The equestrian festival with international four-star equestrian sport started today 24 April 2019 at Hof Kasselmann in Hagen in the Teutoburger Forest. This year the Borgberg event has chosen France as the partner country.
The opening ceremony has become a great tradition, celebrated with riders, spectators, the organising committee and the local Hagen a.T.W. community. Host Ullrich Kasselmann says, “It is important for us to include our local people from the region and introduce them to our fantastic sport.”
Then there’s the annual ecumenical service under the guidance of the Catholic Parish Community St. Martinus Hagen and Mariä Himmelfahrt Hagen-Gellenbeck as well as the Evangelical-Lutheran Melanchthon-Church Hagen a.T.W.; this year the theme was “May peace be with you”. The collection provided a generous four-figure donation to a peace project in Taizé.
Ullrich Kasselmann and the internationally successful French showjumper Julien Epaillard poured water in the fountain of the nations, a symbol of peace and the international friendship between the countries. Epaillard comments, “I like being here in Hagen, the conditions are first-class and the audience knows the sport well. The standard of competition is so high, it’s easy to see where you are standing in comparison. It is a pleasure and an honour to have France as the partner country and also to be a part of the opening ceremony.”
The sport is also under way as of today, both in the Main Jumping Arena as well as in the Almased Dressage Stadium.
The Almased Dressage Stadium saw the finalists of the Amateur Tour of Ankumer Dressage Club compete against each other. This national event at advanced level was won by Luisa Emmerich and Daytona E ahead of Nane Grunwald on Solitaire and Carl-Lennart Korsch (SUI) on Dias Desperados ST.
Photo © Lafrentz
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