The mountain calls, to be exact, the “Borgberg” mountain calls! It’s getting started, the 16th international equestrian sports festival Horses & Dreams in Hagen, Germany, and this year, Austria is the guest country, “The leather trousers are laid out, and the preparations are complete.” Announced show organizer Francois Kasselmann, “I am excited that it can finally get going!”
Horses & Dreams is celebrating its traditional opening ceremony on Wednesday of the show week, and so, this evening an ecumenical service will take place in the contemplative and celebratory mood of the equestrian festival, following the motto “Looking to the mountains…
”The top riders on the international circuit have already begun to exercise their horses on the grounds in order to test out the footing. The German national dressage trainer utilizes the top condition in Hagen year round, and capitalizes on Horses & Dreams as a special platform to dive into the green season, and to gain a picture of the most competent horse rider combinations. “We just had our team clinic” the national trainer Monica Theodorescu informed, in a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, “The horses were all doing quite well. The routined horses, such as Kristina Bröring-Sprehe`s Desperados were quite fresh and robust. The younger horses, such as Sönke Rothenberger‘s Cosmo have developed a lot over the last few months. I’m excited to see how the horses perform in the competitions; here we meet with many international top pairs, so Hagen is a real top location for us.”
While many top dressage pairs check their form in the dressage stadium, things are quite different in the jumping stadium, German national jumping trainer Otto Becker spoke to the press about looking to the European championships in Götenburg in August, and then the following year to the world equestrian games in 2018, and Olympic qualifications all at the same time, ”Ludger Beerbaum has stepped back from the national team, Christian Ahlmann’s best horses are getting older, and will not be available to compete at the European Championships, and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum’s top horse Fibonacci has been sold. We have holes in the team that need to be filled. There is a real chance for emerging riders to jump on the European championships train; many motivated riders will undoubtedly use Hagen as a platform to prove themselves.”
The athletic tempo will take off tomorrow in the jumping stadium, Thursday at 2:00 PM with the international warm up class, Prize of the Performance Sales International GmbH. In the Almased-Dressage Stadium things get going at 8:00 in the morning with the Prize of the company Schmidt Zoo & Garten, a Prix St. Georges of the CDI1* Tour.
Videos from Horses & Dreams meets Austria:
Press conference for Horses & Dreams meets Austria: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmOKPo6u-rQ
Horses & Dreams meets Austria - The countdown at Hof Kasselmann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cld7MSLZe7s
Tickets+++Tickets+++Tickets+++
Tickets for Horses & Dreams meets Austria are available in the ticket shop under www.horses-and-dreams.de or at ADticket online under www.adticket.de, or on the Tickethotline: Tel. 0180 – 60 50 400 (0,20 € per call inc. vat tax from a land line, max. 0,60 € per call on a mobile device) and at all ADticket locations.
- press release by Horses & Dreams
Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2017 CDI Hagen