As a young Amish boy, Joe Yoder couldn’t even imagine winning the U.S. Equestrian Federation National Pair Championship.

“The only time I’ve ever even seen the national championships was in 2006 when Alan Aulson won [the pairs], so it was an honor to win and have him come in second. It’s a big deal for me,” said Yoder, 29.

Yoder was in second after dressage, but he drove into first after winning the marathon by almost 10 points at the Live Oak CAI in Ocala, Fla., held March 24-27.

“In the hazards, I just stayed focused, looked ahead and pushed as fast as what I was capable of driving,” said Yoder.

“It helped that Olof [Larsson, Chester Weber’s stable manager] was navigating for me.”

Yoder’s lead increased when no drivers could put together a clean cones round, so his 12 faults in cones didn’t matter—he won by more than 20 points over Aulson.

Last year, Yoder traveled east from Montana and made a big splash on the East Coast CDE circuit, winning the advanced team division at the Southern Pines CDE (N.C.) and placing fourth at the Garden State CDE (N.J.) driving a team for Mark Schmidt of Bozeman, Mont.

He caught Chester Weber’s eye, and Weber told him about a job driving for Jack Wetzel. Veteran driver Bill Long had just retired from driving Wetzel’s team of Gelderlanders after representing the United States at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

“I told Chester, ‘If you think he’s a good guy to work for, then I’ll take your word for it.’ It turns out that was a very wise decision on my part to come down here to work. Mr. Wetzel is a great guy to work for,” Yoder said.
He started at Wetzel’s farm on Jan. 14, and being located in Aiken, S.C., is a bit more convenient for a driver with ambition than Montana.

“It’s an eight-hour drive to all the shows, which works well. Eight hours is a little better than two days!” said Yoder.

Yoder’s goal for the year is to represent the United States at the FEI World Pairs Driving Championships, which take place on Aug. 24-28 in Conty, France. It would be a dream come true for a boy who grew up Amish in Hazelton, Iowa.

“I’ve driven horses my whole life. But I never really had the desire to compete in the draft horse world, where most of the Amish kids compete. It didn’t seem much fun to me to drive around in a circle all day,” Yoder said.

“I had some lessons from Bill Lower, and that set the hook for me. I also did a bunch of grooming and navigating, and that let me know I really wanted to do it,” he continued.

In 2001, at the age of 19, Yoder left home for Montana. “I left the Amish world behind. It was a difficult decision, and it’s a whole different lifestyle. Every-thing changes; you don’t know anyone, and it’s a totally different way of life. It took some getting used to, but it’s turned out OK,” he said.

He started training horses for Alex Fraser at the Fraser School of Driving in Deer Lodge, Mont. “I also groomed for Paula Scott, from Whitehall, Mont. She has a four of Fjords that I took care of. So I got to know what it takes to be competitive. I moved to Bozeman because I got the opportunity to drive Mark Schmidt’s horses there,” Yoder said.

Now he’s taken over the reins of Wetzel’s horses. Wetzel was the USEF advanced single pony national champion in 2001 and 2002. Yoder oversees seven of Wetzel’s horses. At the Little Ever-glades CDE (Fla.) on Feb. 24-27, Yoder was second behind Aulson in the pairs.

“I drive the four every now and then just to keep in shape and keep my ability up in driving the four, but for now we’re focused on driving the pair,” Yoder said.

At Live Oak, Yoder used Randro and Veron in the dressage, and then Veron and Director in marathon and cones. “Randro is great in dressage, and the other two are faster,” he said.

He’s continuing to get to know the horses and will compete at the Southern Pines CDE (N.C.) on April 15-17 in the fours division, then wait to see if he’s selected for the World Pairs Championships.

Temple Defends Her Title

It’s one thing to win a title—it’s another thing to defend it. But at the Live Oak CAI, three women proved they were more than up to the challenge, each winning the USEF National Championship in their division for the second consecutive year.

Shelly Temple drove LR Ami B-Line to the single pony title, Jennifer Mathe-son claimed the pair pony crown, and Allison Stroud topped the uncontested pony teams.

Live Oak was one of the U.S. team’s selection trials for the FEI World Pony Driving Championships, to be held in Lipica, Slovenia, on Sept. 22-25.

“I was definitely planning on defending my title,” Temple said. “At the first show this year [the Little Everglades CDE (Fla.) in February] he didn’t have a bad show, but we were a bit rusty. I hadn’t done any shows in the singles since The Laurels [Pa.] in September of last year. My first show out of the box is usually not my best one. I had that under my belt, and I was determined to do well at Live Oak.”

Temple’s pony, LR Ami B-Line, or “Cooper,” is a veteran, having contributed to the U.S. team’s bronze at the 2007 World Pony Driving Champion-ships and been the USEF national champion in 2006 and ’07. Temple has had the 13-year-old for nine years.

“I’ve been driving him at advanced for six years. What’s really exciting is that I think he keeps getting better and better, which isn’t always the case with competition horses,” she said.

Cooper and Temple, Windsor, S.C., won the dressage, placed seventh in the marathon and then added just 1.61 time penalties in the cones for the win. “I’m not bad at cones, but I can be hit or miss, so that’s where I really proved myself. I showed well at Live Oak, which is what I needed to do,” she said.

Temple chalked up some of her cones success to making a carriage change. Wetzel loaned her a four-wheeled Spider Phaeton for her to use in dressage and cones instead of her usual two-wheeled cart. “Between [USEF driving coach Michael Freund] and myself, we thought it might take some pressure off my pony’s back and allow him to be a little freer, and that’s exactly what happened. And in cones, it’s an advantage to have that brake for the quick turns when you have to slow down quickly and whip around,” she said.

Freund has been working with the U.S. drivers since January, and they’ve appreciated his input.

“We never really had a coach before the actual champion-ship before. We always had some last-minute help, but that’s hard. I think he’s impacted everyone in a positive way. Everyone’s horses are going better, and they have more of a plan. We can talk to him about issues and questions; he’s very approachable. Chester Weber is our chef d’equipe, and he’s taken that role to heart too, so he’s another one we can use as a resource. I’ve been really happy with the process this time,” said Temple.

“[Freund has] been here for all the competitions, and we had an evaluation clinic with him in January. He’s very methodical and thorough. He got to know each horse or pony, the drivers and their goals. He asks a lot of questions, and he’s hyper-organized. He writes everything down. He’s very demanding, but he’s very positive as well. We’re all really excited about working with him and having a program,” she continued.

An Exceptional Pony

Matheson, the pair national champion, was also excited to have Freund as resource. “The pony pairs had a clinic with Freund four days before the show, and it was really beneficial and sharpened everyone up. The support that we’re getting from the USEF team, with the chef, coach and vet—the fact that they’re there, and we can go to them with questions and concerns—is great,” she said.

Matheson, Aiken, S.C., is trying out a few combinations of ponies in preparation for the World Championships. She has her veteran, Danyloo, who was joined by two 9-year-olds at Live Oak, Cees and Topper. All the ponies are owned by Matheson’s mother-in-law, Katrina Becker.

Matheson drove Danyloo, a 14-year-old German Riding Pony who won the individual gold at the 2003 World Championships, in all three phases. Topper, a German Riding Pony gelding, joined him for the dressage, and Cees, a Welsh pony, partnered with him for the marathon and cones.

“I didn’t really push them, so we had a nice, safe marathon and just tried to make everyone try to catch us, which didn’t happen,” she said. “I thought the footing was a little slippery on the bridge, so we took an alternate route through that hazard, but I had a 71⁄2-point lead after dressage, so it was a question of maintaining our lead, which we actually increased after marathon,” she said.

After winning the dressage, they were second on marathon and had a lead of 13 points going into the cones. Three balls down didn’t keep them from the win. “I was very pleased with him, because that’s been my weakest phase. We keep working on getting better at that,” she said.

Matheson used to drive Danyloo as a single. “I made the switch because I recognized that Danyloo is an incredibly talented pony, but he started competing at the FEI level at age 6. I thought in order to prolong his competitive career that a pair might be better. So four years ago I really started from scratch,” she said.

Matheson found Cees and Topper, and also has a fourth pony, Hemingway, as a possibility. “I’m trying to put together the deepest bench I can,” she said.

Hemingway will join her team at Southern Pines (N.C.), and then Mathe-son will await word from the USEF about whether she’s been selected for the World Championships.