Kickoff of the Eventing Dressage Competition at the World Championships in Aachen, with Libussa Lübbeke representing Germany

The sun bathed the warm-up and competition arenas for the eventing dressage at the World Championships in Aachen in lush green. Fully focused, Libussa Lübbeke rode through parts of the test one last time with Caramia, listening to the voice of dressage trainer Anne-Kathrin Pohlmeier in her ear. Then she reined in, removed the gaiters, applied fly spray to Caramia one last time, and took a sip of water. The mare gave a brief, puzzled glance as Libussa’s parents entered the arena to take care of the final preparations. Then she recognized “her” people—the ones who gave her life and raised her. Her gaze softens, her ears prick up. Relaxed, yet alert. That’s what trust looks like. Then a quick tap on Libussa’s neck—the signal for Caramia: Let’s go. Off to the stadium, with Team Germany in tow.

The test

Enter in collected canter, slow down to a trot on the center line for a flying start. Then the exercise presents a series of challenges—travers, followed by shoulder-in on the quarter line to the track; once there, turn away onto the opposite rein. A double half-traversal at a canter with a flying change during the transition—some of the challenges of the exercise. Neither was executed quite perfectly. In the traversals, Caramia could have been more clearly positioned and bent. She got a little stuck during the flying change. But everything else was executed very correctly and with freshness. Holding box? Today’s extended trots were a far cry from that.

The Conclusion

Libussa’s conclusion: “I’m very happy with the horse! She listened really well, and almost everything went exactly as we’d planned.” On the subject of flying changes, she said, “That was a shame. I had expected an earlier reaction, and then it was a bit late,” Libussa Lübbeke admitted self-critically. When it comes to the half-passes, she’s a realist. “She just finds that a bit difficult; the hindquarters could still be a little steeper and a little more collected.” But aside from that, she was very satisfied. The same went for the judges. They awarded 31.3 penalty points—slightly more than she received last year during her championship debut at the European Championships in Blenheim (28.3), but fewer than at her last appearance in Aachen (32.2).

In the overall standings, Libussa is thus just behind the top team riders from New Zealand (Clarke Johnstone on Rocket Man, 28.7), the British (Gemma Stevens on Flash Cooley, 29.3), and the Swiss (Robin Godel on Grandeur de Lully CH, 30.1).

’s Outlook

: Was the Holding Box incident still on everyone’s mind? “I would never have entered a horse that wasn’t 100 percent fit. We’re under daily veterinary and physical therapy care here. We ride the horse ourselves every day, get a feel for her, and give 100 percent to ensure she’s in the best possible condition. Of course, that was a minor setback and came as a complete surprise, but I never had any doubts that the horse wasn’t fit. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have entered her in the race.”

Especially since, unlike many other pairs, she hadn’t had the World Championships set as a firm goal for a long time. “We didn’t really expect to be here. But since the last European Championships, we’ve been saying, ‘Oh, come on, we can give this a shot. She’s in great shape, she’s happy, she’s having the time of her life. Now we’ve actually managed to make it here, and of course we’re thrilled.” When Germany’s cross-country riders won gold in Aachen in 2006, Libussa hadn’t even started school yet …

Starting today, Caramia’s dressage saddle will stay in the closet. Tomorrow is her day off before she heads out into the cross-country course on Saturday. A day off means: hop on the jumping saddle and head out to the gallop track to stretch her legs a bit. The goal is to stay in shape while conserving energy. “We’re enjoying the day off as a chance to relax.”

Cross-country is on the schedule for Saturday. Libussa’s first impression: “Very intense—but that’s exactly what we expected, especially since there isn’t an endless amount of space here, so you do have some tighter turns now and then.” I also think it’ll be very demanding for the rider mentally—keeping all the alternatives in mind so that if something unexpected happens, you don’t make the mistake of jumping an element twice or skipping one. Because that would end up costing you dearly. Consequently, it takes a lot of effort to concentrate, work out a plan, coordinate with the team, and then try to give it your all.”

You can find all the results here.