Ocala, Fla. (March 14th, 2024) – Chester C. Weber wins on day one at the 33rd Live Oak International tournament taking home top honors in the Bridlewood Farms FEI 3* Horse Team Driving dressage phase. With Boots Wright taking home the win in the Peterson & Smith Equine Hospital Driving Dressage Intermediate Pony Pair. 

Weber and his team comprised of horses Amadeus, Julius V, Kadora, and Nico Teusje, coming through with an impressive score of 39.59. The score puts Chester and his team in the lead heading into Saturday’s marathon as he chases his 21st USEF Driving National Championship for Four-in-Hand title. 

“I’m thrilled with how the horses performed today, it is always a bit of an unknown on the first day but I’m happy with the start we’ve made. I truly feel that on their day these four horses are one of the best teams in the world and the results sort of speak for themselves,” said Chester C. Weber.

“At Live Oak International, our team faces challenges, same as all the others. You really never know what is going to happen when you introduce elements like crowds and atmosphere that you simply can’t account for in training. But at the same time that is the essence of these competitions, facing challenges head-on and seeing what team can adjust and react best. So for the rest of the weekend, we will just take it one step at a time and see where we are on Sunday”

Boots Wright and their Peterson & Smith Equine Hospital Driving Dressage Intermediate Pony Pair team featuring Bax 3 and Figaro are off to a strong start at Live Oak International with a score of 47.76 in today’s dressage phase. In second place was Liz Murray with a score of 72.48 with Bruno and TF Tinkerbell.

The Bridlewood Farms Driving Dressage FEI3* Horse Single had the most entries of the day out of any class and was certainly the most competitive, with Leslie Berndl and her horse, Impressive taking the top spot with a score of 45.18. Raymond Helmuth and Kendro took second place, just missing out on first with 46.78.

Driving dressage continues tomorrow with the Youth and the Intermediate Single Pony divisions on Friday, March 15th, ahead of the thrilling Marathon phase on Saturday, March 18th. Jumping also kicks off tomorrow with the CSI4*-W – $50,000 LIVE OAK INTERNATIONAL Qualifier expected to be the highlight of the day.