August 26, 2006

De Rosa Daily
FEI World Equestrian Games 2006 - Aachen Germany
Exclusive coverage for HorsesDaily text and photos by Diana DeRosa

Watching the Course

You’ll find out all about how things did and didn’t go for the riders today but from the start it was clear this course was going to take its toll. While no horses or riders got hurt, plenty of them fell or retired. The first water, which is where I decided to settle in, is where at least 10 riders either fell or retired. Some walked away on horseback and others on foot.

Most of the horses and riders seemed fine but there were a few who were hurting when they got up to leave. I captured three incredible spills with my camera on the landing side of the water and missed three on the take-off where a bank jump preceding a log jump was the demise of a few riders.

The first rider to flip at the water was only the third rider on the course. Sonja Johnson riding Ringwould Jaguar for Australia was the beginning of the problems that the Australian Team would face on this balmy Saturday where over 44,000 people were on the compact course.

The 13th rider on the course, Alex de Luce Oliveira on Clifton Checkers also fell as did the 21st rider Harald Riedl on Davigna. Part of the problem at the water was a bank jump that the horses had to negotiate just before jumping a boat. A number of those who did not jump the bank well either never made it over the water or had problems when they did.