Charlotte Adams-Lane is the number one double-harness scurry driver in the country, thanks initially to Princess Michael of Kent.

“I was about eight years old,” she says. “I was at the Sandringham Horse Driving Trials with my mother, who was the stable manager; I was bored after riding and wandered off by myself around the grounds when Princess Michael picked me up and took me back to my mother. Christine and the late John Dick, once world famous carriage drivers were warming up their team of four horses at the time and kindly took me for a one hour drive through the Sandringham Estate, from then on I was hooked. I wanted to do nothing but driving.”

Now some 20 odd years later, the big money is again on Charlotte to win this year’s HOYS Double-harness Scurry Championships. The fact Charlotte, or Charlie as she is known in the world of scurry driving, is involved with horses is not surprising; the surprise is that it is Scurry Driving.

Charlotte, who hails from Rutland, says she has been riding since she was born. “My mother, Sarah, was one of the most respected show pony producers in the country,” she says. “She ran the Riding Stud at Seaton. My Father, James, came into horses late in life helping out at the Stud. Living in Rutland, we bordered three great hunting areas, The Cottesmore, The Woodland Pytchley and The Beaver and we used to go hunting with all three packs.”

Charlottes first pony was an 11.2hh grey called Bengad Nettle. “We did everything, “says Charlie. “We hunted and went to all the shows.” That was until that certain day at Sandringham. “After I went out with John and Christine, I kept badgering my mother to let me take up driving. Eventually they bought me a driving pony. I was thrilled. I started practising and practising and then at the age of fourteen, I started competing.” Charlotte is still as competitive as ever.

Currently Charlotte has three pairs:

Rip and Tear Both home-bred British riding ponies, which, she says, make the best scurry ponies. Rip is now 15 and Tear is 18. Both these two have been classified as smalls and are therefore currently her backburner pair.

Chas and Dave Both Dutch Bred Roan Geldings age 10 and 12 standing at 12hh. Already qualified for HOYS 2012. Chas according to Charlotte is the Spivey one and Dave is a proper gent – reminds me of a certain pop duo.

Power and Performance Large over 12.2 black ponies. Performance is an 8 year Ninfield bred Show pony and Power is a registered Dartmoor 16 year old mare – both ideally matched and qualified for HOYS 2012.

Sadly, she lost one of her pair Rhubarb and Custard earlier this year, Digger better known as Rhubarb; a chestnut mare had been part of Charlotte’s scurry pair for 15 years and is a huge loss for her. I asked husband Ian, what kind of pony he considered most suited to driving, says Ian “Section A or an A cross, without a doubt, they were used by miners and are intelligent, eager to work, free moving and responsive”.

Charlotte has developed her own training programme, exercise schedule and has created her own feeding regime with the help of husband Ian, who launched and runs Balanced Horse Feeds, one of the top feed manufacturers in the country.

Novices, she says, “require one hours work a day. The rest make do with a trip in an old competition carriage about once a week to the local pub near Chessington, Surrey.”

The good news is that very soon, Ian and Charlotte are hoping to open up their Farm premises to a new side of the business and offer a training centre for carriage drivers, both experienced and those aspiring to join the ever growing throng of drivers, with try driving days. With the recent purchase of a team, they will be able to offer all aspects of training and based in Surrey, handy for the M25, outside of the omissions zone this is good news for many in the South.

So what makes Charlotte a great scurry champion? “I think it is what you would call natural horsemanship,“ she says. “Somehow I seem to be able to understand how horses think. I can understand their whole environment.” Does she get nervous zooming through one obstacle after another in a tiny carriage at speeds of up to 40 miles an hour? “You’ve got to be,” she says. “If not, then it’s dangerous.”