Every June the best world horsemen come to the town of Aachen in central Germany to take part in the most prominent open-air equestrian tournament.
It's called the peak of the season. Almost all participants say that having been to Aachen once, you'll always want to come back. And if asked just what makes this tournament so special, the organisers modestly say, "Everything is perfect here".
Aachen's residents call their town "the heart of the European Union". This small town located in the very centre of Germany is equally close to Belgium and Holland, France and Luxembourg. The town's location and history make it particularly important to Europeans: after all, it was the legendary Charlemagne's capital once.
Today Aachen doesn't have any official capital city status, but it became a veritable equestrian capital of the world - thanks to the famous equestrian CHIO Aachen tournament, which for more than a century has been bringing to the town over 300,000 visitors a year.
The Aachen tournament was the biggest annual event in the equestrian world from the very start. In 1898 a group of enthusiastic horsemen established the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein (ALRV) society, which in turn organised the most famous horse-related event in the world. This tournament attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators to Aachen.
This central event of the world equestrian industry is held under the auspices of the International Federation for Equestrian sport (FEI). In 2007 the festival's budget was €10 million. 1,000 volunteers work at the CHIO, with about 400 horses and 190 riders coming over from more than 20 countries. The festival lasts for 8 days.
In 2007 the World Equestrian Festival included five competitions: show jumping, dressage, triathlon, driving and voltage.
The Aachen festival is eight days of exciting, dynamic sport, with emotions heating to the boiling point. You can hear how the many thousands in the stands hold their collective breath.
Says Nadia Zülow, the famous vaulter: "When you perform in Aachen it's something special. There are many equestrian events in Germany but it's the only one that big. To be here in Aachen, to take part is always a great honour. Sportsmen, owners, trainers - all want to come to Aachen. It's hard to explain... When you go on the arena it makes you shiver, you know... It's a great feeling."
The best in dressage was Isabelle Werth, the best rider in world. She won all the round's competitions. "I wanted to put all my feelings in the new music which accompanies my Kur performance. These are fragments of Montserrat Cabalier’s songs. I think I was successful. I've never performed that well before."
In 2007 the Aachen's Rolex Grand Prix was awarded to American Beezie Madden, on the horse called Authentic. Last year the equestrienne competed here in Aachen for the world champion's title. She hit the pole on the last obstacle, so this year's victory was particularly valuable: "I feel simply fantastic! The Rolex Grand Prix is one of the most important prizes one can possibly win. I just had to win here, otherwise my list of accomplishments wouldn't have been complete. This is a dream!".
The equestrian festival has always been not just a sport competition but a major society event. Many of the guests are politicians and business people who traditionally come to the gala evening held on the first day of the show. German chancellor Angela Merkel has already used the CHIO twice to meet leading German businessmen.
One of the festival's traditions is to invite a partner country to present its equestrian-related achievements, original horse shows and any other tourist, economic and cultural events, regional or national. During the years Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary and other European countries have been invited as partners. Their official delegations included heads of states, members of royal families and top-level politicians. It's a great honour to represent your country at CHIO Aachen. In 2008 this honour will go to Russia.
In 2008 Russia will be a partner country of CHIO Aachen. And that means that Russian equestrian community is already working to present the country's best results in the area, so the world would see it as a nation rich in culture and traditions.
Aachen has hosted more than 20 world and European equestrian championships.
The first of them was the Jumping Championship 1955. It was also the first ever event of such kind to be broadcasted live across Europe on TV. In 1978 a new format of the championship was tested in Aachen. The jumping tournament included team competitions - which still remain on the programme.
In 2006 Aachen was home to the Fifth World Equestrian Games - like Olympic Games, they are held once every four years. To be able to accommodate three more official equestrian sports - vaulting, reining (traditional cowboy competitions) and driving, the organisers had to enlarge the area of the complex by 40 hectares and build another stadium for 100,000 seats.
The Fifth World Equestrian Games' budget exceeded €39.3 million, including €17.7 million for the reconstruction of Aachen equestrian complex. German Federal Government invested €3.1 million and North Rhine - Westphalia came up with €12.9 million.
Oxana Debolskaya
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