When I received Barbara Schnell's photo and text report of her impressions of Equitana 2007, I immediately had to think back to the day when I first visited Equitana, back in 1993.
I was 12 years old then and completely horse crazy (I still am). I had come across the Equitana 1993 advertisement in the German Reiter-Revue magazine which I had bought at the local tack shop and I was very enchanted by the description of what proclaimed to be "the Biggest Horse Fair in the World." Also, when I found out that my idol, Nicole Uphoff, was giving interviews there, I really really really wanted to convince my father to go.
It took daddy's little daughter's best persuading skills to convince my father to drive to Essen, Germany, for Equitana. It was a two-hour drive and I remember being unbelievably excited. We parked far away from the Messe center but I didn't ware about the long walk as I was bursting with energy to enter this horse Mekka.
Equitana was HUGE, twelve indoor halls with shops, shops, shops, and horses. Heaven! The first hall we entered was the right one straight away. It had big horse lorries (the only fun section for my non-horsey father) and the Euro-Star stand where double Olympic champion Nicole Uphoff gave her interviews. Back then, my idolization of Uphoff was pretty big. I had scrapbooks with her pictures from magazines, I collected Euro Star advertisements with photos of her and Rembrandt. Once, I even touched Rembrandt at the CDI Schoten and I vowed never to wash that hand again. When I went home to the stable, I touched my pony with that hand, hoping that Rembrandt's winning qualities would be passed onto my pony.
Being only 12, I didn't understand a word of Uphoff's interview in German, me not yet speaking the language. The only words I understood were "Pferd" (Horse) and "Dressur" (Dressage) but I loved every second of it. When the talk was over, I stormed forward to get her autograph. That signed photo became a relic and it was pasted to one of my bedroom walls to adore!
After the interview, I remember I visited every single tack shop looking at saddle pads, bits, polo wraps, etc. over and over. I pretty much picked up the brochures, stickers, and pens at all the booths that offered these items for free. By the end of the day, I had collected three extremely heavy plastic bags filled with stallion ads, brochures and magazines, which my dad had to carry because I couldn't handle the weight of it. My thirst for tack shops was unquenchable and after five hours of shopping, my dad got a bit tired when I had to go in yet another tack shop, which are all same after a while. I didn't see the famous Equitana Hop Top show, because back then I didn't really know that it was one of the best stallion presentations in Germany.
When we drove back home to Belgium late in the evening, I felt incredibly inspired and satisfied. I treasured the brochures I collected at Equitana 1993 and stored them underneath my wardrobe. All the stickers I got were gathered in a special bucket and Uphoff's autograph stuck to my wall for years. Every time I looked at it, I became more and more passionate about dressage and wanted to become a winner like her.
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-- Astrid Appels