The beginning and continuing of the

Double L Miniature Horse Driving Drill Team

This group was started back in 2002 during a student presentation day at the Double L Equestrian facility in Richmond, IL . when 4 driving students took 3 minis and a pony hitched to carts and put them through the same drill routine the riding students were doing on horseback. It turned out so well that the group submitted the video clip to the Midwest Horse Fair in Madison, WI . and were accepted to perform in 2003.

After the Midwest Horse Fair performance in 2003, they also performed in July at the Double L Drill presentation day (where they got their start). Their theme matched that of Midwest, which was 'horses through history'. Each driver represented something to do with horses. There was an Indian girl, Frontier girl, Renaissance girl, Roman, Pilgrim, Cowboy, Jockey, and Conquistador.

Then in 2004, they performed at Midwest again, at the presentation day again and then at the Holistic Animal Health Fair in Barrington, IL., where they amazed the audience with their ability to manuever the carts through a drill routine set to the music from Riverdance. The drivers were dressed in green Celtic dresses with silver trim, to go with the Midwest theme 'silver year of the horse fair'.

In 2005, they performed again at Midwest, the presentation day and added some drill competitions. The theme this year was 'the circus comes to town', so they dressed in shiny silver and pink outfits and added feather headdresses to the minis. In June they drove at the Wild West Rodeo Days in Union Grove, WI and while there, drove in the drill competition against riding horses, placing 1st in youth and 3rd in open. In August, they performed during the ‘Night of the Horse' at the Northern Illinois Horse Fest in Belvidere, IL and then participated in the Midwest Challenge Drill Competition, taking the overall crowd appeal award against 16 riding teams. They also placed 1st in their division.

In 2006, they appeared in March at the 4-H Horse Judging Regional Contest, doing a demo, again in April at the Midwest Horse Fair, and in May at the Harvard Milk Days drill demo. They competed at the West20 drill competitioin in East Troy, WI in June, taking 1st in their division. In July, they performed at the Double L Presentation day and in August they competed at the Door Co. Fair and took 2nd place in their division. Then they performed and competed at the IL Horse Fest, in Belvidere, IL and took 1st in youth. They were invited to the Iowa Drill Championship in Sept, but due to some sick minis, they chose to stay home. Their final performance, with 4 new members, was for the Holistic Animal health fair in Grayslake, IL. Their theme this time was Argentina (horses around the world) and the girls dressed in red, white and black with red trim on the minis.

The drivers are youth ranging in age from 8 to 18 years old. They come from a radius of about 45 miles around the Double L facility. Out of the current drivers, some are members of 4-H groups in 3 different counties in Illinois. They all practice 2-3 days a week, and though some do not own the horse they are driving, they all spend time at the barn each week helping to care for them. The team practices at Double L Equestrian in Richmond , IL , where the team was first started. During the spring and summer, they participate at local shows and drive at their county fair. The drill team has helped them hone their skills, since it requires precision and control, while they're still having fun.

The miniature horses they use measure 34” to 38” tall at the withers and range in age from 3 to 14 years old. They started out with a couple of minis that were 32" tall, but found that they had a hard time keeping up the pace and if the footing was soft, it was even harder for them to keep going. Some of the horses were already trained to drive when they were acquired (some were donated to the team) and others were trained by their drivers/owners or by the coach (Linda Lanzer). They all seem to benefit by driving on the team, as it breaks up the monotony of going round and round the arena. They also drive in some parades and occasionally go on trail drives.