Saturday was a big day for all disciplines here in the Soerser valley. The four-in-hand drivers had their marathon competition in the forest surrounding Aachen. The weather has been amazing for the whole show making the trip to the forest especially inviting for the local fans. For those who have been to the CHIO at Aachen before, it rains at least one day almost every show. I remember Kyra writing about her first experience here and how it poured buckets with mud everywhere in the forest, but not this year. More than 45,000 spectators were out there and hopefully Lita Dove was among them and can give a report on her impressions. After returning to the show grounds, between jumping competitions in the main arena, the 23 four horse teams drove in for their prize giving ceremony. The top two four-in-hands were both from Sweden and they were waving their flags high. Try to visualize almost 100 horses lined up next to each other, wheel to wheel from one end of the field to the other and when they peeled off to make their congratulatory round, they filled the whole stadium. Each team as they approached the long side in front of the main grandstand on their way to the exit took off at a flat out gallop with the crowd of about 45,000 in the stadium cheering them on. Tucker Johnson was the best at two of the obstacles for which he received a special prize and came in 5th in the competition.

Today was Grand Prix Special day in the dressage stadium. Because I was able to use the computer in Helen’s office to write my report this morning, I was a little late getting to the competition and missed Sue Blink’s ride with Flim Flam, but her score was the leading score of the first five rides with a very respectable 68.84%.

Guenther Seidel’s test was again tense and marred by a few errors in the irregularity of the first piaffe and passage. His 15 one tempi changes had a break which earned him a 4 from all of the judges, although the 9 ones down the centre line between the two pirouettes was his best score, achieving two 8’s and three 7’s. Even though he received many 7’s he needs those 8’s and occaisonal 9’s to reach the world class level of the competition here at Aachen.

I was sitting on the top level of the press section which gives a clear view of the warm up rings outside. Robert Dover and Everest were practicing their entrance to halt which was unsteady yesterday with scores all over the map depending on the view that the judges had (5-8). He still didn’t have the best entrance receiving mostly 6’s. The first extension across the diagonal was very nice bringing 8’s from all five judges. The half pass left was a 7-8 and the passage/trot/passage was also in the 8 range. The half pass right had scores again from 4 to 8, which is very unusual and the only time of all the scoring that I saw such a discrepancy. The next passage/trot/passage was back up into the 8’s. The extended walk was too quick and only scored 6’s from all judges. Passage/piaffe/passage was mostly in the 7’s with some small errors bringing down to 6. There was an error at the end of the two tempi’s giving 4-5. From my view point, in the one tempi’s the right hind did not come through as much as the left hind but there were no actual errors which was then scored as 6 by two of the judges and 7 by the other three. The pirouette left on the center line was a 7 and the 9 one tempi’s were better receiving 7’s and one 8. The right pirouette was poor bringing a 2 from one of the judges. Robert’s seat scored him 8’s from all judges and his final score was 1469 or 68.33%, not enough for a placing and a half of a percentage behind Sue Blinks but still a respectable score leaving room for improvement and the possibility of reaching the stars for both of them.

For Peron followers, his test was nice but not brilliant, earning him a score of 68.05%.

Steffen Peters rode a beautiful test and broke the 70% barrier in the Grand Prix Special. If his entrance had been more exact, his collected walk more in rhythm, and his first piaffe at the ready, he would have been right up there with the best of them. All of the rest of his scores from all of the judges for the whole test were in the 7-8 range. He can really be proud of his performance here with a final score of 70.28% in the Grand Prix Special.

For those interested in the jumping, there is no doubt in my mind that Rodrigo Pessoa is the best rider on the scene today. The Brazilian anthem has been played more than once in the last few days. For those who think that it is just because he has the best horses, today’s special competition put that argument to rest. The reigning Olympic Champion, the reigning World Champion, the reigning European Champion and the last winner of the Grand Prix of Aachen were part of a competition with exchanging of horses. The horses that each brought to the competition were relatively young, between 8 and 11. Each rider completed the course of 10 obstacles on his own horse (all of whom were clean) and then had three minutes to try out each of his competitors’ horses, make two practice jumps, and then jump the course. Rodrigo won hands down as he rode all four horses without a fault. Each of the other three Riders, Hugo Simon, Ludger Beerbaum, and Ulrich Kirchhoff had 8 faults each to all tie for second. Rodrigo rides jumpers with a secure seat, steady legs, and quiet sensitive hands and every one of the horses profited by his ride. In contrast Hugo Simon has a whole life time of experience ahead of Rodrigo, but I really felt for some of the horses who were the recipients of his hard half halts. Rodrigo asks and gets, Hugo demands and doesn’t always get.

It is now Sunday morning and the last day. I know that it will be a relief for Helen to have it behind her so that she can get some sleep and start the recovery to do it all over again next year. I am looking out at the score board which is being tested in preparation for the jumping Grand Prix of Aachen - the Aachener and Münchener Insurance sponsored event when the stadium will be packed to the hilt.

Until tomorrow.......

Bonnie