Eurodressage has arrived at the 2013 European Dressage Championships in Herning, Denmark. For me it's the last big show of the season and I look at it with mixed emotions. Of course I'm ecstatic to see the championship unfold: the battle between Helen Langehanenberg and Charlotte Dujardin and how much input will Adelinde Cornelissen have in this game. On the other hand I must confess that I'm dreading the week a bit, knowing how much work it will be, the late and lonely nights in the crummy hotel room, the bad food. Oh well, I've learnt to survive all that.
Yesterday evening I decided not to kill myself on the 8 hour drive to Denmark by getting up at an ungodly, early hour to be at the show by noon. I slept until 8 AM, got up, packed the last few items, and fed my horse before jumping in the car. I don't know what is the matter with the traffic in Germany, but each time I reach Osnabruck, it's start-and-stop traffic on the A1 motorway all the way up to Bremen. It wasn't even rush hour and it's summer! To make the trip even less enjoyable it was pouring rain, limiting all visibility and making me focus on the drive for a full 100% instead of cruising by and playing my usual mental game in the car, i.e. contemplating on life and setting up business strategies for next year.
As soon as I passed Hamburg the drive became smooth sailing and the weather cleared at the same time. I stopped at the Hochmoor road restaurant and had a goulash soup and a small salad. As desert I drank a zero-sugar Red Bull to jump-start my system for the final 4-hour leg of the trip.
The drive through Denmark was wonderful: empty motorways kept immaculately clean, beautiful sunshine and an amazing scenery of rolling hills, fields full of straw ready to be cut, and trees waving in the wind. In Vejle I had to go off the motorway on the secondary road and passed the sign for Randbol, where Blue Hors is based. My GPS is apparently not up to date because she got completely confused when I took a new bit of motorway which wasn't programmed into her system. Denmark looks so rural, peaceful and empty. I felt this touch of history sweeping through my mind, imagining how the Vikings would have lived here in the woods.
Round 17h00 I arrived at the Messe centre in Herning. I had been here before almost ten years ago for the Danish Warmblood Stallion Licensing in the winter, but the entire premises feel different in the summer. I parked my car on the main parking grounds, walked to the show and asked some people for the accreditation office, where I had to pick up my press pass. It was busy in that im promptu set-up tent, but the girls working behind the desks were quick, friendly and efficient. No problems here with the laminating machines or web cams taking photos of the pass holders! I was impressed.
The Championships are being held in the Herning soccer stadium which has been filled with a sand footing. It's a huge building with tons of seats (I hope they will get filled) and a very professional looking press room. The show grounds and arena don't give you a warm "green" horsey feeling, but with such a big arena for the competition the "Championship factor" is certainly present, which makes it all the more exciting!
The show jumpers had the opportunity to practise in the main stadium and I watched them for a while but got bored quickly and turned round to people watch instead. I think I saw three dressage riders in total loitering at the stadium and that was it. There was nothing to do and see at the show, so I decided to check out the hotel. A year ago I tried booking a nice room, close to the show, but I was fruitless in my efforts. I did get a great room in a hotel 3km from the show, but the price tag of 1600 euro for 5 nights was too much for my budget. So I decided to go for the press hotel instead, which is 43 kilometers from the show. I keep grinding my teeth in frustration just when I think about the daily commute I have ahead of me.
The hotel is a conference and business centre in an old, historic building. It is pretty impressive from the outside but looks totally deserted. The lobby is lovely and there is a small bar, but the lady behind the desk baffled me when she said there is no restaurant in this hotel. Finding food in the evenings will be a challenge, especially as we -- journalists and photographers -- are the mules of the show and work very late nights each day. Try imagining how much fun it is to find a place where they sell food at 23 or 24h that doesn't come out of a vending machine. Olé!
I got installed in my basic, but clean room (which is totally fine) and worked on a few stories before jumping back into my car to find a pizza place nearby. I found one online first and then drove to the Silkeborg train station, where it was. The only pizza's they had were splattered with Kebab meat, salami or sausage, so I decided to go for the vegetarian version. That's cutting 400 calories off a 7568383949898 Kcal pizza!
Tomorrow morning the vet check starts at 9.30 h and I intend to be at the show bright and early.
Text and Photos © Astrid Appels
Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2013 European Dressage Championships