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Chester Weber - USEF Advanced Four-in-Hand Combined Driving National Champion
Friday, March 15, 2019
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LIVE OAK INTERNATIONAL | CHESTER WEBER
Chester Weber secured a record 16th USEF Advanced Four-in-Hand Combined Driving National Championship title, at the 2019 Live Oak International Combined Driving
Weber (Ocala, Fla.), the FEI World Equestrian Games™ (WEG) Tryon 2018 individual silver and team gold medalist, commanded the lead in the USEF Advanced Four-in-Hand Combined Driving National Championship from start to finish. He accurately navigated his team of geldings, Amadeus, his 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood; Hendrik, his seven-year-old Dutch Warmblood; First Edition, his 10-year-old KWPN; and Gouveneur, his eight-year-old KWPN through razor thin margins, leaving all the balls on their cones and adding just 1.56 time penalties for a final result of 166.13.
"I was pleased to start the weekend with a dressage score in the 30s. In dressage, I used two horses that were different from my WEG team, so I was pleased with that depth," Weber said. "Today in the cones, I put the two leaders that I drove last season together because they're my strongest combination. I drove my seven-year-old, Henrik, again as well. He's gotten better and better. He's telling me that he's ready for the big stuff in Europe."
Misdee Wrigley-Miller (Paris, Ky.) capped off her weekend with the Four-in-Hand Reserve Championship title. She and the team of Bolino D, her 13-year-old KWPN gelding; Calipso 86, her 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding; Daan 8, her 14-year-old KNHS gelding; and Saco, her 20-year-old KWPN gelding demonstrated a brilliant display of harmony through the tricky course to add 36.32 points for a final score of 222.46.
"The dressage and cones arena here is second to none anywhere in the world. There's no other place where you navigate around jumps in your cones course. It makes it very challenging in that way, but I was very happy with my horses," Wrigley-Miller said.
Paul Maye's expert work through the cones phase launched him into third place with Harmony Sporthorse's four geldings of Harmony's Cotessa, a 12-year-old KWPN; Harmony's Zandoburga, a 15-year-old KWPN; Harmony's Zeppelin, a 15-year-old KWPN; and Harmony's Ziezo, an eight-year-old Irish Cob. He had three balls down, but the fastest time of the group with only 1.28 penalties added to end on a three-day score of 226.58.
“I consider myself the rookie since it’s only my third year in Four-in-Hand. The highlight this weekend for me was my two young horses. It’s their first time at Live Oak, and they performed magnificently the whole weekend,” he said.
