Chester Weber, who has long been a star in the dressage segment of four-in-hand driving, outdid himself on Friday in Hungary with a record score of 31.06 penalties.
Chester Weber after his record-setting dressage performance. (FEI photo)
He leads the field of 41 at the world championships, earning four 10s and one 9.5 for general impression and presentation.
“I’m humbled to sit behind these horses, even though I’ve had most of them since they were four,” said Chester.
“They’ve been produced not only by me but by a synergistic team of people who all have yoked together to help make this sort of perfection. ”
Added Weber, “I knew that we came in as potential leaders, but you still have to make it happen, so I started the warmup only 35 minutes before the test and kept everything quiet and soft. Every time I asked a question today, the horses said, ‘Yes’ so I tried not to get in their way, and they really deserve this win.”
Boyd Exell of Australia, the number one-ranked four-in-hand driver in the world, stands second on 33.53 penalties. Anna Sandmann of Germany is third (40.99).
The other U.S. driver, Jimmy Fairclough, is twenty-ninth on a score of 60.23. The U.S.team stands fourth of 10 countries on 91.29 penalties, behind leader Australia (80.91). The Netherlands is second on 86.44 and Germany is third with 89.29.
Boyd’s score put Australia ahead in the team competition with 80.91 after his compatriot Tor van den Berge produced an improved test for 47.38. Not far behind are the Dutch on 86.44 after father and son Chardon had only 0.2 between them – Bram scored 43.12 for fifth and Ijsbrand 43.32 for sixth.
As the penultimate athlete to drive, there was expectation that Germany’s Mareike Harm would post another strong score, and she slotted in behind Anna on 42.18. It was enough to put Germany into third place as – combined with Georg von Stein’s 47.11 – they are on 89.29. The USA are fourth, Belgium fifth and hosts Hungary are sixth after Zόltan Lázár (HUN) rounded off the second morning session with 47.51.
Chester said afterwards that his strategy going into the marathon with Boyd so close is to just go for it. Both attended the test event last year and selected horses they feel with thrive over the undulating ground and through the long obstacles.
They will both try to put pressure on each other, but Chester uses the analogy with golf, saying that he tends to compete against himself and tries not to pay too much attention to what’s happening elsewhere. He’s brought a new horse, Casper, in the left lead which is a change from his Aachen combination as he feels it will add a lot of strength to the team.
The eight obstacles are situated outside the town of Szilvásvárad and have been designed by Alexander Flocke (GER).
