GEORGETOWN — Georgetown residents Alan and Maureen Aulson's passion for driving horses originated 26 years ago when Maureen noticed a pony on a rope for sale by St. Mary's Church.
Asking price: approximately $100.
Maureen decided to buy it for her then 5-year-old daughter, Michelle, who now is 31.
"I saw it and I went and bought it without my husband's knowledge," Maureen said. "That was our downfall. That was the start. ... And then it just escalated."
Now that the Aulsons' three children are grown, it's time for mom and dad to have their own fun.
Alan and Maureen own 13 American Morgan horses, and four will compete in the driving portion at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games from Sept. 25 to Oct. 10 in Lexington, Ky.
"When the children grew up, then it was time for mom and dad, I guess you could say, to play and this has kind of been our hobby," Maureen said.
Their hobby has turned into a very successful one. The Aulsons' driving team/horses is ranked fifth in the United States right now.
The World Equestrian Games, which take place every four years, two years before the Olympic Games, are being held in the United States for the first time ever this year.
"Oddly enough, in little old Georgetown we're actually pushing out an Olympic-level team," Alan said.
Alan and Maureen's horses, which show in about seven or eight competitions each year, will be the only American Morgan horses to compete in the driving event at the games, the Aulson family said.
"Most of these people at a high level like this have European horses that are very expensive," Alan said. "They can cost six figures and up. Our Morgans are very home bred. They might have cost us $5- or $6- or $7,000. They are not expensive horses. They're just good horses. They've worked hard."
Around town
The Aulsons keep their horses in Florida during the winter and Georgetown during the summer. You might have seen the family and their Morgans driving around Georgetown. Maybe they have even waved to you as they so often do when they pass fellow townies.
"We drive all around Georgetown and sometimes Alan will drive down to Dunkin Donuts and get some coffee and doughnuts," said David Saunders, the carriage driver who will be driving the Aulsons' Morgans at the World Equestrian Games. "Sometimes we'll drive down to the Georgetown bank and drive through the drive-through. ... The horses have been in this family for a long time. They've always had horses, and I just say that I'm lucky enough to be competing with them."
Impressive credentials
Saunders, who met the Aulsons through a mutual friend in the sport approximately 10 years ago, has an impressive resume.
He worked as the coachman to the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, for more than 20 years.
"He was an international competitor," Saunders said about the prince. "He invented the sport. So I was with him for 20 odd years. So I saw the sport at the very beginning. Prince Philip, he won a gold medal, silver medal and two bronze medals at World championships with me as his trainer."
Saunders himself has driven at three World Championships, twice for Great Britain and once for the United States. He drove at the very first World Equestrian Games 20 years ago.
Alan, meanwhile, also is a driver but is taking some time off because of his busy work schedule as a contractor.
Maureen said she and her husband spent nine weeks in Europe in 2005 during which time Alan competed in shows and trained before competing as a member of the U.S. national team at the World Championships in Salzburg, Austria. Alan drove a carriage led by two of his horses.
Alan also won the national pairs championship in Lodi, Calif., in 2006.
Driving portion
The Equestrian Games consist of eight different disciplines: dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, jumping, paradressage, reining and vaulting.
The Aulsons' four Morgan horses will compete in the driving discipline that involves three different competitions: driven dressage, marathon and obstacle cones driving.
The event includes a driver — in this case Saunders — sitting in a carriage and driving four horses for all three competitions.
Meanwhile, Maureen and a 27-year-old woman, Mieke Wouters, of Belgium ride on the back of the carriage and have several important jobs, including acting as navigators and timers as each leg of the marathon is timed. The two on the back also act as a sort of pit crew. They are the ones who fix any carriage equipment that breaks during the marathon and also take care of the horses if needed.
The marathon tests "the fitness, stamina and training of the Horses, and the Driving skill, judgment of pace and general horsemanship of the competitor," according to World Equestrian Games' website. "The course is divided into three sections, with a maximum allowed distance of 18 km. The final section includes eight marked obstacles. Exceeding the optimum time for the entire course and the time taken in each of the obstacles incurs penalties."
The Aulsons described the dressage event as being similar to figure skating.
"It's in an arena, 100 meters by 40 and we have to do circles, extended trots, halts, walks, stuff like that," Saunders said.
About the obstacle cones driving, Saunders added: "You drive the carriage between sets of plastic cones like those roadside cones. And we have balls on top of them ... and we have to drive through them (the cones) fast without knocking any of the balls down."
Looking ahead
Alan has been to international competitions.
"This time around is my wife's chance to go to an international competition," Alan said. "She will — we'll call it — be the captain of the team."
Saunders and Aulson have been preparing for the games for approximately two years during which time Saunders has shown the horses in places, including Canada and Florida.
"We've been consistently third or fourth at almost every competition," Saunders said. "So we've proved that we can do it with these horses. ... We're completing against some high-class (horses), but the Morgans do very well and they hold their own and I'm expected to do pretty well. I'd love to be in the top 10. And I think we have a good chance of being in the top 10."
