Best of Iowa in Traces Society (BITS)
Distance Driving Clinic and Novice Drive
By Katy Rhinehart

An idea that was started in January became a reality on May 21, 2006. The 1st Annual BITS Distance Driving Clinic and Novice Drive was a huge success. All 20 entrants successfully completed the course and as MDDA says "To Finish is to Win". President of BITS, Mary Winter, welcomed Jac Deweese and Wes Licht, leaders of Midwest Distance Driving Association (MDDA) who had traveled from Wisconsin to help finalize the event. When they inspected the trail they were pleasantly surprised to see how much had been done by the BITS volunteers. They finished the trail marking with the help of Earl Morris and Gene Rhinehart.

The "Vetting In" process was held on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. All horses passed the watchful eye of Dr. Christie Loiacono and her great help from the ISU vet students and volunteers and we were ready to compete. Unfortunately Jacklyn Smith, who had organized the agenda for the morning distance driving clinic, couldn’t attend due to illness but Steve Stillions put together the clinic materials into a special notebook for everyone. Speakers from Bits and MDDA shared lots of information about the sport of distance driving, all "without a hitch." The schedule for the afternoon "order of go" and the trail description completed our morning clinic. Sheryl Stillions reported that enough door prizes were donated that every paid driver and clinic auditor were able to receive one. Deb Moser, Edna Oakley, Sheryl Stillions, Katy Rhinehart and various other BITS members gave everyone from the clinic a bag of goodies that had been assembled earlier with information about MDDA, BITS, and other groups in Iowa that drive horses. It also contained donated items from a variety of sources. We then broke for lunch where everyone enjoyed sloppy joes, salads, chips and bars.

The first driver Gene Rhinehart completed the "Safety Check" and started the 6-mile course promptly at 1 p.m. to the cheers of the audience and volunteers. This procedure was followed every 5 minutes by another driver until all 20 drivers were out. The course was a beautiful array of prairie meadow, hay fields, forest and wildlife. Baltimore Orioles, Blue Jays, Scarlet Tanagers, Indigo Buntings and Bluebirds were among some of the colorful creatures seen along the trail. On "the hill" you could hear people calling out "I'm coming down" or "I'm half way up!" as this part of the trail was navigated. It was fun to see other drivers on the route and be able to call out greetings as we passed. Although there were a few driving concerns about spots in the trail, everyone eventually made it to the finish line without incident.

At the awards ceremony a special "thank you" hay bag was given to Dr. Christie for all her help and wheel jacks from Wrightway Trailers were given to Jac and Wes. All competitors received completion ribbons for finishing the course, with their horses passing the final "Vet Check." Paul Degan and Tilly received 1st place with a score of 382 out of a perfect 400 points. The 2nd place went to Sheryl Stillions and Megan with 376, 3rd place was awarded to Edna Oakly and Jake, 4th place was Vicki Fraser from Nebraska and her horse Joe, and 5th place went to Jada Neubauer and Jo. There was a tie for 6th with Deb Moser and her horse Ken and Katy Rhinehart and Gentry sharing honors. Other competitors were Anita Schlosser, Pat Ketterer, Mickey Hansen, Marjean McIntyre, Brian Morris, Earl Morris, Eleanor Eagly, Debra Knoll, Christy Hemken, Gene Rhinehart, Brian Thompson, Carmella Feldmann, and Mary Winter. You could hear people saying that "Next time, I'll drive it this way or that way," so you know there will be a next time!

A big thank you to 3G Farm for hosting a wonderful event and to all the BITS volunteers and others who donated time, prizes, food and helped make this event safe and fun for everyone.