Horses:
Calemara, Bay, Gelding, Swedish
Charmeur, Bay, Gelding, Swedish
Crabat, Bay, Gelding, Swedish
Cooper, Brown, Gelding, East German
Gibson, Bay, Gelding, Swedish
Markurell, Bay, Gelding, Swedish
Owner: Jane Forbes Clark
Home: Newton, New Jersey
Born: July 25, 1958
James Fairclough is the current United States Equestrian Team Four-In-Hand Champion, and the USET’s Vice-President for Driving. In July 2002, he helped the U.S to a second-place team finish at CAIO/CAIP-A Breda in the Netherlands.
James Fairclough represented the United States at the Four-In-Hand World Championships in 1980, 1982, 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000. He also qualified for the 1992 USET Four-In-Hand World Championship squad, but declined in order to remain eligible for the 1993 World Pair Driving Championship. He instead served as the team’s chef d’equipe.
Fairclough has won the USET Four-In-Hand Championship three times – in 1982, 1994, and 2001. He has also been reserve champion eight times.
In 1997, Fairclough won the Advanced Four-In-Hand division at the Bayer/USET Festival of Champions, the Yellowframe Farm CDE, and the Gladstone Driving Event. He also finished a close second in the USET Four-In-Hand Championship, which was held at the Fair Hill International.
Fairclough won the 1992 and 1993 USET Pairs Championships. His seventh-place finish at the 1993 World Pair Driving Championship was the United States’ best, earning him the 1993 USET Pairs Championship. One month later, Fairclough was Reserve Champion in the USET Four-In-Hand Championship at the 1993 Fair Hill International.
Fairclough was a member of the Gold Medal team at the 1991 World Pairs Championship in Zwettl, Austria, and was the highest-placed American, finishing fourth.
He and his wife, Robin, a well-known hunter/jumper trainer, own and operate Top Brass Farm in Newton, NJ.
Career Highlights
2002
2nd – Team Four-In-Hand CAIO/CAIP-A Breda, Breda, The Netherlands
7th – Team CHIO Four-In-Hand Aachen, Aachen, Germany
1st – Four-In-Hand USET Selection Trials at Georgia International CDE Conyers, GA
2nd – CAI-B Live Oak CDE, Ocala, FL
2001
1st – USET Four-In-Hand Driving Championship, Fair Hill Int’l, Fair Hill, MD
2000
6th – Team, World Four-In-Hand Championship, Wolfsburg, Germany
3rd – Advanced Four-In-Hand, Live Oak CDE, Ocala, FL
1st – Four-In-Hand, Bayer/USET Festival of Champions, Gladstone, NJ
2nd – Advanced Pair, Windedge
1999
1st – Advanced Four-In-Hand, Can-Am ’99, Quebec, Canada
2nd – Advanced Four-In-Hand, Yellowframe Farm CDE, NC
2nd – Advanced Four-In-Hand, Gladstone Fall Driving Event, NJ
1998
5th – Team, World Equestrian Games, Four-In-Hand, Rome, Italy
2nd – Advanced Four-In-Hand, Yellowframe Farm CDE, NC
1997
1st – Advanced Multiples, Bayer/USET Festival of Champions, NJ
1st – Advanced Four-In-Hand, Yellowframe Farm CDE, NC
1st – Advanced Four-In-Hand, Gladstone Driving Event, NJ
2nd – USET Four-In-Hand National Championship, Fair Hill Int’l, MD
1996
Member USET Squad World Four-In Hand Driving Championship, Waregem, Belgium
1st – USET Live Oak Advanced Pair Selection Trial, Ocala, FL
1st – USET Yellowframe Advanced Pair Selection Trial, NC
1st – Four-In-Hand, Middletown Pony Club Spring CDE, MD
3rd – Four-In-Hand, USET Festival of Champions, Gladstone, NJ
1995
1st – USET Four-in-Hand Selection Trial, Gladstone, NJ
1st – Four-In-Hand, USET Festival of Champions, Gladstone, NJ
1st – Four-In-Hand Championship, Yellowframe, NC
1st – Four-In-Hand, Division I, Middletown, DE
2nd – USET Four-In-Hand Championship, Fair Hill International, MD
1994
Member USET Squad World Equestrian Games Four-in-Hand, The Hague, Netherlands
1st – USET Four-in-Hand Selection Trial for World Equestrian Games, MD
1993
Member USET World Pairs Driving Championship, Gladstone, NJ
1st – USET Pairs Championship, Gladstone, NJ
2nd – USET Four-In-Hand Championship, MD
7th – Individual, World Pairs Driving Championship, Gladstone, NJ
1992
1st – USET Pairs Championship, Gladstone, NJ
1st – Preliminary II Four-In-Hand, Happy Hill Driving Event
1991
Team Gold Medal, World Pair Driving Championship, Zwettl, Austria
1st – Advanced Pairs, Can-Am Driving Event, Mono Mill, Ontario, Canada
2nd – USET National Four-In-Hand Championship, Fair Hill, MD
3rd – Advanced Pairs, Fair Hill Driving Championship, Fair Hill, MD
4th – Individual, World Pairs Driving Championship, Zwettl, Austria