December Through March, South Carolina's Driving Competitions Run Through Windsor

The cones course at Landmark Farms on Thrasher Lane is set on grass. Its dressage rings are 40 by 80 meters. One is on the farm and the other is on a neighbor's property. The entry form for the December combined test also covers a hazard that no course designer controls.

Neighbor has "free range" chickens - Show has NO control over chickens

That line is in the official American Driving Society omnibus for Landmark Farms Combined Test #9. The Windsor Trace CDE wrapped up its October 22 to 25 run at Greenfields Farm, but the season stays in Windsor. The competitions move to other farms a few roads away.

Six Windsor Addresses Between December and March

The American Driving Society's omnibus lists six South Carolina competitions between December 16 and March 21. All six have a Windsor address. The other events in those months are in Ocala and Weirsdale, Florida, and Temecula, California.

1. Wednesday, December 16: Landmark Farms Combined Test #9, 480 Thrasher Lane
2. Saturday, January 9: Landmark Farms Combined Test #10, 480 Thrasher Lane
3. Friday, February 19: Landmark Farms Combined Test #11, 480 Thrasher Lane
4. February 20 to 21: Landmark Farms Driving Trial #12, 480 Thrasher Lane
5. Sunday, February 28: Aiken Driving Club Driving Derby #1, Greenfields Farm, 1060 Curb Chain Lane
6. Sunday, March 21: Aiken Driving Club Derby #2, Tuackmback Farm, 445 Spring Branch Road

The season doesn't leave Windsor until April. Even then, the two spring events on the Aiken calendar are a short trip into town.

A Wednesday Combined Test on Thrasher Lane

The December test is the closest deadline. Kristin Whittington organizes Combined Test #9 and designs the course. Keith Angstadt of Maryland is president of the jury, and Debbie Bevan of South Carolina is the technical delegate. Entries opened November 2 and close November 26, which is Thanksgiving Day. You can mail an entry to 480 Thrasher Lane or drop it in the box under the farm sign at the entrance.

The schedule runs on farm hours. The show office is open Tuesday afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m., the cones course opens for walking that same afternoon, and everyone is invited to a welcome gathering Tuesday evening. Stabling runs December 14 through 17. Permanent barn stalls cost $35 a night with one bag of shavings, and a few paddocks rent for $35 a day. No marathon phase is listed. The day is dressage and cones, both on grass.

January's Combined Test #10 uses the same format with a tighter window. Entries open December 15 and close December 31, and Intermediate is limited to five entries, taken first come, first served. Tracey Morgan of Maryland presides, Rebecca Guterriz of South Carolina is the technical delegate, and Whittington designs the course again.

Three Formats, Three Price Points

Over the winter in Windsor, a driver can move up through three kinds of competition, and the entry fees rise with each step:

• Driving Derby, $75. Each competitor gets two runs. Training is trot only over gates A through C, Preliminary allows canter over gates A through D, and Intermediate runs gates A through E. The late fee is $30.
• Combined Test, $125. Dressage and cones on the same day. A post-entry costs $175.
• Driving Trial, $250. Runs over two days, February 20 and 21, under the Landmark Farms Driving Committee. A post-entry costs $300.

All three formats offer Training, Preliminary and Intermediate divisions for VSE, small pony, pony and horse classes. Single, pair and multiple turnouts are all accepted. The ADS competition fee is included in the entry fee at each level.

Combined Test #11 on Friday the 19th and Driving Trial #12 on the 20th share the same officials: Dana Bright of Pennsylvania as jury president and Hannah Polson of Pennsylvania as technical delegate. The Friday-evening gathering covers both the CT awards and the DT briefing. Both events have the same entry window, which opens January 9 and closes January 23.

Greenfields Farm Returns in February

The Aiken Driving Club's first Driving Derby of 2027 is at Greenfields Farm, 1060 Curb Chain Lane, on Sunday, February 28, from 1 to 5 p.m. That's the same Curb Chain Lane address the Windsor Trace CDE has used for its show grounds.

The CDE's own history explains why so many Windsor events spread across several farms. When the event started in the Windsor Trace community in 2015, the dressage ring and cones arena were on one farm, and the marathon sections crossed North Windsor Road through a pine forest and wound past several other properties. Neighbors offered stalls and paddocks, and competitors drove their horses over to the event. No competitor was stabled more than a quarter mile away. Greenfields became the event's home after a new owner bought the farm and offered it for the show and smaller events.

The March derby keeps the same people involved. Derby #2 is on Sunday, March 21, at Tuackmback Farm, 445 Spring Branch Road. Lisa Singer serves as jury president and course designer. Singer's farm has been part of the Windsor Trace CDE from the beginning. Her farm had marathon obstacles in the first years, and she reconfigured paddocks for tent stabling when the CDE hosted the American Driving Society's North American Championships for Preliminary and Intermediate in 2021.

The CDE has also been a charitable cause. Since it became a 501(c)(3) in 2018, part of its proceeds has gone to different charities. The most recent is the Large Animal Rescue Team of Aiken, which Aiken Public Safety operates around the clock for large animal emergencies in and around Aiken County.

April Moves the Season Into Aiken

The season leaves Windsor in April. The Aiken Driving Club's Derby Championships #3 are on Sunday, April 4, at The Vista, 859 Old Tory Trail. Singer is jury president and course designer again. The fee stays at $75, and entries run March 2 through March 24.

Thirteen days later, the Aiken Carriage Classic Pleasure Show runs April 17 and 18 at Highfields Event Center, 198 Gaston Road. The omnibus invites drivers, club members and the wider community to a ticketed Saturday evening that combines a social event with an educational program.

If the Carriage Classic is on your spring list, the Aiken Driving Club has scheduled an educational session on February 18 about pleasure-show rules and turnout, led by Katy Reinhart. That's ten days before Derby #1 at Greenfields.

Between Now and the First Test

A few other dates fall before Combined Test #9 or in the gaps between the competitions:

• Week of Thanksgiving: Saddle Chimes in the Pines, a holiday recreational drive at Stable View Equestrian Center in Aiken, starts Monday, November 23.
• Sunday, December 6: The Town of Windsor Christmas Parade steps off at 3 p.m., with lineup at 2 p.m. The route runs from Cedar Road to Middleton Drive.
• February 16 to 17: Stable View holds another recreational drive at 151 Stable Drive, and registration is required. This one falls in the quiet stretch between the January test and the February CT and Driving Trial weekend.

Aiken Driving Club membership for the 2026–27 year runs from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027. A single membership is $40 with the newsletter by email or $60 by mail. A family membership for two or more members of the same household is $55 by email or $75 by mail. Members get the monthly newsletters, email updates, club competitions, drives and social events, and are eligible for the Gerde Award.

If you'd like to talk through which Windsor farm lanes, barns and turnout setups work well for a driving horse, whether you're looking for one or selling one, I'm always happy to have that conversation. Let's Connect with Lea McCullough at Distinctive Horse Properties.