and they get that doing the Young Horse classes in Europe, but by age five or six that’s too much training under saddle.”

Chester has a mixed bag of horses that he started and hors- es already going to competitions. For instance Senate was already five years old and competing when he joined Team Weber, while Para was a successful singles horse.

Taren, the head groom, has also seen the team develop from world-class to world-beating in the time that he has been in America. “I’m fortunate that I’ve seen the team progress,”he remarks. “All but Jamaica and Rolex were here before I was, but I came here when they were young and got them before they matured. I’ve been lucky to be a part of training them and see them develop.”

Olof Larsson (left) and T aren Lester (right) assist the team during the dressage phase.

Though he tends to prefer Dutch breeding, Chester acknowledges, “I could care less where they come from. Not one horse I drove this summer came from Holland, they were from Germany, England and Poland. They come from here, there and everywhere. I have a group of people in Europe that are always on the lookout for horses for me. What I’m looking for is pretty much a good amateur dres- sage horse.”

He also notes, “The Gelderland has a really good motor behind, which comes from the Hackney and Saddlebred. A horse needs a good slope of shoulder and length of neck so you’re not fighting to get them to go.”

Olof claims, “Chester clearly has one of the best teams in the world. The standard of horses is very high. Right now we have only Dutch horses, which tend to have more knee action. There’s always a little Hackney in the Dutch; Cambridge Cole is one [stallion] they breed in a lot.”

Because he is looking for a precise type of horse, Chester finds it more practical to purchase young horses than to try to breed what he is looking for. “I think sport horses are a little bit freaks of nature. You can breed horses but it takes an unbelievable individual; it’s hard to breed a group of interna- tional horses yourself. Also, it takes about 3,000 hours to produce a top level horse.”

Olof sheds a little light on what type of horse is generally successful for driving. “You basically want the same type as a dressage rider would look for,”he says. “They usually become brave through training. We don’t mind if they have a little more knee action than the typical dressage horse. Most young horses in Europe are started under saddle, but we do try to get them early enough, so that they don’t need too much re-schooling, since riding horses get used to respond- ing to the leg. We basically need a good basic foundation,

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He continues, “When I came over in 2003 we didn’t have that many driving horses. It was a good team that Chester won with in ’02 but not very flexible. In the last five and a half years we’ve added new horses to the team: they can go left and right, lead and wheel. The old team was very one-dimensional but this lot is a different type of horse. They each obviously have their strong points, but if one has the flu or something, you have another to substitute. We’re lucky; I think that’s why we’ve done so well in the past couple of years.”

Taren points out that it’s not just a matter of luck, however. “If a horse isn’t good and can’t go left and right, it’s not interesting to us,”he comments. “We can be a bit picky. We still have a few characters that we keep a year or so and see if they work out. We’ve had a few that have worked out exactly as we hoped. You always have goals and plans.”

A successful team of horses does not mean that Team Weber can rest on its laurels. With Jamaica getting older, there will soon be a need for new horses in the traces, and there are a couple of promising youngsters nearly ready to take the honors.

“Something I’m excited about are the two five-year-olds that we have,” says Olof. “The way the sport has grown, you used to be able to go out and buy a horse; now you have to make your own. We’ve had some success starting young horses in Europe and then shipping them over if they’re promising, but we shipped these two over before they were in training. It’s a really good thing for me because I enjoy working with young horses and they’re super quality. I won’t be surprised if one of them goes to Kentucky – they’re basi- cally ready to tackle FEI competitions now.”

Taren agrees, “The five-year-olds, Reno and Raint, are the future of our team and we’re looking forward to the future.”

Horse Personalities

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