But this layout was neatly done. I particularly liked the walls flanked by windmills and the two fences with the "needlemaker's mark," a giant hand with the little finger pointing up and the thumb pointing to the side. (Don't try it; it hurts). Aachen apparently was a needle-making center, and the way Aachenites (Aacheners?) greet each other in foreign countries is with this hand signal, which replicates how they used to sort needles. Or so someone in the crowd today told me.
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- Germany's Frank Ostholt on Air Jordan at the boat fence
- © Nancy Jaffer 2006
If you didn't like crowds, the WEG wasn't the place to be today. There were 44,000 on the course, and I had a hard time getting anywhere near some of the fences. Narrow bridges across a stream became human traffic jams, but everyone took it in good humor, waving their flags (mostly German) and cheering their lungs out.
The first water complex, the "seaside resort," sponsored by Rolex (which also backs the 4-star at Kentucky) was more lavish than the one we have in Lexington. There were several options to get through it, and they were needed, because a lot of folks had trouble. An island in the center had a boat at the top of a little hill that was part of the speedy, straight way to handle the complex. But I saw several riders come to grief there when their horses either lacked impulsion or said "no" after getting a glimpse of all the baskets and oranges stuffed in the boat.
Zara Phillips, Mark's daughter, had a spot of trouble at the complex, but she came through to go to the head of the class on Toy Town after the overnight leader, Germany's Bettina Hoy, took some long routes with Ringwood Cockatoo near the end of the course when she felt him getting tired.
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- WEG eventing leader Zara Phillips and Toy Town
- © Nancy Jaffer 2006
Zara, whose mother is Princess Anne, rides for Great Britain, naturally, and must think top-class eventing is easy. She won the European Championship on her first try, and now she's ahead here. The question is: will she actually be wearing that gold medal around her neck tomorrow? Toy Town isn't the best at show jumping, though he's working on it.
I'm sure Bettina will be thinking about how she messed up in show jumping at the Athens Olympics (she went through the start line twice, leading to disqualification and the loss of two gold medals; hers and the teams.) So you know Bettina is going to use her considerable prowess for a better result here. There's less than a rail between these two ladies, but whatever happens, Bettina insisted, their friendship will be unaffected. That's the spirit!
Visit EquiSearch's WEG section for more stories, blogs and online diaries, and chat about the WEG with fellow fans in the EquiSearch Forum.
Plus, don't miss Jim Wofford's entertaining online diaries as he follows the WEG eventing action.
