SZILVASVARAD, Hungary--Chester Weber won the bronze medal in the World Championships for Four-in-Hand Horses in Hungary on Sunday, Sept. 8.
Chester Weber in Cones (File photo by Allen MacMillan from a previous event)
Weber had won the dressage phase on the first day at the competition that was held at Hungary’s State Stud Farm at Szilvásvárad Sept. 4-8.
“This whole season, we’ve really been dominating the dressage phase, and it just kept getting better and better,” said Weber. “The horses were in really good form leading up to the show, and we made some magic on the day.”
On the second day, the marathon, with the team of First Edition, Kadora, Kasper D, and Reno, Weber completed eight clean obstacles to finish 11th for the phase, then turned in a fast round on Sunday’s cones course but rolled two balls off the cones to finish in third place overall.
“It was a very different track from a lot of the sort of Dutch-esque tracks,” Weber said of the marathon course. “But I was very pleased with how the horses handled it and their performance.”
Weber highlighted the work of his support team and his horses in reaching the podium at the sport’s top competition.
“None of this is possible without the tireless efforts of many people working together in a synergistic manner to create excellence in horse sport,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the horses and their performance and how they showed up every day in a positive, willing way and did their job to be just as good as they could be.”
JIM FAIRCLOUGH of Newton, N.J., completed successful dressage and marathon phases, but opted to retire ahead of the cones phase after one of his horses sustained a minor injury in the stall overnight.
Australia’s Boyd Exell won individual gold with a final score of 146.93, extending his winning streak at this event that dates back to 2010.
Bram Chardon of Netherlands won silver with a 157.74, narrowly edging out Weber’s 159.13.
The Dutch team won team gold, followed by Germany with silver and Australia with the bronze.
History was made in Hungary as Boyd Exell of Australia and The Netherlands won record breaking gold medals.
Exell’s quest for his seventh consecutive gold seemed assured after the dressage on Friday afternoon, when he was only kept off the top spot by Weber’s mesmerizing test.
But the Australian had done enough to stay in touch, knowing he had brought specialist marathon horses to Hungary, selected after he attended the test event last year.
As expected, Exell dominated Saturday’s demanding marathon over undulating ground and through the eight obstacles to take a commanding lead.
With such a huge advantage coming into the final cones phase, victory was never in doubt
"The public here made it really memorable, especially during the marathon with such huge crowds who stayed all day," saidExell. "And it was great to see a full stadium during the opening ceremony and again today. I have worked with the Hungarian drivers for the last one and a half years to improve their performances, so I feel very comfortable here.”
