One assumes that it was because of the lateness of the hour and the intensity of the previous two presentations that Frank Kemperman's provocative remarks about dressage tests remained undisputed.
Both Kemperman, sports director at the CHIO Aachen, and Joep Bartels, GDF host and father of the dressage freestyle as an Olympic discipline, agreed that the World Equestrian Games in Aachen showed the potential of that sport, and the need to change the fact that Aachen was such a one-time event.
They proposed reducing the World Cup qualifiers during the winter season to a number of four or five events to give them back their value and reputation, and installing a series of three or four big dressage events during the summer with a final in Aachen that could constitute the European Championships. Kemperman also stated that in order to get the public more interested, “we need stars. The Anky effect, that's what we need.”
So far, so good – but oddly enough, when Kemperman started criticizing the fact that a Grand Prix lasts six minutes, and asked if anyone really wanted to see this, nobody protested. While earlier, Stephen Clarke had already regretted the current tendency to shorten the tests, which of course makes real judging of a horse's performance more and more difficult, Kemperman's blasphemous remarks didn't elicit any response from the audience. If more of the stars we do have had attended the Forum (none of the German top riders were there!!), maybe the debate would have been livelier? As it was, let's hope Kemperman was only playing the devil's advocate.
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