All Votes Support the EQUUS Foundation
Ocala, FL (December 22, 2010) – United States Combined Driver Chester Weber, a member of the winning Silver Medal 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Combined Driving team and the eight-time USEF National Four-In-Hand Champion, needs your votes for America’s Favorite Equestrian. America’s Favorite Equestrian is an interactive fund raising effort presented jointly by partnership of The EQUUS Foundation and The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) to raise funds to advance the equestrian sport on an annual basis.
“I am flattered to be chosen as one of the drivers for America’s Favorite Equestrian, but the thing I am most pleased about is that each vote gives a $5 donation to The EQUUS Foundation,” Weber said. “I truly believe in supporting The EQUUS Foundation and it is a great benefit that this contest will raise money for them. The votes really make a difference because 100% of all donations will be used to support charitable causes.”
Weber is one of eight talented athletes who have been named in the driving discipline category of America’s Favorite Equestrian. Eight athletes have also been selected in the disciplines of show jumping, dressage, eventing, reining, vaulting, endurance and para-equestrian. The athlete with the most votes in each discipline will be the winner of that discipline.
The EQUUS Foundation will award a minimum of $10,000 in grant awards in support of the eight equestrian disciplines. The discipline generating the greatest number of votes will receive an additional $5,000 grant award. The EQUUS Foundation is a national charitable foundation dedicated to securing homes and useful lives for horses, enhancing the lives of people who benefit from horses, advancing equestrian sport, and educating the public on the significant impact horses have in our every day lives.
Being named among the best of the best isn’t unusual for Weber. In 2008, Weber was named an Equestrian of Honor by the USEF and that same year his star horse, Jamaica, won the USEF Farnam/Platform Horse of the Year title. In keeping with his “pay it forward” mentality, Weber donated the year’s supply of feed that Jamaica won as HOTY to two horse rescue groups in Florida.
An avid supporter of the sport of combined driving, Weber has made it his mission to educate the equestrian world about driving and recently took his entire team to the Washington International Horse Show to demonstrate the art of combined driving. “The Washington International Horse Show always draws large crowds and it’s always a great experience for me when I get to introduce new people to the sport of combined driving,” Weber said, adding that driving is his passion.
Weber draws large crowds wherever he goes and is always willing to pose for photos, sign autographs and talk about driving. Weber has dedicated himself to raising money for charities, the USEF and the USET. He regularly donates carriage rides at silent auctions, appears on radio and TV shows to talk about combined driving, lectures at colleges and supports education by sitting on college boards. During 2010, Weber teamed up with Charles Owen helmets to encourage drivers to wear helmets.
Weber’s sponsors stand behind the dedicated and gifted athlete, and the entire organization that is Team Weber. “It takes a small village to compete and behind my organization is certainly a village. It is an honor to sit in my carriage and be a part of it,” Weber said.
In addition to his outstanding competition accomplishments, which includes representing the U.S. in three World Equestrian Games, Weber is active on several USEF committees and is a prime mover in the organization of three combined driving events, including the top rated CAI-A Live Oak International. Weber’s name has become synonymous with Four-In-Hand driving throughout the world and Weber is known as the “driver with the plan.” Weber is continually focusing on the future, which includes international competition. “We are beginning the work to plan for the 2012 World Championships in Riesenbeck, Germany,” Weber said.
Weber is no stranger to competing overseas, and in 2004 he became the first American to win the prestigious German Fahrderby at Riesenbeck, an achievement he repeated in 2008. Weber also accomplished what no other American has done before, when in 2008 he won the Individual Silver Medal at the World Driving Championships.
To vote for Weber as America’s Favorite Equestrian in the driving category, visit The EQUUS Foundation website at www.equusfoundation.org. To vote for Weber text VOTE 01 to 85944 then reply “Yes” to confirm your vote/$5 donation. Fans will be given the chance to vote from now until February 28, 2011. The winner from each discipline will be announced in March.
Weber’s biography appears on the EQUUS Foundation voting website, as does a Question and Answer segment that gives more insight into the popular driver. Check out Weber’s answers and find out what he never leaves the barn without, which horse he could own if he had the chance to and what Weber’s hidden talent is. And don’t forget to vote!
For more information on Weber and his combined driving team, visit their website at www.chesterweber.com and then vote for Chester Weber as America’s Favorite Equestrian.
For more information contact:
Chester Weber
1-352-895-1139
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