News / Articles

The 2024 Clean and Redline Rulebooks are available for free download now and print copies can be pre-ordered in the ADS Store. Books ship in mid-February.

Every January, The American Driving Society, Inc. (ADS) publishes a new Rulebook, which includes
any rule changes that were passed and any housekeeping changes, including grammatical issues,
omissions, and typos. Any changes from the previous year can be found on the Rulebook Page of the
website in a download labeled Redline Version. All changes are in red, so that they are easily
identified.

The ADS Executive Committee voted to update the North American Championship Criteria.

Bill Orth, World Champion Singles Driver, has passed away.

Jack Pemberton, a champion of the sport of carriage driving, passed away at his home on August 16, 2022.

Rule Change Proposals for the 2023 Rulebook are live for member comments from July 1-30, 2022.

2024 is the 50th anniversary of the ADS! Help us celebrate.

Nominations forms are available now for the ADS Sportsmanship Award.

A caution letter from the State of CA regarding the outbreak of EHM.

Announcing the venues and dates for the 2022 Championships.

Applications for 2022 Blue Ribbon Clubs are due April 1, 2022.

Purchase your 2022 Rulebook in the ADS Store

The ADS Rule Change Process moves back one month in order to better serve the membership with a more timely Rulebook.

An important addition to the 2022 ADS Rulebook

December 2-4, 2022 in Seattle, WA

The 2022 ADS Licensed Officials Super Clinic will be held July 7-10, 2022 in Lexington, KY. Clinicians: Karen Homer-Brown, Kail Palmer-Miller, Sara Schmitt, Keith Yutzy.

The 2022 ADS Spring Board Meeting will be held April 1 & 2, 2022 in Atlanta, GA.

Results of the 2021 ADS North American Preliminary & Intermediate Championships.

The Board of Directors of the American Driving Society, Inc. (ADS) met on October 27, 2021 for their annual Fall Board Meeting during which, traditionally, they vote on Rule Change Proposals that have been reviewed by the members and the technical committees. After careful review of every comment submitted by ADS members and thorough discussion, the ADS Board voted as noted below. Thank you to all members who participated in the annual ADS Rule Change Process.

To gauge interest in a Spring 2022 Virtual Dressage Show

Please see the proposed bylaws that will be submitted to the ADS Membership for approval at the Annual Meeting of Members on December 4, 2021.
These Bylaws contain many typo and formatting edits as well as edits to improve clarity and to incorporate the Policies and Procedures of the ADS. A substantive change to the election of officers is also included to comply with New York Not for Profit Corporate Law. Comments are welcome from the membership until November 1, 2021. Click on the black arrow to the right to view the document. Email all comments to: margaretgrillet@yahoo.com

It’s time again for our annual Member Comment Period on the Rule Change Proposals for the 2022 Rulebook. All ADS Members are automatically added to this Forum (You may opt out of this Forum Membership in your Member Profile at the top right of your screen when you're logged into the ADS website). As you probably know, the ADS updates and republishes the Rulebook annually. This allows for members to submit their suggested changes to the Rulebook, and those changes are considered by the technical committees and may be moved forward as Rule Change Proposals. Those proposals are then put up for a 30-day member comment period. Since this year the RCPs are being posted on August 2, the comment period will close on September 1.

The 2021 ADS Annual Meeting will be held virtually via Zoom, Dec 3-5, 2021.

Feedback on this proposal should be emailed to USEF (DAamodt@usef.org) as soon as possible.

Registration for the in-person clinic on Course Design Nov 7-9, 2021 in Windsor, SC.

Updated Harness Charts for 2021 available in the ADS Store

AdHoc/Organizers Zoom Meetings have been scheduled for the following dates.

April 20, 7pm East
May 4, 7pm East
May 18, 7pm East
June 8, 7pm East
June 29, 7pm East
July 20, 7pm East
August 3, 7pm East
Aug 24, 7pm East
Sept 7, 7pm East
Sept 21, 7pm East
Oct 5, 7pm East
Oct 26, 7pm East

Topic: AdHoc Zoom Meeting

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Organizers-please submit your Omnibus entries by March 15 to have them included in the print version that's bound with the May Whip.

In Memoriam: John Paulsen (1934-2020)

The 2020 Preliminary & Intermediate Calculated Championships have been canceled because there are simply not enough recognized combined driving events across the country for most drivers to qualify. The championships usually run from August to August, so there just hasn't been enough time for the events to occur. We regret that this had to happen, but we look forward to the championships returning in 2021.

The ADS Executive Committee along with an Ad-Hoc Committee it appointed, comprised of the Technical Committee Chairs (Pleasure Driving, Combined Driving, Dressage, and Event Standards) have been working hard to develop a statement about Covid-19 compliance and recognition of ADS competitions.

ADS Covid-19 Survey Results

Canceled Events (a running list of canceled driving events)

March 13, 2020 Letter from ADS President re COVID-19

Update on the 2020 Northeast Recreational Drive (NERD)