Day 4

Today was not a competition day, but there was so much to watch and we got to talk to several amazing people! We watched many riders school their horses, including Jessica von Bredow-Werndl on Unee BB, Emma Kanerva on Sini Solina, Diederik van Silfhout on Arlando, Pierra Volla on Badinda Altena, Michael Eilberg on Marakov, Marina Aframeeva on Voska, Inessa Merkulova on Mister X, Beatriz Ferrer-Salat on Delgado, and Kristina Sprehe on Desperados FRH. We really enjoyed watching each of these combinations; one of our favorites was the very sympathetic rider Jessica von Bredow-Werndl on Unee BB. She warmed the stallion up cantering around the ring on a long rein in half seat, smiling and laughing the whole time. Then she did a series of short collection work sets, with lots of walk breaks on a loose rein in between them. Halfway through her ride, she took the stirrups off her saddle and did the rest of the work stirrup-less, which improved her already amazing seat and really put her in complete harmony with the horse. Unee BB looked so relaxed and happy! They were a pleasure to watch.

Jessica von Bredow-Werndl on Unee BB (stirrupless!)

Michael Eilberg on Marakov

Marina Aframeeva on Vosk

Diederik van Silfhout on Arlando

We had the opportunity to speak to Danish FEI rider and European Championship team member Mikala Gundersen, former US dressage team technical advisor and FEI 5* judge Anne Gribbons, German FEI rider and youth coach Hans-Heinrich Meyer zu Strohen, German FEI rider and French team trainer Jan Bemelmans, and spoke more with Swedish chef d’equipe and long line master Bo Jena. Everyone here at Aachen has been so kind and generous, passionately and honestly answering all of our questions.

Mikala Gundersen spoke about her pre-European Championships training schedule: she explained that the week before a show, she does not work My Lady quite as intensely, wanting her to be physically and mentally fresh at the competition. There is nothing that you can really change in such a short time, so you ought to focus on keeping the horse “supple and happy.” She also talked about how Denmark can qualify a composite team for the Olympics (since Denmark did not place highly enough in the team competition at Aachen to qualify a team for the Olympics that way). If Denmark has three riders ranked highly enough in the world dressage rankings, then Denmark can choose three riders – they do not have the be the top ranked riders, but most likely they will be – to go to the Olympics and they then become a team.

Anne Gribbons, one of the judges here at Aachen, spoke about the super quality of the horses and riders in the competition. She also explained how difficult judging is, especially judging certain movements from certain angles (for example, it is very hard to see if tempi changes are completely through behind if the judge is sitting at “F” and the changes are coming on the diagonal straight at her). She discussed the importance of fairness as well: she explained that a judge should not even see the breed of a horse, only the quality and accuracy of the gaits and movements. Finally, she told us about some amazing places that she has judged, such as Achleiten in Austria, which is in the Swiss Alps and she described it as looking just like The Sound of Music. 

Hans-Heinrich Meyer zu Strohen talked about what is takes to be a really top rider. He strongly emphasized the importance of having a superb quality seat. The first time he saw Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, the first thing he noticed was her amazing seat. He felt that a rider also must have a really good feel, both for himself and his horse. A rider has to spend time in the stable with his horse and learn all about and appreciate him. A rider’s trainer is very important too: the trainer must be very honest with you and tough on you, but at the same time supportive and willing to answer questions. He felt that a horse must enjoy its work, and that judges can tell when a horse has a happy expression and reward it. The key is knowing when you need to make the work fun and knowing when you have to be a little tougher and ask more from your horse.

L to R: Rosie Julian-Simoes, Sadie Lahey, Anne Gribbons, Hans-Heinrich Meyer zu Strohen, Charlotte Bredahl, Annie Morris, Jennifer Foulon, Sarah Cohen

Jan Bemelmans told us the story of the chestnut mare Badinda Altena, one of the horses on the French European Championship team here that we absolutely adored. Her rider, Pierre Volla, had been a jumper rider and had bought her when she was 2 or 3 years old. She was not easy as a young horse: unbelievably hot and explosive. Learning the flying changes was difficult for her. However, once she started working on the piaffe and passage, everyone really began to see the potential in the horse. She did her first Grand Prix test ever just this year, and now will be competing in the Grand Prix Special tomorrow (the top 30 out of the 72 combinations competing in the Grand Prix qualified for the Grand Prix Special). He noted that sometimes the horses that are difficult as youngsters turn out to be the best horses for the Grand Prix. He also talked about how he prepared the French team for the European Championships. One week before having to be at Aachen, the team came to Germany. They trained for two days, then on the third day they ran through the Grand Prix test. Then they spent the remaining days working on any issues that had arisen during the test. Once at Aachen, they kept the work light and easy, so the horses would be fresh for the tests. Like Hans-Heinrich Meyer zu Strohen, he emphasized the importance of a good seat, and explained that riding bareback is an excellent way to feel the muscles of the horse and develop a good understanding for his mechanics. He suggested riding on the lunge line and without stirrups and reins as well. We also discussed how to bring a horse and rider from small tour level to big tour level, and he told us to remember that you get points with big movement from the horse in the Prix St Georges but that you get points with quick movement from the horse in the Grand Prix.

L to R: Sadie Lahey, Rosie Julian-Simoes (bottom), Sarah Cohen, Jan Bemelmans, Jennifer Foulon, Annie Morris

It is getting quite late here in Germany, so I will compile yesterday and today's notes from Bo Jena and post them another time. We had a wonderful time talking to him as we watched a little bit of the cross country today! Thank you so much to Mikala, Anne, Hans-Heinrich, Jan, and Bo for spending so much time with us today!! We are all so inspired!