For the fourth time, international dressage riders meet at the Schafhof for their dressage festival at the highest level: Schafhof's dressage festival with the complete Olympic program Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle. Host Matthias Alexander Rath is happy: "If we compare the development of the past dressage festivals with this year, we can already say: The starting fields will be larger and much more international."
A total of 18 nations will start at the dressage festival in the Equimus dressage arena - more than ever before! It is an exciting mix of traditionally strong dressage nations such as the Netherlands, USA and Germany and still 'growing' nations such as India, Thailand and Kyrgyzstan.
28-year-old Anna Kasatkina will compete as the sole rider for the small dressage nation of Kyrgyzstan. Just 18 riders are registered with the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) in international dressage for the Central Asian country. For comparison: 2,012 dressage riders are recorded for Germany. The equally young dressage sport nations of Thailand and India each arrive at the Schafhof with five and four riders respectively. The four-star event in Kronberg has special significance for these riders, it is the sighting for the Asian Games. The Asian Games are the highlight of the year for riders from the Asian world and take place in Huangzhou, China, at the end of September and beginning of October.
For the European dressage world, the European Championships from September 6th to 10th in Riesenbeck are a clear goal of the season. With the aim of the European Championships in mind, the riders from Spain, for example, use the days at the Schafhof to check their form. Five Spanish dressage athletes have entered, including two-time World Championship and Olympic participant Claudio Castilla Ruiz. Maria Caetano is coming from Portugal. The six-time European Championship participant brings along her 13-year-old Lusitano stallion Fenix de Tineo, with whom she competed at the Olympic Games in Tokyo - the starting field is also colorful and international from a horse's perspective. Judy Reynolds is the figurehead of Irish dressage and has been for many years. Reynolds was the first dressage rider on the island to make the freestyle finals at the Olympics (2016 Rio de Janeiro), the first to qualify for the World Cup finals (2017 Omaha) and the first to compete at a World Championships also took part in the freestyle final (2018 Tryon). The 42-year-old celebrated all of these successes with her top star Vancouver. Vancouver is now enjoying his retirement, and Reynolds is bringing two of her great hopes for the future to Kronberg: For Fun and Rockman Royal, both horses are twelve. The Irish woman's big goal: the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
All these riders meet competitors who come from all corners of the dressage world: from far away Cyprus, Portugal or Japan, as well as from closer Belgium, Luxembourg or Finland.
The Schafhofs Dressage Festival has never been so international!
From July 12th to 15th, from Wednesday to Saturday, in addition to the Olympic tasks at the Schafhofs Dressage Festival, national tests for young horses and an international small tour with Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire I are also on the program. Just a few days later, Europe's best young riders compete in exactly the same place where the international elite competed shortly before: the European Championships for Juniors (U18) and Children (U14) will take place at the Schafhof in Kronberg from July 19th to 23rd. dressage riders.
