Chester Weber, who won the USEF Four-
In-Hand National Championship at Live Oak
International last year for a record 14th title,
is also the founder of the event. “We are
excited to welcome competitors in the new
USEF intermediate divisions to the world-class
competition at Live Oak International,” Weber
said. “We’re also honored to again host the
advanced four-in-hand championships, and
look forward to welcoming leading drivers,
horses, trainers and coaches from Europe and
North America.”
While not vying for a national championship,
top-level show jumping athletes will have
their eyes on another prize—a ticket to Paris,
France for the Longines FEI World Cup Final.
The Live Oak International Grand Prix is the fisixth
38 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
place finish in last year’s LOI Grand Prix.
“But no matter what, this is always a special
event for my family.”
Live Oak Plantation is first and foremost the
home of Live Oak Stud, a Thoroughbred breeding
and training business owned by Charlotte
C. Weber, Chester and Juliet’s mother, and
Chloe’s grandmother. Besides being the location
of Chester’s Live Oak Combined Driving,
and the venue for Live Oak International, the
Weber property is home to the 2017 $2 million
Breeders’ Cup Mile winner, World Approval.
World Approval is the second Breeders’ Cup
winner that Mrs. Weber has bred, in addition to
many other stakes-winning horses of note. This
year marks the 50th anniversary of Live Oak
Plantation, and the Weber’s continue to prove
that equestrian excellence runs in the family.
nal chance to qualify for the international indoor
show jumping championship.
In 2012, Weber and his sister, Juliet W. Reid,
collaborated on the effort to bring show jumping
to Live Oak International. As the event has
grown, so has the familial involvement. Reid’s
daughter Chloe is a show jumper at the sport’s
top level, and a regular competitor at the event.
This year she hopes to make her first trip to a
Longines FEI World Cup Final.
“Last year my top horse had been injured, so
although I wanted to make the World Cup a
goal with him, we weren’t able to qualify. This
year, however, we hope take advantage of
the Live Oak International Grand Prix as our
last chance to get points for the Longines FEI
World Cup Final,” said Chloe, who has maintained
top international placings since her
Many of the world’s
most talented equestrians
will again descend
upon Ocala’s Live
Oak Plantation this
spring for the largest
combined driving and
show jumping event in
the United States. For
the third year in a row,
US Equestrian has
named Live Oak International
as the host for
the USEF Combined
Driving Advanced
Four-in-Hand Horse
National Championships,
but this year,
champions will also
be crowned in Ocala
for the new intermediate
divisions of Single
Pony, Pair Pony, Pony
Team, Single Horse,
Pair Horse, and Fourin
Hand Horse.