One of the few European tv channels that provide full coverage of the main equestrian events in the world are the German stations ZDF and WDR. World Cup Finals, CHIO Aachen, World Equestrian Games, the German horse lover is never disappointed in the wide range of equine broadcasts.
Sunday May 5, 2002, was once again a day filled with whinnying excitement on screen. The World Cup Finals Show Jumping in Leipzig, Germany, featured at least one hour of horsey tv satisfaction for those who could not make it to the Neue Messe in Leipzig. The Finals were won by Otto Becker with Dobel's Cento, an enormous and impressive Holsteiner breeding stallion with extraordinary jumping potential. However, a more striking factor drew my attention during the finals.
While stallions and geldings lifted their feet over 1.50 and 1.60 meter obstacles, it were the mares with an attitude that impressed me the most. The leading jumper dames in the arena were not the gorgeous stallions prancing around in the ring, but the alpha mares with their ears flat in the neck, their hindquarters bucking after every jump, and just showing so much energy, eagerness, attitude and capacity that they easily outbeat their male counterparts.
Rolf Goran Bengtsson's Pialotta and Ray Texel's Fleur were the mares that impressed me the most. With 20 centimeters space left above any obstacle, sky is not the limit for these duchesses. And for Ludger Beerbaum's Gladdys, a temperamental dame, the Finals seemed a piece of cake. And by the way, keep track of names like Goldika, Chandra and Butterfly Flip.
--Astrid Appels
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