Lauren Kieffer and Veronica at the 2014 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Land Rover (Shannon Brinkman Photo)

Pau, France - Four talented American combinations have headed to Pau, France, this week to contest the final CCI4* of 2014 hosted in the Northern Hemisphere. Leading the charge at the Les Étoiles de Pau are Land Rover Competition Grant recipients Lauren Kieffer and Veronica.

Kieffer (Ocala, Fla.) and Team Rebecca, LLC’s Veronica head into the prestigious French competition on strong form; recently earning a fourth-place finish at the Plantation Field International Horse Trials. In April, the pair made its four-star debut ,cruising to a second-place finish at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Land Rover to earn the Rolex/USEF National CCI4* Championship title.  

Joining Kieffer in France are compatriots Clark Montgomery, Erin Sylvester, and Sharon White. Montgomery (Wiltshire, UK) is set to make his second start at Pau with Jessica Montgomery, Carole Montgomery, Janet Higgins, and Elizabeth Smith’s Universe, and they aim to improve upon their 10th-place finish from 2013. Sylvester (Unionville, Pa.) looks to close out her 2014 campaign, which included a second-place finish in the CIC3* at Jersey Fresh, on a high note with her own and Jill Tallman’s No Boundaries, while White (Summit Point, W.V.) will try to guide her own and Richard Weber’s Wundermaske to his second CCI4* completion of the year.

On Wednesday 35 combinations from 10 nations were accepted at the First Horse Inspection. The first of two days of dressage gets underway on Thursday.

To learn more about the Les Étoiles de Pau CI4*, visit: http://www.event-pau.com/