Aachen School of Course Design Update

One year after foundation the Aachen School of Course Design (ASCD) by the international well known course designers Professor Dr. Arno Gego, Olaf Petersen (Germany) and Leopoldo Palacios from Venezuela has even at global importance. 28 course designers from 25 nations travelled to Aachen (Germany) with the intention for extending their knowledge about international course design on highest level. The international successful riders Helena Weinberg (Germany) and Dirk Demersman (Belgium) presented practical demonstrations in different courses for explaining the problems at building and riding horsefair courses.

Moreover the future international course designers by FEI learned details of other specialized resorts in combination with course design. That’s possible as the ASCD is cooperating with the RWTH Aachen University of Technology and the Cologne Sports University. The participants of this intensive course have been taught in design and layout of showgrounds, presentation and decoration of courses, freehand drawing, measuring the distances to mobile and solid fences, sports marketing, computer assistance, business administration, sports science and landscaping architecture. The searching of the correct fixing the speed in the courses in considering the length of the horses´ strides and their action potential in canter was a difficult but one of the most important chapters of the instructions. But the creating of harmonious situations in show jumping should be highest aim of the modern course building on concours.

• In the spring 2006 the winners of the Academic Student Promotion Award 2005 (prize money 3.000 Euro) will be published by the ASCD that’s been changed to a foundation meanwhile.

• For a few days the Italian opera singer Luciano Pavarotti is the newest member of the honorary committee of the ASCD. Other members are even Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein and the Mexican Alfonso Romo. Pavarotti was the organizer of the CSIO San Marino in Modena any years ago.

• The 2nd International Symposium on Course Design will take place during the World Equestrian Games in Aachen (30/8/06 till 1/9/06). It will be a high levelled conference landscaping architecture, layout and design of natural showgrounds, solid fences and sports footing.