Running the Fairclough Fuel Company is not the only way Jim spends his days. Jim is an FEI Four-in-Hand driver who has been competing internationally for the United States for over 30 years. In 1982, 1994, and 2001, he won the USET Four-in-Hand Championship and has been Reserve Champion sixteen times. He was a part of the gold medal pairs team at the 1991 World Pairs Driving Championship in Zwettl, Austria, and finished 4th individually overall, which made him the highest-placed American. Jim also won the 1992 and 1993 USET Pairs Championship. The Chronicle of the Horse named him their Driving Horseman of the Year in 1993. In 1997, he won the Four-in-Hand division at the Gladstone Driving Event, the Yellowframe Farm Combined Driving Event, and the Bayer/USET Festival of Champions. Jim was also a member of the historic silver medal team at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain.
At the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky, he was a member of the silver medal-winning team and was ninth individually. In 2011, Jim won the Four-in-Hand division at The Laurels in Pennsylvania and he was the 2011 National Four-In-Hand Champion. In 2012, he won the Four-in-Hand division at the Southern Pines Combined Driving Event and the Bromont International CDE in Bromont, Canada. In August 2012, Jim represented the USA and was a member of the bronze medal-winning team at the FEI World Driving Championships in Riesenbeck, Germany. Jim was also the winner of the 2012 USEF National Pairs Championship in Lexington, Kentucky.
Jim is seeking a sponsor for his team of horses for the upcoming year in hopes of being able to compete at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Bromont, Canada.
A veteran of the driving world, Jim is available for lessons, clinics, and coaching at shows. Contact him for more information.