Festival Atmosphere and World Championship fever find their way back to Verden

(Verden)  From August 4 – 8, 2010, the Rider’s Town of Verden will again host one of the most important and wonderful tournaments worldwide. The International Dressage and Show Jumping Festival Verden will welcome show jumping and dressage riders from all over the world and particularly the World Champion- ship for young dressage horses, the FEI World Breeding Dressage Championships. The very best young five- and six-year-old futurity prospects will meet in Verden, attracting approx. 40,000 spectators each year.

There will be quite a number of exceptional highlights on the spacious area of the Verden rider’s stadium and on the race track arena: Verden will also be the venue of the Hanoverian Show Jumping Championships and of the Riding Horse Championships, there will be a qualification for the Nuremberg Cup Final of seven- to nine-year-old dressage horses and the riders aged up to 25 years will stop off for the Piaffe Challenge Cup.

On Wednesday, August 4, the best three-year-old Hanoverian mares will compete at the Herwart von der Decken-Show. The young mares come from all regional breeding districts of Hannoveraner Verband, approx. 60 candidates participate each year. The horse ladies will be assessed and judged in dressage and show jumping divisions, and the requirements are very high: top-class quality is expected as regards conformation and quality of basic gaits, and free jumping under the open sky is always an exciting special event.

The international sport program ranges from Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special in the dressage arena, and the show jumping horses will compete for the Verden Championships and the Verden Cup. The smart Dutch lady rider Angelique Hoom won this competition in 2009 with her only eight-year old mare Fabels. The British Emma Hindle won the Grand Prix Special, presenting brilliant piaffe movements with Lancet. And this only a few weeks prior to the European Championships. The 2010 Verden International Dressage and Show Jumping Festival will again provide one of the last possibilities for a fitness check before the World Equestrian Games will start in Kentucky in September.

Gaudemus Equis will be a new item on the program at the Verden International Dressage and Show Jumping Festival , and the name stands for content as well as for the challenge: It is the first time that the Verden Organizing Committee will organize amateur show jumping classes of elementary, medium and advanced level for all those riders who do not earn their living with equestrian sport, but who compete with ambition and passion.  The rider’s stadium will entice these riders and their horses, providing now the possibility to measure up in own skill levels at the Dressage and Show Jumping Festival. An offer that already created a lot of enthusiasm.

 
Verden Country Days 
The thrilling competitions in both disciplines are complemented by the exhibition Verden Country Days: art, crafts and antiques, literature for horse fans, fashion, fine fabrics and jewellery, cosmetics, whirlpools and saunas, engravings and other likable things for the garden as well as equipment for horse and rider  - no matter whether bridles or fences, footings for the riding arena, solariums and agricultural devices. A special attraction will be the spacious childcare area, matching the sometimes completely different interests of the youngest visitors. The offer is completed by different catering offers from ice to pizza and from cool beer to a complete menu.

Tickets, Tickets, Tickets... 
... for the International Dressage and Show Jumping Festival in Verden are already available now. Ticket prices range between Euro 5 (mare show) and max. Euro 25 from Thursday to Sunday, depending on your personal preference. Entrance is free for children up to six, and tickets are available at half-price for pupils, students and pensioners. All information on tickets, program and advance sale is published online under www.verden-turnier.de in the category “tickets”.

Verden on the Internet: http://www.verden-turnier.de  
 
Press Release dd. June 7, 2010 
This press release is distributed on behalf of the Organizing Committee, Verden Turnier GmbH. For additional information or questions, please contact Comttainment GmbH, Andreas Kerstan, under his cell phone number **49 (0)177 – 7532624 or under his email-address andreas.kerstan@comtainment.de.