The first day of the driven dressage, part of the FEI World Four-in-Hand Driving Championships at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) 2014 in Normandy kicked off this morning at the La Prairie racecourse in Caen, France. Twenty-three drivers performed their tests in front of 3,000 spectators from all over the world.

IJsbrand Chardon (NED) set the provisional winning score from the onset driving his team of mixed warmblood horses. The four-time world champion had an early start and prepared his horses before sunrise for their performance in the arena.

“I was not pleased with the fact that I had to warm up my horses in the dark early this morning,” he said after completing his test.

Despite the early start, Chardon’s horses showed good balance forming a perfect block. The Dutch driver, who was assisted on the dressage carriage by two of his daughters, has been working hard all year to find the right set up for his team and performed his best test of the season