[Last updated: 27
September
2007]
It was at those horse shows (Madison Square Garden, Devon and
Toronto) that Anne would see the huge Park Coaches driven to four-in-hands.
She was particularly fascinated by the high steppers. Standing by the rail,
watching the driving classes, a glimmering of an idea began. By 1980, Anne
owned her own Park Coach (manufactured in 1882 by the
famous Brewster & Company), a set of Freedman four-in-hand harness, and a four
of chestnut Hackney Horses. Within two months of purchasing her four,
teaching herself to drive by examining how-to-do-it manuals, she drove her
four and coach at the prestigious Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.
It was a Cinderella dream come true. Shortly after, she flew to England to
study under the world's most renown woman whip, Cynthia Haydon.
Anne sitting
on the box of her Park Drag
with whip and ribbons in hand
Since then, Anne has driven at all the continent's major driving
shows and pleasure driving marathons. The breeding operation at her farm
has helped to repopulate the once dwindling number of
Hackney Horses. She
has also developed a bay cross-bred driving horse that she and her husband
now drive as often as their Hackneys. The breed, which they call
Native Warmbloods, is a cross of Thoroughbred,
Cleveland Bay and
Trakehner
bloodlines. And during this time, Anne has become recognized as one of the
nation's most accomplished whips and a leading
authority on driving-safety and
harnessing. She has led dozens of seminars and clinics on the subjects. In
addition, she is now certified by the
American Driving Society as a pleasure
driving judge and coaching judge. She has judged pleasure driving classes at the most
prestigious shows in America --
Walnut Hill,
Devon, and the
National Horse
Show.
Anne served for over four years as a Director of the
American
Driving Society and spent three years on its Executive Committee. She also
spent eight years as a Director of the
Carriage Association of America
and continues now as an Honorary Director. She
was on the Advisory Committee to the Carriage Collection at the
Museums at
Stony Brook, now known as the The Long Island Museum,
on Long Island, NY. She was a member of the Advisory Committee of the 1993
World Pairs Driving Championships that were held in Gladstone, New Jersey.
Anne's
Park Drag
was built in 1882
by Brewster & Company,
New York City
She is a former Director of the Minnesota Whips and Wheels, a
local driving organization. She is a former President of the World Coaching Club,
an organization she helped found in 1982. And finally, Anne is a former
member of The Board of Governors of the
United States Pony Clubs.
Her
children are grown now and living in their own homes while Anne and her
husband live in a home on her farm, about 25 miles west of Minneapolis. She's known
in the neighborhood as "the woman who's always driving the four horses." In
the wider community she's well known for her contributions to charitable and
civic organizations. She has served on the boards of several community
charitable and cultural institutions.
Off the farm, her
favorite activities are enjoying the wonderful
Tyrone Guthrie
Theatre, in Minneapolis, and the concerts of the
Minnesota Orchestra. She also thinks that her church,
Plymouth Church, is
one of the finest organizations ever set upon Earth. She also remains very
loyal to the Ethel Walker School
and carries wonderful memories with her about her time there. It might not
be difficult to guess that this boarding school has a wonderful horse
program and it is why Anne and her family chose it for Anne's high school
years.
Her family is still deeply involved in horses. Her late
father, Lyman Wakefield, rode nearly every day and rode
to the hounds at most every meet through his 85th year. Anne's
younger sister, Louise, owns and manages a hunter-jumper stable which boards
nearly one-hundred horses. Louise still competes in open jumping and hunt
shows around the country and in Europe. Anne's
husband, Charles, also drives four and is a former member of the Coaching
Club of New York City.
Anne was raised in Minnesota as a child She lived for a very
short time in California and in Sweden as a young mother, but found her way
back to the state she loves so dearly. There, she and her husband have a
significant collection of carriages and sleighs. Though
they don't spend time driving competitively any more, their first love is loading friends and family into a carriage, packing a
large picnic, and heading out for a drive through the countryside;
or, in the winter time, driving out over the snow covered hills of their
farm. In place of competitive driving, Anne has become
far more active judging at pleasure shows from one end of the country to the
other.
In addition to her horse operation, Anne also supervises the
management of a flock of over 150 sheep and lambs at Sheepy Hollow at Native
Oaks Farm. This program produces large amounts of both wool and meat.
In addition to graduating from
The Ethel Walker School, in Simsbury Connecticut,
she studied
chemical engineering both at the
University of Minnesota and at
Stanford
University. Anne also holds an Associate Degree in
Applied Sciences from the
College of Saint Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota.
She is a
licensed Physical Therapy Assistant who specializes in geriatric
physical therapy. She is currently employed by
Aegis Therapies Corporation.
Summary Résumé
Pleasure Driving Judge
Coaching Judge
-
Certified by the American
Driving Society as a Pleasure Driving Judge
-
Past Director of the American
Driving Society
-
Former Member of the Executive
Committee of the American Driving Society
-
Past Director of the Carriage
Association of America
-
Currently an Honorary Director
of the Carriage Association of America
-
Former President
and one of the founders of the World Coaching Club
-
Member of the American Tandem
Society
-
Member of the American Horse
Shows Association
-
Judged at many pleasure
driving competitions, including:
The National Horse Show
The Devon Horse Show
Walnut Hill Farm Driving Competition
Los Angeles State Fair
The Canadian Carriage
Classic
Michigan State Fair Horse Show
Minnesota Morgan Horse Show
-
Competed at many driving
shows, including:
The National Horse Show
The Devon Horse Show
Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Horse Show (Toronto)
Walnut Hill Farm Driving Competition
The Canadian Carriage Classic
Villa Louis Carriage Driving Competition
The Barrington (IL) Horse Show
