Aachen meets the world of equestrian sports - CHIO Aachen 2018
Internationally, the Aachen CHIO has a similar place to Wimbledon in tennis. 40,000 spectators fit into the main stadium where the jumping exams take place, 5000 into the dressage stadium. They are the world’s largest of their kind. The best riders in the world compete here and many nations use the tournament in the summer as a sighting to nominate their teams immediately afterwards for the upcoming championships such as European and World Championships or the Olympics. The CHIO always lasts from Friday to Sunday of the following week. Around 350,000 spectators make a pilgrimage to the tournament grounds each year. And not only for the many competitions, but also for the show program. There is always an Open Door Day, the “Soerser Sonntag” and also the concert “Horse and Symphony.” Horse athletes and show stars are accompanied by the symphony orchestra.
Take a Look
Impressions from the CHIO-on my YouTube channel
Starting in Aachen, every rider dream of this
Each country has only one official tournament. In Germany, this is the CHIO in Aachen. Five equestrian disciplines in one place-there's nowhere else in the world.
The CHIO also includes evening floodlight events. 40,000 spectators wait for it, because the horses go spectacularly through the lake – in the middle of the equestrian stadium. Extensive is also the show program – if a stallion is ridden without reins, then it pleases the audience. Just like the only 5-day-old foal that is present at the CHIO. Not at the competitions, but at the open day.
The CHIO always has a partner country. 2018 it is China, 2019 France. Chinese horses weren’t there in 2018, but dragons at the opening ceremony. One of the most coveted trophies in the world in equestrian sport is the winning cup in the Grand Prix of Aachen. Horse Pret A Tout is obviously interested in what he won with his rider Marcus Ehning. And some rider knows very well, without his horse he is only a human being.
