Mind Your Melon: Go For a Wild Ride in the Aachen Jump and Drive

As if competing in equestrian sport weren’t hard enough, equestrians love to make things even more complex. Never is that more apparent than in the Jump and Drive. 

I’m truly obsessed with the Jump and Drive: a special class that combines eventing, show jumping and combined driving in a relay race type competition which sees the event riders jump a showcase style cross country course before hoping on the back of their teammates carriage and going for a wild ride. Of course we only get to see this class at special, big events where all of these disciplines converge, but it’s great fun when that happens!

The Jump and Drive at Aachen is always an extra enjoyable time thanks to the pumping party music and roaring crowds. This year a combined team of Australian and American athletes took home the top honors. U.S. show jumper Lillie Keenan was partnered with Australians Boyd Exell, a superstar in combined driving, and Tokyo 2020 individual eventing bronze medalist Andrew Hoy, who rode Odaria Finemore’s Bloom des Hauts Crets. Andrew wore his trusty helmet cam during his round, so lucky us — we get a competitor’s perspective from this unique class!

Mind Your Melon videos showcase equestrians who have decided to protect their noggins by wearing a helmet. Do you have a Mind Your Melon submission to share? Send it to [email protected].