"The horse as the winner of the World Championships"
FEI World Equestrian Games: Endurance ride over
160 kilometres on August 21st


Dr. Friedrich Wilhelm Hanbücken carefully examines the horse of the Dutch WEG participant, Carmen Römer, with his hands and a stethoscope. How high is the heart rate, is the pulse alright, what about the muscles? "If the horse doesn't look fit or if its metabolic rate isn't okay, it will be withdrawn from the competition immediately," explains Hanbücken. The health of the animal is namely of foremost importance during the FEI World Equestrian Games Aachen 2006 (August 20th - September 3rd). Especially during the endurance ride on Monday, August 21st, when around 150 riders from 40 nations and their horses have to master a 160 kilometre route stretching from the Aachen Soers, through the District of Aachen, the Netherlands and Belgium and back again. "The horse is to come off as the big winner of the WEG in Aachen," emphasises Frank Kemperman, Tournament Director and General Director of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein (ALRV), addressing the many journalists at a press meeting at the border triangle.

Here is where the main vet gate of the WEG will be located, close to Vaals (the Netherlands), where Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands share a common border. This is one of two points, where a vet inspection will be carried out on the horses. "Here the notion of a united Europe is being put into practise," noted the Lord Mayor of Vaals, J.G.M. Lurvink and George Linckens, Lord Mayor of Plombières, Belgium with an air of satisfaction. Thousands of equestrian fans will be able to cheer on the equestrian athletes and their horses from the side of the route and from the stands. And of course the spectators will watch closely while the vets carry out their inspections.

The participants will be setting off from the Aachen Soers on their route, which leads to the border triangle after looping back on itself several times, at 6 o'clock in the morning. "Tens of thousands of people will then be able to watch the riders cross the finishing line in the main stadium of the ALRV at approx. 5 p.m.," states Kemperman. Free of charge. The shopping alleys on the actual show grounds will be open on "Soers Monday" and in the stadium itself at 4.30 p.m. a colourful show programme will serve as the fanfare to the arrival of the first FEI World Equestrian Games gold medallist. With plenty of horses and carriages, music and dance. "Live images of the finish will also be shown on a big screen," adds Kemperman.

However, beforehand the horses and riders will have to prove their stamina on the 160 km long stretch. For the German national coach, Bernhard Dornsiepen, this is also a question of tactics: "The WEG route is without doubt one of the more difficult international rides, particularly because of the many small hills, which the riders shouldn't try to climb too quickly especially at the beginning." In this discipline, which is dominated by Arabs to a large extent, his team are "perhaps candidates for a medal ". Ideally an endurance rider should exercise his horse twice a day in order to lay the foundation for the adequate degree of fitness. "How much stamina a horse can have is often underestimated. It sometimes occurs that the rider flags slightly, but the horse still overtakes the others on his own accord." The horse as an equal partner: Yet, it is not necessarily the first pair to cross the finish line, who are the ultimate winners. First of all the horse has to pass the vet inspection at the second vet gate at the Soers. And then the celebrations can begin.


Ticket hotline for the FEI World Equestrian Games:

+49-(0)241-917-1111

www.aachen2006.de