons, so off to Martin's Carriage Auction to see DD Rapps to order a set. Finally in 2016, I was ready to enter my first picnic class, and came home with the blue ribbon from the Grand Oaks Pleasure Show (Full disclosure--I was the only entry.) Later in the 2016 show year, I placed 3rd place at Walnut Hill and couldn't be more proud of that ribbon, but I wanted to win! So off to Jon Zimmerman to have him replace the burgundy parasol liner with a Bedford gray that would match the carriage seat. When we went to the 2017 CAA Carriage Festival in Lexington, KY, I had the new parasol, but alas, the wicker classes were inside the Coliseum, so using a parasol was not really appropriate. Explaining my situation to show management, I was allowed to add the parasol to my turnout. Can you imagine the irony when I saw the photos of those classes that the underside of the parasol appeared burgundy? Happy to win those rail classes, but came in second for the picnic judging, not even coming close to winning, as Susie Haszelbart's staging was superb. After reading John Greenalls' ADS Whip article that pictured an exquisite wicker carriage with a cylindrical picnic basket, I decided I needed to have a similiar picnic basket attached to the back of my carriage. So off to Bird-in Hand to have one made, but had to compromise on its shape, and grew to dislike that basket, so found Double E Carriages were able to make what I originally wanted made: a cylindrical picnic basket. I never quite know what to serve for the picnic, so sometimes I made it simple, other times cool and refreshing, sometimes I included wine, but always try to have items that pack and travel well, and were available in the 1910s. This is the most important part of the class and it took me many years to master that! Happy to report practice makes perfect and in 2023 Rhonda & I won the Orleton Farms Picnic class!
Gail's Orleton Farm 2023 Picnic Class Photo Credit: Edward Aucker



Home	Barn & Indoor	House & Garden Photos	Construction Photos	Pasture Photos	Our Horses

Back

Created by Gail L. Aumiller on January 4, 2017 and last updated on March 6, 2024.