AACHEN, Germany--The U.S. Driving Team is in third place at the FEI Driving World Championship for Four-in-Hands after the dressage phase on Friday, Aug. 21.
Chester Weber (Photo by Sarah Miller for acMillan Photo)Chester Weber, with his team of Dutch harness horses, Julius V, Kadora, Amadeus and Nico Teusje C, broke his own World Championship Dressage record, scoring 30.40 to put him in first place overnight.
Fairclough, a six time competitor at the World Championships, finished on 60.83 ti be the drop score, while Taren Lester, who competed Thursday, finished on 51.44 for a team score of 81.84.
"What a fantastic team of horses.and what a fantastic team of people," said Weber. "Really, score of 30, I said this morning, it can be a record."
"It's humbling to sit here," Weber said. "The Lord was with me today. I'm a man of faith. For the extended trot, I thought, wow, they're doing it correctly, and they not even running."
“I'VE HAD most of them as young horse,"he said. "The two lead horses I've had since they were 3 and 4. The left wheel horse I’ve also had as a young horse, he was actually a COVID purchase on Facebook."
“The right wheel horse is super special and has a huge piece of my heart, " said Weber of Amadeus. “He's 21 years of age, and he went to Windsor and Live Oak this year. It's always been our plan to have him ready for Aachen. He is in super, super form. It’s nice to have that PhD-level knowledge from a horse right next to you.”
Looking ahead to Saturday, Weber said the Marathon course, “has different obstacles, different questions. It will be all about courage, power, and speed.”
During a rainy day of competition, Fairclough said, “Aachen always has a lot of atmosphere. The rain got a little slippery, but it was a nice test.”
The German team of Christoph Sandmann, 44.78, Anna Mareike Meier, 40.99, and Anna Sandmann, 38.32, lead in team standings on 79.31, with the Australian team of Tor van den Berge, 49.31, and Boyd Excell, 31,88, second on 81.17.
Australia’s Boyd Exell is second individually on 31.88
The seven-time World Champion has set himself the goal of claiming his eighth title here in Aachen.
“The atmosphere is truly magnificent," said Exell. "It was wonderful to experience the enthusiastic crowd cheering ecstatically.”
The Belgian driver, Dries Degrieck, who completed his dressage test Thursday, is third on 38.19, and Anna Sandmann finished fourth as the best German competitor.
The U.S. Driving team and individual Jean Thornton will drive Saturday in the Marathon phase, which will begin at 11:00 a.m., which is 5:00 a.m. ET
