The Slower Road

We’re heading out to the marathon course early this morning, to try to get good viewing spots at whichever obstacle each of us particularly wants to see (or to start at). There will probably be tens of thousands of spectators on the course today.

Over the past couple of days, I’ve taken a look at most of the obstacles:

.

obstacle 1

.

obstacle 2

.

obstacle 3

.

obstacle 4

.

In trying to find obstacle 6, I got slightly lost in the woods, but I had a lovely long walk in the cool, sweet-smelling shade.

.

.

,

And then I found it, sitting quietly in the woods. I’ll be here first thing today, and I’m sure it won’t be quiet anymore, what with the huge crowd, drivers yelling encouragement and instruction to their horses, and the sound of hooves and wheels on these big wooden bridges!

.

.

.

.

.

And, just because there haven’t been any horses yet in this blog post and because I think they’re gorgeous, here are a few more views of the Spanish horses of Juan Robles Marchena of Sevilla.

.

.

.

.

Yesterday was the first day of dressage here in Riesenbeck, and I did something a bit different. Instead of getting all the “usual” photos of dressage tests being driven, I mostly hung around the warmup arena … and the in-gate, where one is up close as the teams trot smartly across the path, through the gate, and into the electric atmosphere of the huge arena lined with thousands of spectators.

Currently, Chester Weber (USA) is in the lead. Less than half a point behind him is Boyd Exell (AUS), and Ysbrand Chardon (NED) is in third. Dressage finishes up today, and then we move on to the marathon and the cones.

So here is my slightly different perspective on the leaders after the first day of dressage.

.

Currently in third place, Dutch driver, trainer, and instructor Ysbrand Chardon is seen here with his student Wolf von Buchholtz (ARG):

.

.

.

Also by watching the warmup, I learned that Spain’s Juan Antonio Real Garcia is trained by Boyd Exell (currently in second place and the reigning individual gold medalist).

.

.

.

And, finally, here are a few photos of Chester Weber: entering the warmup area, in the warmup (with his trainer and U.S. coach Michael Freund), trotting to the main arena, and entering the dressage arena for his test.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Here are a few scenes from our first day at the venue (which was still relatively quiet in the early afternoon, but packed with people after the day’s festivities) and the opening ceremony for the world championship.

.

if you’re, as this sign asks, still tired, there are several places to find a cup of coffee

.

unlike the “crowd” you see here, the beer trucks were truly packed by about 6:00 p.m.

.

food choices abound: pizza, sausages, fish sandwiches, schnitzel, salad, and more … if you need something sweet, one option is this colorful candy truck

.

.

one of the antique vehicles presented in the opening ceremony (and used to bring dignitaries and show officials into the arena) was the same (fascinating but rather noisy and slow) horseless carriage you saw in yesterday’s post

.

on our trip are folks from Argentina, Canada, Great Britain, and the U.S. … unfortunately, I didn’t get any good photos of the lone driver representing Argentina, and there aren’t any drivers representing Canada … but I kind of love this photo

.

if you’ve been following the blog for a while, you’ll know that I have a serious weak spot for baroque horses; these two beauties are the leaders of one of the Spanish teams competing in the championship

.

the U.S. team, left to right: Joe Yoder, James Fairclough, and Chester Weber

.

these are only some of the nine German drivers; as the host nation, Germany is allowed to have more individual drivers, in addition to the three drivers on the team

.

after all the drivers were introduced, we were given highlights of a couple of other shows that will be held tomorrow; one of these is a show of German cold-blood horses … but look at the adorable foal!

.

after the heat of the day and the opening ceremony, we needed a bit of a pick-me-up

.

when our group was preparing to leave the grounds around 6:00 p.m., the party tent (here), the beer trucks, and the wine-tasting stands were in full swing

.

We’ll be back over there in a little while this morning for the first day of dressage!

A week from today, I’ll be in Germany, getting ready for this year’s World Four-in-Hand Driving Championship at Riesenbeck.

As usual, I’ll be posting updates and photos here during each day of the event. My goal will be to give you a sense of “being there” with us, rather than providing a recap of each day’s competition.

I’ll do my best to provide a few scores, and the top placings each day, on my Twitter page … and you can always check the full results at www.hoefnet.com.

The countdown to Germany is on!

.