Beekbergen, Netherlands – The Defender U.S. Driving Team delivered promising performances this weekend at the 2025 FEI Driving World Championship for Pair Horses, finishing eleventh overall against a competitive international field. The team featured Jacob Arnold (Paris, Ky.), Taylor Bradish (Windsor, S.C.), and Vernon Helmuth (Hazelton, Iowa). Athletes and horses were supported onsite by Chef d’Equipe Marcie Quist, Team Veterinarian Dr. Laura Werner, and Team Leader Steven Morrissey.
“While we did not get to enjoy the result we could envision overnight, the American drivers did their best,” said Quist. “They are a wonderful group of experienced drivers in the prime of their careers who worked together to support and encourage each other. The future is bright!”
Competition began with the dressage phase, where Helmuth and his team of G.T.’s Finn (Famous V x Candace), a 2016 Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by George and Kathryn Dickerson, and Magnum (Eebert x Cinola), his own 2017 KWPN gelding, earned a 56.00 to start the U.S. effort. Bradish followed with Checkmate, a 2006 gelding owned by Exell Holding BV, and Maestro H (Sir Arie x Germadora), a 2017 KWPN stallion also owned by Exell Holding BV, posting a 51.64 to keep the team in the mix. The highlight of the day came when Arnold delivered a standout test with Ivor (Crescendo x Uliena II), a 2013 KWPN gelding owned by Exell Holding BV and Kenzo (Crescendo HBC x Zodancy M), his own KWPN gelding, scoring a 39.83 to sit third individually and move the team into fourth overall heading into marathon.
Arnold carried that momentum into the marathon phase, finishing second with Kenzo and Barichello (Veldheer x Rianne B), a 2006 KWPN gelding owned by Carlo Vermeulen, on a score of 100.65, to hold the team’s position of fourth. Helmuth and his team of Fernando (Zeppelin Let’s x Rustina), a 2010 KWPN gelding owned by Sebastian Warneck, and Magnum earned a 115.40 for their work around the marathon track, while Bradish and her team of Ferry Beauty (Patijn x Tarola) a 2010 KWPN gelding owned by Misdee Wrigley Miller and Maestro H finished with a score of 120.74. At the close of the marathon phase, the U.S. held fifth overall as a team with a combined score of 307.52 heading into cones.
On the final day, Helmuth led off with a two-phase score of 171.40 with Fernando and Magnum, ending the competition with an overall final score of 185.50. Bradish followed with Ferry Beauty and Maestro H, producing a score of 31.52 penalties in cones for a final score of 203.90. Anchoring the team, Arnold and his pair of Kenzo and Ivor finished with an added 20.51 penalties from the cones phase, to place inside of the top ten individually. Arnold’s finish marks a major milestone for U.S. Driving, and is the best individual finish in the Horse Pairs division in more than two decades. The combined efforts of all three athlete and horse combinations secured an eleventh-place finish for the United States in the overall standings.
