Tag Archives: Driving

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Chester Weber Proves Unstoppable with Another FEI Horse Team Win at Live Oak International Combined Driving Event

March 30, 2011 Associate Editor Leave a comment

ChesterLiveOak2011Marathon — Combined Driver Chester Weber proved unstoppable at CAI Live Oak, when he won the FEI Horse Team Division for the ninth year in a row. (Photo courtesy of My Elisabeth Weber)

Ocala, FL (March 30, 2011) – Chester Weber, the eight-time USEF National Four-In-Hand Combined Driving Champion, proved to be an unstoppable force at the CAI Live Oak International Combined Driving event when he drove away as the winner of the FEI Horse Team division. Live Oak International is considered to be one of the premiere Combined Driving events in North America and each year the show attracts an array of world-class competition.

Weber, who has added two new equine members to his team with Jane Forbes Clark’s horses, Uniek and Splash, was pleased with the Live Oak win. “My team went well and were technically easy to drive,” Weber said, adding that it felt great to win nine years in a row at Live Oak. “The two new additions from Jane have proven to be very helpful and have not only added to our depth but have moved our program forward.”

Weber, who is from Ocala and is based out of Live Oak Plantation, first drove into the winner’s circle in March with the new team when he won the FEI Four-In-Hand Division at Little Everglades, a USEF Selection Trial. During Live Oak, Weber competed Rolex W, Uniek, Splash and Para in the dressage phase for a score of 37.63 and followed up with Uniek, Reno, Para and Splash in the marathon and cones, with no penalties and a time of 2:55.63 in the cones.

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Chester Weber Donates Carriage Ride to the Ocala Symphony Orchestra Ball’s Live Auction and Bidding Is Expected to Be Fierce

March 24, 2011 Associate Editor Leave a comment

cheto3 — Ocala native Chester Weber is donating a carriage ride to the live auction at the Ocala Symphony Orchestra’s Symphony Ball, Friday, April 8th at the Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club. (Photo courtesy of Live Oak Combined Driving)

Ocala, FL (March 24, 2011) – Ocala residents love their native son Chester Weber, the eight-time USEF National Four-In-Hand Combined Driving Champion, whose home base is Live Oak Stud in Ocala. Weber is known for his involvement in education and the arts in his hometown community and will be donating a carriage ride, pulled by his world-class combined driving team, to the live auction of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra’s Symphony Ball, Friday, April 8th at the Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club.

“Chester’s generosity in donating this carriage ride is sincerely appreciated by the Ocala Orchestra Board of Directors and Membership. The carriage ride will be presented during our Live Auction program segment and is expected to bring some of the highest bidding of the evening,” said Cindy Van Heyde, Vice President of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra.

Van Heyde said she expects fierce competition as bidders battle to win the carriage ride with Weber, a local celebrity as well as the United States’ leading combined driver. “Many of the people who will be attending the Symphony Ball are familiar with the annual driving event that Chester hosts at Live Oak Stud every March, and they appreciate the beauty of the farm and the sport of combined driving. I fully expect a very competitive bidding environment,” she said.

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Morgan Pair Wins Little Everglades CAI

March 11, 2011 Associate Editor Leave a comment

Dade City, Florida – Morgans come from behind to take the lead, winning at Little Everglades International CAI in Dade City, Florida February 24-27, 2011. With a strong showing of eight advanced pairs, the Morgans continue to put in a strong showing against larger equine competitors who dominate the sport of combined driving. Standing in 6th place after the dressage and marathon, owner Alan Aulson drove his athletic Morgans with speed and confidence winning the cones competition, pushing him ahead to win the blue in the FEI Pairs Division.

Nordby Coalie’s Duke (Caduceus Falcon x Coal Creek Sabra’s Coalie), Nordby Coalie’s Coal Dust (Ortawn Captain Royal x Coal Creek Sabra’s Coalie), and Nordby Shadow’s Sam Spade (Ortawn Captain Royal x Ribbon Shadow SRD) are all registered black American Morgan Horses. When driving a pair in competition you can alternate three horses in the three phases: dressage, marathon, and cones so all three horses competed. The Morgans are owned by Maureen and Alan Aulson of Georgetown, MA; who are also the owners of the state of the art equine resort Black Equestrian Center in Bronson, Florida.

This is a very important year for the advanced pair drivers as they are all being observed at competitions by United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) officials who will select the best pairs to compete on the United States Team at the World’s Pairs Driving Championship to be held in Conty, France August 24-28, 2011. Earlier this year, USEF held a week long Invitational Clinic at Black Prong Equestrian Center were all pairs, horses and ponies, schooled with the USEF driving coach, Michael Freund. For more information on Team Black Prong visit www.blackprong.com/Team or contact BlackProngCenter@aol.com.

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Chester Weber Wins FEI Four-In-Hand Division at The Little Everglades International Combined Driving Event

March 7, 2011 Associate Editor Leave a comment

ChesterLittleEvergladesCourse2011 — Chester Weber, with the new additions of Uniek and Splash, won the FEI Four-In-Hand Division at The Little Everglades International Combined Driving Event, a USEF Selection Trial. (Photo courtesy of Pics of You)

Dade City, FL (March 7, 2011) – Chester Weber, the eight-time USEF National Four-In-Hand Combined Driving Champion, proved during The Little Everglades International Combined Driving Event that he could add new horses to his team and still drive into the winner’s circle. Weber, with the new addition of Jane Forbes Clark’s horses, Uniek and Splash, won the FEI Four-In-Hand Division at Little Everglades, a USEF Selection Trial.

“I was pleased with Uniek and Splash and feel that they have made great additions to our depth,” Weber said, following his win at Little Everglades. “I will continue to show them in an effort to learn about them at competitions and how they react.”

Weber added that competing at Little Everglades was a great experience. “The Blanchard’s, owners of Little Everglades Ranch, and Susan Gilliland and her team did a super job organizing the show,” Weber said. “The course was considerably technical in nature and the two new horses were great on the marathon, very straight forward and easy to drive.”

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Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Driving, Events, Fundraisers, Phelps Media Group, USEF

‘Salute to Driving’ Benefit Offers Generous Support to USET Foundation

February 26, 2011 Associate Editor Leave a comment

SalutetoDriving005569 — Bev Lesher, Lisa Singer, and Wendy O'Brien at the Salute to Driving. Photo By: Vicki Long.

Aiken, SC – February 25, 2011 – The first annual ‘Salute to Driving’ event hosted a beautiful Dinner & Live Auction on Saturday, February 19, 2011, to benefit the United States Equestrian Team Foundation and, ultimately, USEF High Performance Combined Driving. The successful evening was held at Wendy O’Brien’s Trout Walk Farm in Aiken, SC. The goal of the event was to help raise funds for the USET Foundation that will be dedicated to helping fund and train the best drivers and equines to represent the USA in World Driving Championships to bring home Team and Individual Medals.

The dinner began at 6:30 pm, and during the evening’s Live Auction attendees helped raise funds for the USET Foundation. Auction items included two lessons with top driver Michael Freund at Little Everglades or Live Oak 2011, two lessons with Chester Weber during Live Oak 2011, a dinner for eight presented by Jack Wetzel at his new log cabin in Aiken, a week long vacation in a large Victorian home on the beach in Cape May, NJ, a week long vacation in Block Island, RI, a print, “Patriots Barn” by Jamie Wyeth, signed and remarqued by the artist and brunch for four at the Green Boundary Club. There were also over 20 raffle items given away through the night that ranged from a professional photo shoot to dancing lessons.

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Final Startlist Announced For FEI World Cup Driving In Leipzig

February 22, 2011 Associate Editor Leave a comment

ExellBoydAUS_20101211_16422 — Boyd Exell will be facing strong opponents in Leipzig. FEI/Rinaldo de Craen

Driving fans will be treated to a thrilling Final for the 10th season of the FEI World Cup Driving series in Leipzig, Germany, from 27 April to 1 May 2011.Five of the seven four-in-hand drivers who will start in Leipzig have already won a World Cup round this season, highlighting the incredible level of skills for this year’s FEI World Cup Driving Final.

The finalists will all start from scratch and, as this year’s series was so tightly contested, it won’t be until the very last second of the Final on the afternoon of Sunday 1 May that the new World Cup Champion will be announced.

British-based Australian driver Boyd Exell – double World Cup champion and gold medallist at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky last year – will be aiming for a hat trick in Leipzig. Exell has won three out of the six competitions this season and was runner-up three times, but he will be facing up to the strongest ever indoor opponents.

Dutch driver Koos de Ronde, runner-up in the 2010 final and winner at this year’s FEI World Cup Driving competition in Mechelen for the third time in a row, has his sights set on the overall series title once again. De Ronde is a very fast driver and will certainly give Exell a run for his money in Leipzig.

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Award-Winning Combined Driver Chester Weber Appears on HRTV Show Filmed at Live Oak Stud

February 21, 2011 Associate Editor 1 Comment

weber4horsehitchFILE — Combined Driver Chester Weber, the eight-time USEF Combined Driving National Champion, will appear on an HRTV show filmed on location at Live Oak Stud, Weber’s home, in Ocala. (Photo courtesy of Ray Jowers Ocala Digital Art Masters and Camera Club)

Ocala, FL (February 21, 2011) – Television crews and cameras descended on the rolling hills of Live Oak Stud in Ocala recently, to not only film a show about the farms success in the race horse world but to also interview Combined Driver Chester Weber and capture footage of his famous equine teammate Jamaica. While the show will chronicle the success of Weber’s mother, Charlotte Weber, the owner of Live Oak Stud who has solely guided the 4,500-acre Thoroughbred farm for the last four decades, it will also touch on Weber and his achievements in the combined driving world.

Raised on the family’s Thoroughbred operation, Live Oak Stud, Weber dreamed of being a jockey when he was young. At 6’2” he physically outgrew that possibility, so Weber turned his heart and his attention to driving. Weber soon discovered that driving brought out his competitive nature and he fell in love with the speed and challenge of combined driving.

Considered a force to be reckoned with in the Combined Driving world, Weber is the eight-time USEF National Four-In-Hand Driving Champion. He has competed in three World Equestrian Games, was the first American to win the prestigious German Fahrderby at Riesenbeck and he also accomplished what no other American had done before when he won the Individual Silver Medal at the 2008 World Driving Championships.

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Combined Driver Chester Weber Adds a “Unique Splash” to His Driving Team

February 15, 2011 Associate Editor Leave a comment

weberFellowship-20110212-00011 — Two new faces welcomed at Live Oak Combined Driving. Splash (left) and Uniek (right) are now part of eight-time USEF National Four-In-Hand Combined Driving Champion, Chester Weber’s Team. (Photo courtesy of Live Oak Combined Driving)

Ocala, FL (February 15, 2011) – As the eight-time USEF National Four-In-Hand Combined Driving Champion, Chester Weber has made history with his team of horses. Now, the highly-successful and decorated driver is adding two new equine teammates to his barn with the goal of increasing the depth and talent of his world-class combined driving team.

Uniek (pronounced unique and called Nick around the barn) and Splash, two bay, 16.2-hand KWPN horses bred in Holland, are now part of Team Weber thanks to the generosity of Jane Forbes Clark, an active supporter of high performance equestrian sports as well as President and CEO of the United States Equestrian Team Foundation. “Following the 2010 World Equestrian Games, Jane and I had a long conversation with the U.S. team coach, Michael Freund, and we identified Nick and Splash as two of the most talented horses in the sport,” Weber said. “We were lucky enough that they seem to fit with the group we have going in size and color. Jane had previously leased the horses but when we made the decision to move forward she purchased them.”

Nick and Splash bring international experience to the table, a component that benefits Team Weber. “With these new horses added to my existing team, our goals for 2011 are to prepare ourselves for the 2012 World Championships in Riesenbeck and to continue to insure our preparedness for the 2014 World Equestrian Games in France,” Weber said. “It would also be nice to win a ninth USEF National Four-In-Hand Combined Driving Championship.”

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Champion Combined Driver Chester Weber Named to USET Foundation Board of Trustees

February 10, 2011 Associate Editor Leave a comment

Ocala, FL (February 9, 2011) – Combined Driver Chester Weber, the eight-time USEF Foundation National Four-In-Hand Driving Champion, has been named to the United States Equestrian Team Foundation (USET) Board of Trustees. The USET Foundation supports equestrian athletes, promotes international excellence and builds for the future of equestrian sports.

The eight High Performance equestrian disciplines supported by the USET Foundation are dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, jumping, reining, para-equestrian and vaulting. As one of the leading drivers in the United States, Weber’s experience — as well as his passion for promoting his sport — will serve as a benefit to the USET Foundation Board of Trustees.

“Chester and our other Trustees are people that have shown their leadership with the United States Equestrian Team through their involvement as ambassadors in International High Performance activities, and for their charitable support of our United States Equestrian Teams,” said Bonnie Jenkins, Executive Director of the USET Foundation. “We expect that Chester will continue to help us achieve our mission of supporting athletes, promoting international excellence and building for the future.”

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Dutch Driver IJsbrand Chardon Has Won Four-In-Hand FEI World Cup Driving Qualifier in Bordeaux

February 6, 2011 Associate Editor 1 Comment

Chardon20110205_4823 — Chardon went for it all the way in Bordeaux. Photo: FEI/Rinaldo de Craen

CHARDON IN TOP FORM IN BORDEAUX by Cindy Timmer

Dutch driver IJsbrand Chardon won last night’s FEI World Cup qualifier in Bordeaux in breath taking style. Wild card driver Chardon stayed ahead of Tomas Eriksson in second guaranteeing the Swede the sixth and last starting place for the Final in Leipzig. Werner Ulrich knocked two balls down in the winning round to finish third.

The atmosphere was superb on Saturday evening in the Palais des Expositions in Bordeaux. The drivers put on a perfect show, cheered on by the many enthusiastic spectators and the great music.

Second wild card for Coudry

As in Geneva, French four-in-hand driver Thibault Coudry had been given a wild card to compete in front of his home crowd in Bordeaux. The 30-year old farmer and truck driver drove a good round with his team of Polish warmblood horses and a French trotter. But the competition in Bordeaux was too strong this year for the 2010 winner of the French World Cup leg who ended in fourth.

Battle for Leipzig

Dutch driver Theo Timmerman, Sweden’s Fredrik Persson and Tomas Eriksson and Switzerland’s Daniel Würgler all had a last chance in Bordeaux to claim the sixth and last starting place for the Final in Leipzig. Würgler knocked three cones down in the course, designed by German course designer Falk Böhnisch, to lose his chance for Leipzig. Despite the use of one of Boyd Exell’s top horses Pascal in he lead of his team, Fredrik Persson could not manage to qualify for the Winning Round. By coming sixth, Persson also knew his chances for a starting place in the Leipzig line-up were gone. Timmerman had improved his team compared to the warm-up round, but he finished fifth despite his efforts.

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