2006 CHIO Aachen

Otto Becker: "Perfect footing conditions"
Course of the top jumping around the dressage arena

Aachen press release - posted May 20, 2006

Some of the CHIO visitors were amazed and even the riders too: The ALRV had placed a dressage arena in the middle of the huge show jumping stadium - a forerunner for the World Equestrian Games in August, when the dressage competitions will also be taking place in the main stadium. As a result some of the traditional jumps such as the wall, billiard and the water jump were missing. So it was down to course builder, Frank Rothenberger, to skilfully plan the course of the top jumping competitions around the dressage arena, so that they are interesting, varied and good to jump for both riders and horses. He spent a long time designing the courses on the computer and the end result proved very satisfying. "It is possible to create good routes", the course builder from Westphalia stated. Adding: "But one must also note that none of the show jumpers fell in love with the dressage arena." Otto Becker agreed with this comment: "It is not ideal, but we do accept it of course." Becker went on to praise the new ground in the stadium. He said it had been an extraordinary achievement on the part of the ALRV to create such perfect footing conditions in the stadium within such a short space of time. "Which makes it easier to get over the dressage arena," Becker commented.

The strong colour contrast between the rich green of the stadium's grass and the light-coloured sand in the arena are even more noticeable on the TV broadcasts and on photos. Rothenberger is now considering whether to cover parts of the dressage arena with dark-coloured tarpaulin and larger flower displays for the jumping competitions of the World Equestrian Games. "We have now made these experiences and have a few weeks time to think about possible improvements," explained the course builder.

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