Chester Weber (Picsofyou.com)
Ocala, Fla. – A foggy morning gave way to a sunny afternoon at Live Oak International as the three competitors in the USEF National Four-in-Hand Championship sponsored by Ariat entered the John Deere Arena to perform their dressage test. The championship also serves as the USEF Selection Trial for the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Held in conjunction with the FEI Four-in-Hand division sponsored by Seminole Wellness, Chester Weber currently sits atop the leaderboard following the dressage phase with a score of 35.02.
Weber (Ocala, Fla.) performed his signature lovely dressage test with his and Jane Clark’s team of Royal Dutch Warmblood geldings to earn the winning score. He guided his team expertly throughout the test, highlighted by great trot work and circles. After winning at the Kingdom of the Sun CDE last month, Weber aims to maintain his winning streak and claim his eleventh USEF National Four-in-Hand Championship title.
“I drove a really experienced team here and I couldn’t be more pleased with the horses,” stated Weber. “They are in really good form showing they are headed in the right direction towards Normandy, our goal for this summer. It’s always a bit of a challenge to be involved with the organization of an event and to compete here, but I was really pleased with the horses and how they showed up today.”
Misdee Wrigley-Miller (Lakewood Ranch, Fla.) lies in second place after scoring 51.97 with her team of Dutch Warmblood geldings. She performed a smooth, fluid test to sit in the Reserve Champion position. With a win at Sunshine State CDE and a third-place finish at the Kingdom of the Sun CDE earlier this year, Wrigley-Miller seems to be on track for another top performance.
Casey Zubek (Manhattan, Ill.) holds the third-place position after earning a score of 58.57. He and his team of Dutch Warmblood geldings executed a nice test highlighted by a solid reinback. Zubek hopes to improve after earning a second-place finish at the Kingdom of the Sun CDE.
Championship competition resumes Saturday with the marathon phase beginning at 9:00am ET. The championship title will be decided Sunday following the cones phase beginning at 9:00am ET.
Anyone interested can watch the marathon and cones phases live on the USEF Network presented by SmartPak. USEFNetwork.com will be live streaming the driving marathon and cones phases on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 9:00am ET and 8:00am ET respectively. Live Oak International also hosts a CSI 2* jumping competition and USEF Network coverage will include jumper classes on Saturday at 2:00pm ET and Sunday at 2:30pm ET.
In addition to the USEF National Four-in-Hand Championship, the FEI Single Horse division serves as the Selection Trial for the 2014 FEI World Driving Championships for Singles in Izsak, Hungary being held September 25-28. Suzy Stafford (Wilmington, Del.) sits a atop the FEI Single Horse division leaderboard after scoring 41.09.
By Kathleen Landwehr
For more information about Live Oak International, visit http://liveoakinternational.com/.
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