Aachen

The best way to sum up Aachen is: WOW! 

 What a fabulous show and so inspiring to experience live.  The Dutch clearly stood out in a caliber of there own. Edwards Gal and Totilas are truly is the most extreme version of a Dressage test the world has ever seen. Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival present such a smooth and extremely expressive and 100% correct tests. Laura Bechtolsheimer and  Mistral Hojris, Imke Schellekens-Bartels and Sunrise and Isabell Werth and Satchmo were all also close behind, each of them bringing there own special talent and flair to the ring. Canada was also proudly represented by Achely Holzer, Belinda Trussel and Bonny Bonnello all of whom presented some very solid and beautiful tests.

Overall Watching Aachen was a great learning experience on so many different levels. What was really interesting is that now that I have personally ridden through a Grand Prix test, I found myself observing each ride with a completely different level of concentration. As I was watching all of the top riders work there way through the test- every movement I found myself zoning in on how the rider balances all of their aids and comparing it to the final result of how each horse executed each movement. I can't think of a more perfect learning opportunity than watching the best of the BEST perform to there best. Really cool! 

Below is a picture of my travel mates and I, Laura and Charlene. We successfully experienced everything Aachen had to offer, which included, the driving and cross country course which was crazy, each course had creative obstacles and challenging questions for all competitors. The Dressage, was my favourite, of course ;-) and the jumping was also a true rush to watch. And clearly, I couldn't resist doing just a bit of shopping at the ever so convenient tent village located right in the middle of all the events. 

I also had a chance to catch up with the one and only.... Leah Southward! Leah was here in Germany for 5 weeks grooming for Tina Konyot, Tina was also very successful in Aachen finishing 8th overall in the freestyle. 

And finally here is a picture of the Amazing Hicksted and Canadian Eric Lamaze kicking some serious ass! The Grand Prix Jump off was so much fun to watch because the packed stadium hold their breath for every jump. The atmosphere is a true rush, and the craziest thing is that Eric broke his foot during the final round on a tight corner but continued to the finish and won!

Overall the whole experience: Inspiring.