Universe is all settled in at Aachen! Photo via Clark Montgomery's Facebook page.
Aachen — it’s a legendary horse mecca with a 115-year history as one of the most prestigious equestrian events in the world. While show jumping, dressage and driving have long served as the backbone of the competition at Aachen, eventing joined the festivities in 2007, with vaulting following in 2008. All five disciplines now host Nations Cup competitions at Aachen. This year, there will be 375 riders and 535 horses competing from 30 different countries for 2.78 million Euros in prize money. More than 350,000 spectators are expected to flock to Aachen and file in and out of the grandstands over the course of the competition, and more than 600 journalists will be there to bring you every second of the action.
I’m lucky enough to be one of those journalists, and I still can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that the main stadium at Aachen seats 40,000. To put that into perspective, the Rolex stadium seats around 10,000. The eventers will be lucky enough to show jump in the grandeur of the main stadium, and I’m so excited to be your boots on the ground for Team USA’s first trip to the Aachen CICO3*. There are 10 nations, 40 riders and 43 horses competing in the eventing. Our U.S. riders contesting Aachen are Tiana Coudray on Jatial LLC’s Ringwood Magister, Will Faudree on Jennifer Mosing’s Pawlow, Clark Montgomery on Jessica Montgomery’s Universe and Marilyn Little and Raylyn Farms Inc.’s RF Smoke on the Water.
The U.S. team for Aachen was chosen based on their performances at Rolex and Badminton, and riders had to apply to be placed under consideration for the team. Buck Davidson and Cassandra Segal’s Ballynoe Castle RM were initially named to the team, but Reggie suffered a bone bruise on his right stifle that left him enjoying some time off in the pasture instead of preparing to compete in Germany. Buck assured me that Reggie is doing great and will be back in action soon when I spoke to him early this month, so fans of this pair can rest assured that this isn’t a major cause for concern. Thankfully, team alternates Marilyn Little and RF Smoke on the Water were able to step up to fill out the U.S.’s first ever Nations Cup team for Aachen.
The entry list for Aachen is packed with top horses and riders, and many pairs are competing this weekend for the first time since Badminton. While William Fox-Pitt is notably absent from the entry list, we will be seeing Michael Jung and his unicorn La Biosthetique-Sam FBW in their first appearance since Badminton. We’ll also be seeing Andrew Nicholson and Quimbo in their first outing since winning Rolex. There are numerous other exciting pairs to watch, and I’m particularly excited to see Sandra Auffarth and Opgun Louvo, who I think are on track to be the world’s next superstars. Team USA will be competing against teams from Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and Sweden. Germany took home the team win at last year’s Nations Cup competition at Aachen and will be looking to defend their title on home turf this weekend.
Since the addition of eventing to Aachen in 2007, some big names have brought home the prestigious win. Frank Ostholt and Air Jordan won in both 2007 and 2008; Andreas Dibowski FRH and Serve Well won in 2009; Andrew Nicholson and Nereo won in 2010; Michael Jung and Sam won in 2011; and Chris Burton and Underdiscussion won last year. The U.S. has sent a very strong team to challenge the world’s best, and it’s going to be an exciting competition. My flight for Germany leaves tonight — and I’m actually typing this from the airport — and I’ll be on the grounds in Aachen tomorrow to catch up with our U.S. team and bring you exclusive interviews and a cross-country preview. Stay tuned for much more, and go Aachen!
All Things Aachen: [Website] [Entry List] [Live Scores] [Live Stream] [Virtual Course Walk]
Aachen Schedule:
Dressage @ 8:30 a.m. Friday local time
Show jumping at 6:15 p.m. Friday local time
Cross country at 10 a.m. Saturday local time
