{"id":2834,"date":"2017-05-19T07:21:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T12:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chesterweber.com\/?p=2834"},"modified":"2017-05-22T07:25:27","modified_gmt":"2017-05-22T12:25:27","slug":"u-s-combined-driving-champion-chester-weber-announces-european-tournament-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chesterweber.com\/u-s-combined-driving-champion-chester-weber-announces-european-tournament-schedule\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Combined Driving Champion Chester Weber Announces European Tournament Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fourteen-time U.S. National Combined Driving Champion Chester Weber held his own amongst the best drivers in the world at the 2016 CHIO Aachen World Equestrian Festival, where Weber took third place individually. (Photo courtesy of Marie De Ronde-Oudemans)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ocala, Florida (May 19, 2017) \u2014 Chester Weber, 14-time USEF National Combined Driving Champion, is taking his show on the road \u2013 or, more accurately, across the Atlantic \u2013 to spend over four months competing in Europe with Jane Clark\u2019s and Weber\u2019s four-in-hand KWPN team.<\/p>\n

No stranger to international success, Weber has three World Equestrian Games Silver Medals under his belt and made history in 2012 by becoming the first American to win an Individual Silver Medal in the Four-In-Hand FEI World Driving Championships. He won England\u2019s Royal Windsor CAI3* two years in a row and was congratulated personally by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In 2014, Weber made the record books again as the first American to win the Four-In-Hand division at the CHIO Aachen. Weber made another trip to the International winner\u2019s podium in the summer of 2016, when he took top honors at the CAI 3* tournament in Drebkau, Germany, and later took third overall at the CAIO 4* of the CHIO Aachen World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany. He then rounded out his tournament schedule by finishing fourth individually at the 2016 FEI World Driving Championships for Four-in-Hand in Breda, the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope is not only where the world\u2019s top drivers often come from, but it is also where the heart of the sport lies,\u201d Weber said. \u201cIf you want to break into the top five in the world rankings, you have to go there to compete against the other teams in the top five.\u201d<\/p>\n

Never afraid to test his skills against his peers at the top of the sport, Weber is eagerly anticipating his annual trip to compete in Europe. This summer\u2019s European tour will serve him and his equine team as ongoing preparation for the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a couple new horses on the team this year that we feel pretty bullish about, but our big goal right now is preparing the horses for the World Equestrian Games, so that\u2019s what this summer\u2019s about,\u201d Weber stated.<\/p>\n

Weber knows that being a top contender in Europe will depend not only on his horses\u2019 fitness, but also on himself and his entire team. Weber and his staff have been dedicated to keeping themselves in as peak athletic condition as their horses are. \u201cWe take our preparation for Europe very seriously \u2013 not only the horses, but the entire team,\u201d said Weber.<\/p>\n

Weber and Jane Clark\u2019s team of KWPN horses will depart the United States on May 27, and return in early September. Weber will be staying in the U.S. a bit longer than the horses, as his wife just delivered a baby boy, Hugo Wyatt Weber, on May 16. The family will enjoy some quality family time with the newest addition to Team Weber while the horses and the rest of his team settle into their stable in Frankfurt, Germany, which will serve as their home away from home while abroad.<\/p>\n

Team Weber will kick off the summer European tour in Saumur, France, at the Saumur CAIO4* from June 7-11, where Weber won first place in 2014. Weber\u2019s European schedule includes competitions in France, Germany, and The Netherlands, as follows:<\/p>\n