Carriage capers

By Danielle Galvin
THREE siblings from Iona can often be spotted atop a horse and carriage on the dirt roads at the back on Bunyip. There’s no doubt they turn heads – there’s not many carriage drivers around town.
Kim, Rhiannon, and Andrew Damsma have been carriage racing for about six years now.
They had no real interest in ponies or horses growing up but the trio have just been named Victorian and national champions in carriage racing.
Kim, 26, said her family, originally from Holland, moved to Iona about 23 years ago.
She reckons there’s some healthy sibling rivalry going on since they took out the championships.
“Rhiannon competes in the singles with her pony Westbury Skeeta, and Andrew competes with his horse Goldview Flying Dutchman, aka Neptune,” she said.
Younger sister Rhiannon, 21, won the national champion in the single novice in April.
Andrew, the youngest at just 18, came third at the national championships and won the indoor event earlier this year with Neptune.
“Rhiannon also won the Victorian championships on Labour Day weekend and Andrew came reserve champion, so there’s plenty of sister-brother rivalry going on,” Kim said.
More than 70 participants from all over Australia headed to Longwood, near Eurora, for the national championships.
“It was nice to see lots of different people from everywhere,” Kim said.
There are three phases in the championships including a dressage event, a marathon, and speed cones to get through.
While most people raise an eyebrow when Kim tells them she’s a keen carriage driver and racer she said it was growing in popularity and the sport was becoming more well-known.
“Carriage racing is massive in Europe. The current world champion is an Australian,” she said.
“But most people think it’s like chariot racing.”
The siblings are involved in the Mornington Peninsula Club and although it can be an expensive hobby, they said they’re hooked.
“I guess it is like a hobby, a serious hobby. We spend a lot of time, money and effort to train them,” Kim said.
“The sport is just really different.”
The carriages are imported from the Netherlands and there’s a lot of equipment required.
“But transport is probably the hardest thing,” she said.
“Our parents have made a lot of sacrifices!”