Ocala, Fla. – Competition kicked off on Thursday, March 3, with the dressage phase of the Live Oak International CAI under a sunny Florida sky and 80-degree weather. Four USEF Combined Driving National Championships will be won this week in the Advanced division for Single Ponies, Pair Ponies, Four-in-Hand Ponies, and Pair Horses.
In the FEI Single Pony division, Dana Diemer (Raeford, N.C.) and Clarwood Mack the Knife took a decisive lead with a penalty score of 59.22. Diemer and her 2011 Welsh Pony gelding are veterans of the National Championship, having finished in third place in 2021.
Katie Whaley (Paris, Ky.) completed her FEI Pair Pony test with a 58.54 penalty score. Whaley drives her own 2015 Welsh Pony gelding, Timmy, and Gail Riley’s 2012 Welsh Pony gelding, Clanfair Sunglow.
Mary Phelps (Micanopy, Fla.) drove her eye-catching team of pinto ponies to a 67.2 in the FEI Four-in-Hand Pony division. Phelps’ team consists of Bugsy Malony, a 2007 American Shetland gelding; Al Capony, a 2010 American Shetland gelding; Tony Da Pony, a 2013 Shetland/Welsh gelding; and Kimba, a 2006 American Shetland mare.
Jacob Arnold (Goshen, Ky.) took the lead in the FEI Pair Horse division with a 52.31. Arnold drove Steve Wilson’s matched pair of 2015 KWPN geldings, Kenji V and Kenzo.
Competitors in the USEF National Championship divisions will have a break on Friday while the youth divisions and Intermediate Single Pony entries take their turn on the dressage court. On Saturday, the Championship divisions will return with the exciting marathon phase beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET.
Watch all of the action from Live Oak on USEF Network.
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