From the end of June to mid-July, the University of Queensland runs the winter break between the first and second semesters, and if you don't fail the first semester, it will be a holiday until mid-July.

Towards the end of the holidays, there is an event that is important for riders – the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen.

The Aachen Equestrian Festival is the world's premier equestrian grand slam event and lasts for ten days.

If the Aachen Direct Equestrian Festival is defined as the most important equestrian event after the Olympic Games and the World Cup, not many people will have doubts.

In the minds of many equestrians, Aachen is the top temple of equestrian sports.

Without the Equestrian World Cup and the Olympic Equestrian Games in Aachen, there would be no horse culture in Aachen.

Giving such an assessment, it does not mean that the gold content of the champion of the Aachen Equestrian Festival will be higher than that of the Olympic Games.

Rather, the Aachen Equestrian Festival, like Wimbledon Open in tennis, has always had a transcendent status.

Of the four major tennis tournaments, only Wimbledon is not named after a country, or even a well-known cosmopolitan city like London.

Only a tournament named in a small city like Wimbledon, a tournament with the least after-tax bonuses, will not affect the Wimbledon Open tennis tournament at all, in the tennis world, after a hundred years, the style is still transcendent.

The biggest difference between Wimbledon and other Grand Slam tournaments is the "tradition", and the Aachen Equestrian Festival is no different.

The Aachen Equestrian Festival, since its birth in 1924, is the place where horse fans all over the world can feel the harmony and happiness between man and horses, a paradise for true equestrian enthusiasts and the equestrian capital of the world.

The 10-day World Equestrian Festival, Aachen, a small European city with a population of only 240,000, attracts 360,000 visitors, more than 150% of its population base.

As a famous historical and cultural city in Europe, Aachen is not only world-renowned in terms of education and technology, but also has the world's largest equestrian open-air arena.

Arriving in Aachen in mid-July every year is like arriving in an equestrian kingdom and is an immersive equestrian experience.

The main stadium of the World Equestrian Festival Aachen can accommodate more than 40,000 spectators at a time, as well as an exclusive equestrian arena dedicated to 4,000 spectators.

In addition to dressage, eventing and show jumping – the Aachen Equestrian Festival also features more spectacular four-wheeled carriage races and horseback gymnastics.

In fact, when it was founded on 13 July 1924, the Aachen Equestrian Festival consisted of three events: show jumping, dressage and carriage racing.

Three-day racing and horseback gymnastics were both new additions in 2006.

The four-wheeled carriage race is a four-wheeled carriage pulled by four horses on a specially set obstacle course.

Horseback gymnastics requires a series of difficult gymnastics movements on horseback in the process of the horse's march, which can be understood as a combination of equestrian + gymnastics + acrobatics.

The spectacle of these two competitions is only stronger than that of the Olympic events.

The World Equestrian Festival in Aachen only invites the top athletes from the countries with the highest equestrian level to participate, and there are basically no Chinese athletes.

When he qualified for the competition, he was still a Danish citizen.

Naturalized athletes are a complex system, and in China, it is in its infancy, and there are many problems, which are slowly revealed.

The equestrian competition in Aachen has both individual and national competitions, and the national competition is the same concept as the team competition at the Olympic Games.

Eun Xiang got the quota and changed his nationality, for Eun Xiang, it is to fulfill his grandfather's last wish, and for the Chinese equestrian national team, it is the hope of Chinese equestrian in the field of dressage.

But for Denmark, or even for the Eun family in Denmark, in fact, it is not too friendly.

China does not allow dual citizenship, and giving up Danish nationality is an inevitable choice for Huan Xiang.

His mother Mo Yinyu has always been Chinese, and at this point, it is actually not difficult for Eun Xiang to change back to Chinese nationality.

However, even if Mo Yinyu is a Chinese national, even if Huan Chenbei is also a yellow-skinned and black-haired Chinese, after all, Huan Xiang was born in Denmark, and even Huan Chenbei was born with Danish nationality.

The attention and evaluation that naturalized athletes receive in China and in their place of birth is definitely different.

In particular, Eun Xiang is also a rising star in the Danish dressage scene.

Denmark is a traditional powerhouse in dressage, but for the past few decades, dressage has been dominated by Germans.

The loss of the concubine is definitely a loss for the Danish national equestrian team.

Moreover, the most incomprehensible thing for Danish equestrians is that Eun Xiang chose to represent China, such a "backward country" where equestrian sports have just started.

In the eyes of Huan Xiang's former teammates, although the conditions of Huan Xiang are good, after all, he is still young and there is still a long way to go before he can win medals in the Olympic Games.

With the conditions of the eunuch, in the case of the probability of an individual on the podium, it is not difficult to accept it if in order to be able to get a team medal with better Olympic color, and change to Germany or the like.

But for the sake of one, in the case of non-host, China, which has never qualified for the Olympic dressage, is very likely to win the Olympic team bronze medal, or even the silver medal, is a little incomprehensible.

This is especially true for the dressage competition at Tokyo 2020.

The dominance of German athletes in the Olympic dressage is something that the Olympics do not want.

Just like Chinese table tennis is too strong, every time the rules of table tennis are set to limit Chinese players.

In Tokyo 2020, the dressage team competition will no longer use the top three of the four pairs of horses from each country to determine the final winner.

The number of teams from each country has been reduced from four pairs to three.

In this way, if a dominant team makes a mistake in a pair, it is possible to directly let the champion go unpunished.

This is a stricter rule of the game, and one with more uncertainty.

Under this new rule, the players in the team competition need to have a strong psychology and stable performance.

Denmark has a high level of equestrian sports development and is a traditional powerhouse in equestrian sports.

This is thanks to the fact that Denmark has been famous for its cavalry since the age of cold weapons.

In fact, the three equestrian sports of the Olympic Games are all derived from the military.

In between, there are dressage competitions that require a tuxedo, and there is a very special rule.

If the athlete is a member of the military, he or she may participate in the competition without a military uniform.

This tradition, although rarely used, is a tribute to the historical origins of equestrian sports.

Although he is not Denmark's No. 1 rider, his consistency has always been praised.

Whether it is partnering with the previous participating partners or the current [True Faith in Faith], the performance of Eun Xiang, every time, is stable and rising.

This is actually extremely rare.

It's not just the mental quality of the runner that needs to be good, but also the same good and excellent horse.

The greatest pain in equestrian athletes stems from the poor lifespan between humans and horses.

Based on the fact that a person lives to be 100 years old, a horse can only live to be 25-30 years old.

Losing a horse that has accompanied you for many years and starting to train a new horse can lead directly to the end of your career.

Gifted horses and talented athletes are equally hard to come by.

Every time Eun Xiang trains a horse, he can tame the horse very well, which is what the Danish team values Eun Xiang the most.

On July 16, 2018, Eun Xiang brought her True Faith, which was almost four months pregnant, to participate in the dressage competition of the Aachen World Equestrian Festival.

Originally, Eun Xiang could have come so early, because the 18-year Aachen equestrian reception only opened on July 17, and dressage was the last event.

But this year's Aachen Equestrian Festival is a bit special.

Eun Xiang wanted to bring Qi Yu, who was on vacation, and [Rock Blacksmith], who had been training with him for more than three months, to Aachen to experience the immersive equestrian atmosphere.

Persuade Qi Yu to bring [Blue Lotus Blacksmith] to the Aachen Equestrian Festival with him, and spend more time enjoying the eldest brother.

Qi Yu originally wanted to go, but after hearing that Huan Chenbei and Mo Yinyu were also going, he began to retreat in his heart.

The eunuch said to Qi Yu: "The ugly daughter-in-law always wants to see her in-laws." ”

Qi Yu did not refute the ugliness, but said: "If you don't want to be your daughter-in-law, you won't have to see you soon?"

"But but, but, this time the Aachen Equestrian Direct Cup has a very strong Chinese element, are you sure you don't want to feel the spark of the collision of Chinese elements and equestrian culture?"

"Just because of you, a dressage rider who has changed from Denmark to Chinese nationality?" Qi Yuman disagreed.

She wants to see the riders enjoying themselves, so where does she have to wait for a major equestrian competition?

"Of course not, I don't think I have such a big face. In fact, no athlete has such a lot of energy. "Brother Eunxiang has always liked to tell the truth, which is fundamentally different from Qi Wangpo's selling melons.

Brother Eun Xiang gave Qi Xiaoyu, who still didn't seem to know anything, a popular science about the Aachen Equestrian Festival:

"Since 2001, the World Equestrian Festival Aachen has been looking for a partner country. ”

The aim is to make the Aachen Festival even more influential and to integrate different cultures from around the world. ”

"For more than a decade, the World Equestrian Festival Aachen has been looking for partner countries all over the world, all of which are traditional equestrian powerhouses. ”

"For example, Denmark, as well as Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Brazil and other countries where equestrian sports have developed very well, have all been partner countries of the Aachen Equestrian Festival. ”

When Qi Yu heard this, he didn't grasp the point, and he was not happy to cause the index to rise in a straight line: "What do you call us Denmark?"

"Don't you like Denmark too? Even if I change my Chinese nationality, I still have feelings for Denmark, shouldn't it be strange? Do you want your eunuch brother to be a ruthless person? Or do you have no feelings for Brisbane at all?"

When Eun Xiang was corrected by Qi Yu for the second time about "we Denmark", he finally expressed the characteristics of telling the truth.

"This ...... That one...... Uh, that's obviously not the point!" Qi said that he would have to change the topic and meet will be launched soon.

"What's the point?"

"The point is, what does it have to do with whether these partner countries go to Aachen or not?" Qi Yu has a natural rejection of Huanchen North.

The psychological shadow that has been there since childhood is difficult to change all at once.

"My mistake, I'm talking about the relationship now, the 2018 World Equestrian Festival in Aachen did not choose a country that has developed very well as a partner country, but chose China. ”

This year, Frank Kampmann, President of the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, has focused the eyes of the world's equestrian enthusiasts on China. ”

"Equestrian became an Olympic sport as early as 1912, but after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was not until the fifties and sixties that equestrian began to be introduced, and it was still limited to a very small scope. ”

"China started equestrian sports decades later than European countries, and it wasn't until 1982 that China joined the International Equestrian Federation and began to compete on a large scale. ”

"If you count from the beginning of joining the International Equestrian Federation, the start of Chinese equestrianism is a full 70 years late. ”

"China's success as a partner country of the World Equestrian Festival Aachen 2018 is due to the all-round development of equestrianism in China over the past decade. ”

Behind the choice of Frank Kampmann, President of the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, is the rapid development of China's economy and the internationalization of equestrianism. ”

He is optimistic about the future of equestrianism in China. ”

Eun Xiang and Qi Yu introduced the peculiarities of the 2018 Aachen World Equestrian World.

"Awesome, the future of Chinese equestrianism. Qi Yu's attitude has changed a little bit, but the faint ones are difficult to detect.

"If you go to the opening ceremony with me, you will see the entire main stadium in Aachen transformed into a sea of Chinese elements. ”

"Chinese elements are also great, but but, but, if I want to see Chinese elements, won't I go back to China to watch them directly?" Qi Xiaoyu is not a female classmate who is so easily persuaded.

"If you go with me to the opening ceremony, you're going to see the dragon and lion dances in China. Eun Xiang continued to throw an olive branch.

"Thank you, I want to go back to China to see it. Qi Yu continued to insist on his ideas.

Huan Xiang didn't care about Qi Yu's attitude, but threw out the last chip lightly: "If you go to the opening ceremony with me, you will also see the performance of the "Red Cherry Blossom Bunch" women's percussion ensemble that participated in the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. ”

"Red cherry blossom bunch, tell me about the orchestra of the twelve girls who played the drums at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics?!" The percussion fanatic, the only percussionist of "Blacksmith's Dance", was instantly excited.

"Yes. Don't you always regret not being able to go to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games? I wonder if the opening ceremony of the Aachen World Equestrian Festival can be a small way to make up for regrets?"

Book Keju Reading Website: