The only U.S. entry in the Aachen four-in-hand driving, Chester Weber showed style and grace in winning the dressage phase with a score of 35.59 penalties over Australia’s Boyd Exell, the world number one, marked at 38.79.
Chester, the world number 11, said modestly, “There were no obvious mistakes.”
Chester Weber during his winning four-in-hand dressage test. (U.S. Equstrian Photo)
Even with top horses and fantastic facilities for preparation at Aachen, “you still have to get it done,” he pointed out.
One of Chester’s wheelers is Nico Teusje C, who has a story behind him.
“He was a Covid purchase,” said Chester, who explained that during the pandemic, he was going through Facebook saw Nico and another horse on line.
“They were quite young,” he mentioned, but he bought them over the phone anyway. One of them didn’t work out for the four-in-hand, but Nico certainly did.
“This one keeps stepping up and stepping up. This one kept impressing me,” he said of the wheeler.
“We’re always tweaking the plan and trying to listen to what the horses tell us.”