Le Pin au Haras, France – The Defender U.S. Driving Team saw two combinations complete the 2025 FEI World Championships ...
COMBINED DRIVING
Although they share essentially the same heritage, combined driving differs significantly from carriage pleasure driving. Instead of placing emphasis on the style, authenticity, and pleasurable performance of a hitch, a combined driving event is rigorously performance-based and is actually modeled after the mounted equestrian test of three-day eventing. Combined driving is designed to test a horse’s or a team’s speed, stamina, obedience, and athleticism, in three distinct and demanding phases usually held over the course of three days.
Competitors can consist of a single horse, a pair of horses, or a team of four horses, and they are tested in three phases: dressage, marathon, and obstacle driving. The first day’s combined driving dressage class tests a single, pair or team in the areas of obedience, freedom and regularity of motion, and impulsion through a sequence of compulsory movements executed within a designated area or arena.
Day two sees competitors tackle the fast-paced and demanding phase known as the cross-country marathon in which a horse’s fitness, stamina, agility, and obedience are tested together with a driver’s accuracy and judgment as they are asked to negotiate an intricate series of hazards which can include water, steep hills, and sharp turns in the fastest time while accumulating the least number of penalties. The third and final phase—the cone driving competition—tests a horse’s obedience, agility, and after two previously demanding days of competition, its endurance. Simultaneously, a driver’s skill, accuracy, and precision are tested as the single, pair, or team is challenged with negotiating an intricate course of narrowly-spaced cones cleanly and within the time allowed.
Tracy Bowman and Albrecht’s Hoeve’s Lars Win Silver at the 2025 FEI Para Driving World Championship
Lähden, Germany – It’s officially a hat trick for Tracy Bowman and Albrecht’s Hoeve’s Lars after they secured an individual ...
US Equestrian Announces Athletes for 2025 FEI Driving World Championships for Combined Ponies
Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the ranking of individual athletes selected to represent the U.S. at ...
US Equestrian Announces Athletes for 2025 FEI Para Driving World Championships
Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the athletes selected to represent the U.S. at the 2025 FEI ...
US Equestrian Announces Athletes for 2025 FEI Driving World Championship for Pair Horses
Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the athletes selected to represent the Defender U.S. Driving Team at ...
Chester Weber Wins Bronze at 2024 FEI Driving World Championship for Four-in-Hand Horses
Szilvásvárad, Hungary – Chester Weber earned an individual podium finish for the Defender U.S. Driving Team at the 2024 FEI ...
Defender U.S. Driving Team Announced for 2024 FEI Driving World Championship for Single Horses
Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the athletes who will represent the Defender U.S. Driving Team at ...
Defender U.S. Driving Team Announced for 2024 FEI Driving World Championship for Four-in-Hand Horses
Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the athletes who will represent the Defender U.S. Driving Team at ...
US Equestrian Announces Athletes for the 2023 FEI Driving World Championship for Combined Ponies
Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the athletes who will represent the Land Rover U.S. Driving Team ...
Chester Weber and Team Earn Top Spot in Driving Dressage Phase at CHIO Aachen
Aachen, Germany – Chester Weber (Ocala, Fla.) and his team of First Edition, Julius V, Kadora, and Kasper D, drove ...
Land Rover U.S. Driving Team Ready for 2022 FEI Driving World Championship for Single Horses
By US Equestrian Communications Department Le Pin-au-Haras, France – The Land Rover U.S. Driving Team finished the horse inspection and is ...
Land Rover U.S. Driving Team Ready for 2021 FEI Driving World Championship for Pairs
By US Equestrian Communications Department Kronenberg, the Netherlands – The Land Rover U.S. Driving Team is set for the start of ...
US Equestrian Announces Combinations for 2021 FEI Driving World Championship for Pairs
By US Equestrian Communications Department Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the combinations selected to represent the Land ...
US Equestrian Announces Combinations for Two FEI Driving World Championships
By US Equestrian Communications Department Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the combinations selected to represent the U.S. ...
