-- This column first appeared as a Newsletter blog on 3 October 2025. If you want to receive our fun newsletters, sign up for free.
I'm absolutely loving the downtime at home, just working out of the office and following the world of dressage remotely through the computer and live stream. It gave me time to sit down and finally launch the brand new layout of the mobile version of Eurodressage. We had planned on launching it in January (ahum), then it got postponed to March.. and then there were other hurdles that caused a major delay, but it's finally up and running. Phew!
If you access Eurodressage on a computer or tablet you still get the "old" website, but when you look at Eurodressage on your phone it's new with more horizontal scrolling options, a changed layout to read the articles, and in principle the surfing across the directories should be easier. I know, all change is difficult and NOBODY likes to get used to a new layout. Trust me, I hate it too.. but they keep telling me that standing still is going backwards, even though I love stillness, reliability, uneventfulness, an (emotional) flatline, peace and quiet. Sorry for yanking the chain and getting you guys used to something new. If you see any major problems with the layout, please send me a mail as we will tweak it. Every phone is different (different brand, different operating system). We try to make it work for all.
In all that peace and quiet I have been sending a shockwave through my body. I finally was done making excuses for being soft, flabby, lazy and unfit. In 2013 I was so inspired by the TV-series Spartacus that I signed for an online fitness plan and started going to the gym passionately (6 x a week) for 6 years. Then I got fed up with how boring working out is, and how little result you get for the time and effort you put into it (especially if you don't diet) that as of October 2019 I took a sabbatical from fitness. That lasted six years !! As I'm getting older (hey, I've been in "the business" for 26 years now) my body is starting the crack and squeak.
While reading "A Court of Silver Flames" (the last ACOTAR instalment) the Female Main Character trains like a Navy SEAL and I told myself, "dammit, move your ass." I jumped into my gym clothes, drove to the gym and took a 6-month subscription. My personal "Camp Valkyrie" has started and after 3 weeks working out 6 times a week (heavy weight lifting and light cardio) I can report that the flabby belly has reduced in size, the lovehandles and chicken wings are still there, but the scale has gone down 2 kilo. At least it's something. My joints do feel more mobile and in the long run that's the goal.
Enough about flagellating my body.. There is horse news out there. Here are my favourite articles of the past two weeks. Enjou
-- Astrid Appels