Ermelo Prepped and Ready for the 2024 World Young Horse Championships

- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  
-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

The KNHS and KWPN headquarters in Ermelo, The Netherlands, are prepped and ready for the 2024 World Championships for young dressage horses, officially known as the WBFSH/FEI World Breeding Championships for young dressage horses.. but for me that's too much of a mouthful. 

In its last year in Ermelo before the event rotates to Verden (GER) for a new three-year cycle, the "WCYH" are the final major summer championship of what has been a more than action packed 2024 show year with the Olympics in a majestic Versailles as epic highlight. There was an almost four week rest period between Paris and Ermelo, enough the charge the mental batteries for another huge international dressage championship. 

The WCYH began in Verden with a pilot in 1997, then took place in Arnheim for two years (1999-2000), and then became a fixture in Verden from 2001 till 2015. The WCYH developed into one of the most beloved Championships for dressage aficionados and breeders and when they moved to Ermelo in 2016 a certain kind of sadness was felt because tradition had been broken.. But then Ermelo far exceeded all expectations and staged a bigger, better and more fun WCYH than Verden ever did. In 2021 there was a single-year-return to Verden and while the Hanoverian verband did its best, it just couldn't live up to the magic Ermelo has been able to conjure. Verden was also plagued by hideous rain through the show week and that didn't help the matter. Now a same kind of sadness returns as we have to shift feelings and emotions again, settling back into Verden next year, where the show has less of the championship feel with its ugly white tents, sparse decoration, red containers where the judges and technicians sit, and little room for sense for nature and space. 

Last year Ermelo also had a very rainy edition, but the weather forecast for this week is more optimistic although it drizzled a bit during the arena familiarisation today. This year the WCYH start one day early as the programme is so packed with classes for 4-year olds, alongside the official championships for 5, 6, and 7-year olds and then there is a big tour CDI happening as well. Two rings go simultaneously and there is so much to experience it's all about cherry picking in the next six days. 

Today - Tuesday 3 September 2024 - the event kicked off with the horse inspection for 5-year olds. All horses passed although it was quite a sensational trot-up with some breeding stallions on worst behaviour (two were rearing, clawing and being total fruitloops), while other horses had to be chased forward by an official as they didn't want to shift a gear up into trot. After the horse inspection, the 5-year olds were allowed to train in the warm-up and main ring. Some riders took the opportunity to just walk their horses and others had a big training session in store to cook the youngsters to perfection for tomorrow.  

So let's see what will happen. Eurodressage is there to cover it all in detail with photos and article. I'm ready!

- Text and Photos © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  

Eurodressage is taking photos of (pretty much) all competitors in Ermelo. No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses