DressageDaily: Aachen Ready for 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games

Tuesday July 8, 2003

Aachen Ready for 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games

WEG Update! 05-07-06 - 2006 FEI Games in Aachen On the Scene coverage on Horsesdaily.com

Living up to the German tradition of grundlichkeit (i.e. precision) and organizational perfection, the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein e.V. (ALRV) has proven to be ready for the 2006 World Equestrian Games held from August 22 to September 3, 2006, in Aachen, Germany.

In the company of the German Minister of the Interior, Otto Schily, representatives of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) and the German National Equestrian Federation (NF) and the President of the ALRV, Klaus Pavel, the official logo for the FEI World Equestrian Games Aachen 2006 was presented to the public for the first time on Tuesday, June 17, 2003.

The theme FEI World Equestrian Games Aachen 2006 was featured on the tournament grounds during the whole week. Interested visitors gained information on the FEI World Equestrian Games Aachen 2006 in the official tent, which was annexed to the tent of the CHIO-ticket sale; fans were able to obtain first limited edition-presents at the merchandising booths.

Pavel "In the future we want to thematically integrate several aspects of the FEI World Equestrian Games Aachen 2006 into our CHIO-programme each year", stressed ALRV-President Klaus Pavel. Currently the basic planning is being made intensively and will be explicitly reconciled with the NF and the FEI in the next weeks. One thing which is presently certain is the fact that in 2006 a CHIO will also take place in Aachen, namely in the first half of the year, while the FEI World Equestrian Games Aachen 2006 will be scheduled for the second half!"

800 competitors with 875 horses are expected to compete at the 2006 World Equestrian Games. Klaus Pavel has calculated a budget of 36 million Euro to organize the event. For the seven disciplines there will be 1.35 million Euro of prize money in total. 500,000 people are expected to visit the event. Aachen hopes to have improved its facilities by 2006. The dressage arena will be remodelled, the judges' box in the show jumping ring will be integrated in a new spectators' stand where a special press area will be as well. Furthermore, a complete new building with 5,000 seats has to be constructed for reining and vaulting.

Mark your calendars for the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen as it's promising to be a unique 5th World Championships for the equestrian sport.

by Astrid Appels