Chester Weber (Picsofyou.com) Ocala, Fla. – A warm, sunny morning at Live Oak International set the stage for the USEF National Four-in-Hand Championship sponsored by Ariat. The competitors had a large undertaking guiding their teams of horses through the seven-obstacle marathon course designed by Hartmut Kaufmann of Germany. The Ocala, Fla., venue saw a huge turnout of spectators present to see an exciting day of competition. Chester Weber maintained his lead in the FEI Four-in-Hand...

Ocala, FL - Ocala, Florida horseman Chester Weber makes it look so easy. The 10-time USEF Four-in-Hand National Champion and his KWPN team made one of the most challenging combined driving marathon courses in America look like a walk in the park, rounding the second of the championship’s three phases with an astonishing 81.31-point score overall and establishing a lead after Saturday morning’s competition that will be very tough to catch. Chester Weber and his team on course in...

Manuel Fernandez Hache and Maribel H with (from left to right) Juliet W. Reid, Chester Weber, and Joan Pletcher. (Photo courtesy of PicsofYou.com) Ocala, FL - It wasn’t just the Florida sunshine heating up the John Deere stadium at Live Oak International on Friday as the world’s best show jumping riders and horses faced off for the $5,000 Joan Pletcher Realty Speed Class and $10,000 Waldron Wealth Management Welcome Stake in Ocala. Manuel Fernandez Hache of Miami, FL and riding for...

Eric Lamaze and Zigali P S (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - Week eleven of the 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) continued in Wellington, FL, on Thursday with a win for Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist Eric Lamaze with new mount Zigali P S in the $50,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 11. Lamaze beat out Italy's Lorenzo de Luca and Elky van het Indihof and USA's Beezie Madden and Simon to take the top spot in a fifteen-horse jump-off. FTI WEF week eleven,...

Katy, Texas - At age 16, when many show jumpers are slowing down, Happy Z is as speedy as ever. And, once again, she left the field in her dust while clinching the blue ribbon in the $25,000 Moet Hennessy Grand Prix, her 59th grand prix victory with owner/rider Wilhelm Genn. When announcer Brian Lookabill was on his way to Texas, Happy snuck in two more wins, so Genn made a point to correct Happy’s grand prix record, which was announced as 56 wins. “I don’t think he knew about...

Temecula,Calif. - Canadian Olympians Hawley Bennett-Awad and Gin ‘N Juice, winners of the CIC3* at the Galway Downs International Horse Trials in 2013, will be aiming to win two in a row on March 28-30 at the Temecula Downs Event Center. Bennett-Awad, 36, has based her training operations at Kingsway Farm, across the street from Temecula Downs, for a decade. It was there that she met Gin ‘N Juice, who was bred by the Kingsway Farm owners, Terry and Linda Paine. “She caught my...

The Budweiser Clydesdales during Thursday’s performance at the 2014 Live Oak International. (Photo courtesy of JRPR) Ocala, FL - Live from the Live Oak International, tune your radio dial in to Friday and Saturday morning broadcasts bringing Ocala the most interesting characters and champions competing this weekend at Florida horse country’s most prestigious annual tradition. Friday, March 21, WOCA Radio 96.3FM/1370AM will air “Horse Sense” presented by the Equine Alliance of...

Chester Weber and his team during the Yellowframe Farm FEI Driven Dressage. (Photo courtesy of PicsofYou.com) Ocala, FL - The 2014 Live Oak International is underway, bringing the best competitors in show jumping and combined driving to Live Oak Plantation in Ocala, Florida. The prestigious competition, considered the premier combined driving event in North America, was favored with flawless weather and a strong showing of appreciative spectators as the equestrian extravaganza began. Wednesday...

Chester Weber (Picsofyou.com) Ocala, Fla . – A foggy morning gave way to a sunny afternoon at Live Oak International as the three competitors in the USEF National Four-in-Hand Championship sponsored by Ariat entered the John Deere Arena to perform their dressage test. The championship also serves as the USEF Selection Trial for the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Held in conjunction with the FEI Four-in-Hand division sponsored by Seminole Wellness, Chester Weber currently sits...

Jeffery Welles and Bilion (Phelps Media Group, Inc.) Wellington, Fla. - The final week of the Wellington Turf Tour kicked off today at Deeridge Farms. It was a heated competition, with some of the nation's top riders, both professional and amateur, going neck to neck for the top awards in the 1.30m-1.35m Jumper classes and the YJC Finals. Jeffery Welles and Bilion once again rode to the top of the leader board in the first 1.30m-1.35m Jumpers, proving exactly why he sits at the pinnacle of...