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2005 European Dressage
Championships
On the Scene: (T)raining Day
July 26, 2005
 "I hope you will go to church every day to pray for
better wetter," that is how Dr. Ulf Möller, sales manager
at Hof Kasselmann in Hagen, greets me. The 2005 European
Dressage Championships kick off tomorrow with the trot
up at Hof Kasselmann in Hagen, Germany, but Eurodressage
was already on the scene today to witness the arrival
of the horses at the show grounds for
the training
day
prior to the show.
I left my home in Belgium at 5.20 AM to beat German
rush hour traffic and arrived at Kasselmann's at 8.00
'o
clock. The road to Hagen was one highlighted by perpetual
construction works on the highway in Germany and rain,
rain, rain. This brought back memories of my last visit
to Hagen, in June 2004 for the German Professional
Dressage Riders Championships. One year ago, it poured
in Hagen, and by the looks of it, it will pour with
rain today.
 My first impressions of the European Championships
at Hof Kasselmann were those of "under construction".
I was amazed to see the main arena so beautifully laid
out. The footing is perfect, with sand and rubber chips
in it. Beautiful flowers and bushes decorated the sides
of the ring, two huge blue grandstands are on the long
and short side of the arena, and several covered tents
hold more stands and the VIP lounge. "Not bad for two
weeks of work, don't you think," Möller commented.
I'm impressed! The arena will be perfect to photograph,
so I'm even more looking forward to the show.
 The horses are stabled in four temporary tents, but
they have nice dry stalls and it's quiet in the corridors.
Grooms are busy grooming horses and cleaning tack.
Physiotherapists are giving the dressage stars accupuncture
point massages, and several magnet blankets hum on
the horses in every corridor.
Almost all riders work their horses twice today. Some
horses only need to be trained for twenty minutes,
others get an intense schooling of two hours in three
different rings. In the afternoon, riders are allowed
to walk their horses in the main arena outside the
ring. The Dutch and English team practise the jog
by running their horses in hand a few times.
The trade fair is still empty. The white tents are
set up, but none of the shops are there yet. Only one
typical Bratwurst stand is open and several riders
take their first Bratwurst mit Pommes Frites
lunch of the week there.
 The busiest people at the show are not the riders,
but the PSI staff setting up the show. Volunteers,
family members of PSI staff, the staff itself and professionals
are constantly moving about getting everything in order.
Chairs, flowers, plants, beverages are moved from lorries
to the tents. Everyone and everything is on the move
getting ready for tomorrow.
Latest tidbits are the starting
order of the Dutch team: 1. Laurens van Lieren, 2.
Edward Gal, 3. Anky van Grunsven and 4. Sven Rothenberger.
British team rider Emma Hindle still has not decided
whether she's going to ride Wie Weltmeyer or Lancet.
Both horses are in excellent shape and it's proving
to be a tough choice for her. The Danish Blue Hors
lorry got stuck in the mud and had to be towed in the
right parking spot by a tractor.
The vet check is Wednesday afternoon and the Grand
Prix starts on Thursday.
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