Beautiful, more beautiful, Frankfurt - Part 1

The first part of a three-part series from Johanna's blog on the Frankfurt Festival Hall Riding Tournament.
When I think back to last weekend and my associated visit to the Frankfurt Festhalle Riding Tournament, I can't stop raving!
The Frankfurt Festival Hall Riding Tournament was founded in 1955 by Josef Neckermann, a German riding legend from Frankfurt. To this day, it is one of the most prestigious indoor riding tournaments in the whole of Germany. The trademark of the tournament: the purple decoration.

My father, Andreas Rubly and I have been attending the tournament annually since 2013. It is traditionally held on the 4th of Advent, the weekend before Christmas. Personally, I always find it a particularly nice end to the year. In Frankfurt, you meet old friends and, above all, make new ones. You can look back on the year in a pre-Christmas mood and enjoy top-class sport. In addition, you can shop for some "last-minute Christmas presents", if you still need some.
The Festhalle Riding Tournament is characterised by the fact that it combines first-class sport, show, but also the promotion of young talent and the local community. Once again this year, a CDI 5 Star Tour was announced. Well-known German dressage riders such as Isabell Werth, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Dorothee Schneider took part in the competitions with their horses. In show jumping, too, a CSI 3 Star Tour and a Youngster Tour were announced again this year. International stars such as Richard Vogel, Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann, Maurice Tebbel and Tim Rieskamp-Goedeking also competed here. In addition, the Festhalle Tournament is especially known for promoting young riders and horses. Every year, national and regional competitions take place on Thursday, in which especially young riders show that they can present themselves well on the international stage.
Dressage fans in particular get their money's worth in the young horse competitions in the dressage section. The finals of the Nuremberg Burg Cup and the Louisdor Prize are held in Frankfurt every year. But more about that later.

Back to my weekend:
This year I took part for the first time as a press representative for EQUILEC in order to be able to report on the event for our Chinese customers on site. My father was unfortunately unable to attend, so I was accompanied by veterinarian Till Scheubeck. In his training, Till places a special emphasis on the medical care of show horses and supports the most renowned clinics in Europe with his help. His impressions and expertise this weekend was a real benefit for me!

It all started for me on Friday afternoon. By car, I set off on the one-and-a-half-hour drive to Frankfurt. Thanks to my accreditation, I could easily park in the accredited car park. There I met Till Scheubeck. Together we made our way to the accreditation office and explored the press centre. This was located directly in the festival hall and left nothing to be desired. There were tables at which the journalists, like me, could work directly on site. In addition, there were drinks and small snacks. We were well looked after!

Afterwards, Till and I went into the hall. First we inspected the horses in the Youngster Tour. Again and again you can see good young horses in the Youngster Tour in Frankfurt, which later compete in the big international sport at World and European Championships.
I was particularly impressed by how detailed, calm and above all appropriate the riders warmed up their young horses. All the riders rode their horses at a walk for about 20 minutes, then worked them lightly in dressage before starting with small jumps. Especially watching experienced and good riders on the warm-up course gives me new ideas for the daily work and the warm-up at the show.

After spending some time on the warm-up area, we fortified ourselves with a portion of noodles. Then we went into the hall and watched the competitions.

After the Youngster Tour, a Longines Ranking jumping competition over 145cm followed. The so-called "Championat von Frankfurt". Here Tim Rieskamp-Goedeking with his top horse "Coldplay" was ahead of Sophie Hinners in second place. I was also able to win Tim for an interview the next day!

Afterwards, we cheered on the riders at the Jump & Drive, which created a great atmosphere in the festival hall.

Finally, we ended the evening with a cosy get-together before I fell into my hotel bed, because the next morning it was already going to continue at 8:30 am with the international Grand Prix Special!

Stay tuned for Part 2!