Day one at Horses & Dreams meets the Royal Kingdom of Jordan at Hof Kasselmann in Hagen in the Teutoburger Forest has kicked off on Wednesday 25 April 2018. The event traditionally starts with a ecumenical service and welcome ceremony on Wednesday. And although the venue was hit by wild weather this morning, host Francois Kasselmann confirms that all preparations have been concluded on time, “Our team has been working around the clock and the venue looks magnificent. The show can begin.”
The competition is already in full swing, with the opening event in the main stadium, the Prize of the Performance Sales International GmbH CSI4* 1.40m class, and a qualification for the Ankum Dressage Club in Almased Dressage Stadium, which was won by blogger Kim Burschik.
One prominent Hagen a.T.W. regular has a full schedule for the dressage events — riding master Hubertus Schmidt. He has nominated four horses for the the small tour, in the qualification for the Louisdor-Prize and the Grand Prix tour.
“The classes here are always very competitive, it’s not easy to place in front here. The show is always so well organised, we have great conditions to work the horses and every year there’s another new improvement — not just for the riders and horses, but also for the grooms, who play such an important role.
The show jumpers also use Horses & Dreams as a key event at the start of the outdoor season. One year ago Markus Beerbaum set the scene for his comeback here and scored the first points for the DKB-Riders Tour, which he eventually won together with the Rider of the Year title. The rider from Thedinghausen says, “Of course I want to defend my title this year, but all riders want to do well here, the competition is strong in Germany. I would like to commend myself for Nations Cups and perhaps ride in another Championship.”Heinrich-Hermann Engemann, discipline coach of the German Showjumpers, will closely watch who is performing well this weekend, “We won’t decide who is going to the World Equestrian Games yet, but we will decide who is going to Nations Cups and this will eventually play a role when it comes to the nominations for WEG.”
Ibrahim Bisharat, show jumper and representative of the partner country Jordan, also has high expectations for this weekend. “It is always a pleasure to ride at such a competitive show. There’s the competition side, but there’s also the exchange with other good riders and the opportunity to watch and see how they work their horses.” Besides, he is looking forward to the many culinary specialties from his home country — “They will delight lots of people!”
Double Streaming Coverage
Those who can’t be there in person, will miss the Jordanian atmosphere at the Borgberg, but there is an opportunity to watch the sport on TV. There’s the proven partner ClipMyHorse.tv and new partner Entertain TV. The new streaming service is offered by the Telekom who will broadcast the Louisdor-Prize events, accompanied by expert commentary. The first episode on Saturday April 28th from 8pm to 8:30pm will show dressage highlights from the Grand Prix Special and show jumping highlights from the qualification to the DKB-Riders Tour Final. The main episode on Sunday April 29th will show the final qualification for the Louisdor-Prize fo young Grand Prix horses live from 11:15am to 1:45pm. The riders will comment immediately after their performance in short flash-interviews. The studio talks will analyse the rides further and discuss potential mistakes. The sport will therefore be made easy to understand for non-equestrians as well.
The broadcast is supported by the inaugural Horses & Dreams Online Auction. Nine riding horses are available for auction, they can be viewed at www.horsesanddreams-auction.com . A special highlight is the Totilas son, Tu le Merite, who will be auctioned off for the benefit of the BILD Zeitung charity organization “E Heart for Children”.
Tickets for Horses & Dreams meets the Royal Kingdom of Jordan are available online at horses-and-dreams-ticketshop.reservix.de/events.
For more information, visit www.horses-and-dreams.de
Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2018 CDI Hagen