The first day of the combined driving world championship at the World Equestrian Games ended with the unlikely result of a tie for first place. With scores of 35.97, Chester Weber of the United States and Ijsbrand Chardon of the Netherlands shared the top spot on the leaderboard after their dressage tests on Thursday. Theo Timmerman, also of the Netherlands, is in third place.
The dressage and cones phases of combined driving take place in a temporary driving stadium at the Horse Park.
“I was quite pleased with my test today,” said Weber. “My horses’ movement was fantastic. They really wake up in a stadium like that.”
Weber’s team for dressage consists of four bay Warmblood geldings. Three are 13 years old and one is 10. His famous Jamaica, the USEF horse of the year for 2008, is now 19 years old and did not make the trip to the WEG.
Combined driving is scored in the same way as eventing with points representing penalties so the winning score is actually the lowest. In driven dressage, horses are tested through various elements including extended trots, circles, halting and backing and are judged on their quiet, mannerly execution of the test. Unlike ridden dressage, drivers are permitted to use vocal commands to guide their horses.
Due in part to the expense of transporting four horses and two carriages overseas, many European countries did not send full driving teams to Kentucky. Combined Driving is still a young sport in the United States, and the American drivers are taking advantage of this world championship on their own turf. The U.S. team consists of three drivers: Weber, James Fairclough, and Tucker Johnson. Six other Americans are competing as individuals. A seventh individual, David Saunders, withdrew after two of his horses did not pass the initial inspection on Wednesday.
The dressage phase of the four-in-hand world championship continues on Friday with Boyd Exell, one of the favorites, still to compete.
For full results, visit www.alltechfeigames.com/results
See all World Equestrian Games combined driving news >>
Leslie Potter is a graduate of William Woods University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Equestrian Science with a concentration in saddle seat riding and a minor in Journalism/Mass Communications. She is currently a writer and photographer in Lexington, Ky.Potter worked as a barn manager and riding instructor and was a freelance reporter and photographer for the Horsemen's Yankee Pedlar and Saddle Horse Report before moving to Lexington to join Horse Illustrated as Web Editor from 2008 to 2019. Her current equestrian pursuits include being a grown-up lesson kid at an eventing barn and trail riding with her senior Morgan gelding, Snoopy.
i'd love to learn how to drive...
YAY for the Women Drivers!!!
Driving is so much fun.
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