Hardy Zantke started driving as a boy at his Grandfather's home in East Germany, where his grandfather had a local drayage company which was still operated with horse teams shortly after World War II. Later in life, after immigrating to the U.S. Hardy picked up driving again now as a competitive sport and is now with his wife Jutta and their pair of 17 hand bay Holsteiner Geldings among the top competitors in Combined Driving in the U.S.. They have competed throughout the West and have traveled with their pairs to the East Coast many times to compete at advanced level there. They were first alternate of the U.S. Team at the 1993 World Pair Driving Championship in Gladstone with their old pair. The Zantkes' import their horses from Germany as three-year-olds and as Hardy does the driving, Jutta trains the horses under saddle .

They now compete with their young pair of 8-year-olds on Advanced level and are long listed by the United States Equestrian Team again with the new pair. Although the old pair is retired from CDE's, they do put both pairs together to drive four-in-hand regularly and present them once a year to the public at the Pacific Dressage Festival and recently competed with them at the Ram Tap CDE in Fresno, CA successfully with their scores qualified them for the USET Developing Drivers List with Four-in-Hands.

Hardy is a retired transportation executive and now Western Representative and importer of Kuehnle Carriages from Germany as well as an importer of Holsteiner driving horses. Hardy & Jutta are also active on the organizational level of driving, as they are co-organizers of the California Classic Combined Driving Event for 12 years.

Hardy is a member of the American Driving Society Combined Driving & Dressage Committees, the American Horse Show Association Driving Committee, the United States Equestrian Team Driving Committee and Active Drivers Committee and served as Chef d'Equipe for the U.S. Team at the Four In-Hand World Championship in Waregem, Belgium in 1996. He is an American Driving Society & American Horse Show Association licensed Combined Driving Judge and judges all over the country. He writes a popular column in "Driving West Magazine" as well as another one in a German driving magazine and gives driving clinics as well as private driving instructions. He was recipient of the American Driving Society's President's award last year for his contributions to the sport.

To submit a question to Laura, write to her at AskHardy@TodaysHorse.com.