Last week a selected group of riders could already explorer the arena in Caen, Normandy, France. This to test the equestrian facilities for the next Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014. For Equnews top show jumper, Dirk Demeersman, shared his experience. Dirk is at the moment the assistant coach of the Belgium show jumping squad. He made his way to fame with the famous, white, stallion Clinton. When I arrived in Caen with the horses the first thing that I noticed was the professionalism and the stables. Everything was organized like it were the World Equestrian Games that were going on. The stables were the same as those used at the Olympics in London. When I visited the arena the first (important) facility I passed was the warm up arena. At glance it has a good footing, and after riding in it, I can just approve this expectation. Nicely designed, maybe a little bit spooky, is the connection of the warm-up with the main arena. You have to walk through a tunnel… It did amaze me what level of detail was used to finish all this! I was truly impressed… wondering how my horse (Felton) would react to all this. When I entered the arena the next day, my suspicion was right. My might horse turned into a little pony. After experiencing the arena and facilities I am sure we will have top sport and a nice experience in September...
Last week a selected group of riders could already explorer the arena in Caen, Normandy, France. This to test the equestrian facilities for the next Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014. For Equnews top show jumper, Dirk Demeersman, shared his experience. Dirk is at the moment the assistant coach of the Belgium show jumping squad. He made his way to fame with the famous, white, stallion Clinton. When I arrived in Caen with the horses the first thing that I noticed was the professionalism and the stables. Everything was organized like it were the World Equestrian Games that were going on. The stables were the same as those used at the Olympics in London. When I visited the arena the first (important) facility I passed was the warm up arena. At glance it has a good footing, and after riding in it, I can just approve this expectation. Nicely designed, maybe a little bit spooky, is the connection of the warm-up with the main arena. You have to walk through a tunnel… It did amaze me what level of detail was used to finish all this! I was truly impressed… wondering how my horse (Felton) would react to all this. When I entered the arena the next day, my suspicion was right. My might horse turned into a little pony. After experiencing the arena and facilities I am sure we will have top sport and a nice experience in September...