The final weekend in May sees our team in Pforzheim, Germany, known as the Gateay to the Black Forest and this beautiful town has a history dating back to before the Middle Ages but it was in 1767 that the city became famous for the making of watches and the city which is situated on three rivers, Enz, Nagold and Wurm giving rise to the now internationally known City of Gold.

In February, 1945 the city was bombed but the energy and passion of the inhabitants saw the city rebuilt over the following twenty years until it stood again in its beauty and again became the centre of german watch and jewellery making.

Pforzheim is "once again a city of jewels and a jewel of a city" and our experience with the people of this delightful city has been nothing but a pleasure.

The 3* show is in its ninth year and is growing each year in importance on the FEI calendar. Speaking with organisers they hope the show will continue to grow in stature and become one of the higher ranked 3* shows in the very near future.

If organisation is a criteria for the level of importance of a show then this show must certainly be elevated as things run smoothly and to a prompt time schedule with every assistance given to riders,grooms, supporters, spectators and the media room is exceptionally well run. We would like to thank Hartmut "Bimbo" Binder personally for his assistance.

The venue is nestled amongst the trees just 10 minutes from the centre of town, with a very well appointed sand arena and good sized flat and jumping warm up arenas.

The numbers are not huge this weekend, but this may have a lot to do with how many top level events are on including the Samsung Super League in St Gallen, Switzerland and even though the numbers may not be big the stature of many of the riders competing is huge!

The start lists sees names such as Marcus Ehning, Franke Sloothaak, Hugo Simon and Thomas Fruhman to name just a few - and even with names like this one of Germany's most well known commentators, Austrian Christian Graf v Plettenberg made sure he welcomed the visiting Australian contingent, making a point of announcing in both English and German throughout the weekend. Christian made reference to his "poor" English, which is far from poor and he puts the "English only" Aussie's to shame with his fluency.

For full results from Pforzheim please click here - our coverage will focus on the Australian battle between 8 combinations for 4 places available on the Australian Olympic team for Hong Kong later this year.

With 14 nations competing this weekend the place has a very international flavour with many languages heard around the grounds. The Australian entry is the second largest, next to the home country, Germany this weekend and the Australian accents can definitely be heard around the grounds as many have come to support individual riders here in their quest.

Australia has quite a complex selection system which perhaps needs some refining so as to leave riders and owners in no doubt as to what is required to be eligible to compete for Australia - and at the moment this does seem to be a matter of concern for many, when in fact it should be quite simple to understand.

As we understand it - there are two final selection events (the first this weekend in Pforzheim and the second in two weeks in Aache) where the riders must compete in a Speed class and the Grand Prix class. The two highest placed of the Australians will join Edwina Alexander on the team (should she elect to accept the selection) with the fourth and fifth combinations being by the choice of the selectors. As all eight combinations competing this weekend have their MES (certificate of capability to compete at Olympic level) there should be no confusion - however there appears to be concern and trepidation about how the whole thing will actually pan out.

In the meantime, all any of the riders can do is ride to the best of their ability and hope that at the end of the two events selected they are first or second highest placed of their countryman.

There are may things which concern some of the riders and as seems to be an eternal issue, the transparency of decisions is of concern to many here this weekend - and it has been noted that there seems to be an imbalance of "officialdom" with some officials not being here to create that much needed transparency.

The Australian contingent consists of Chef d'Equip - Stephen Lamb, National Coach - German,Gilbert Boeckman, Assistant Coach - Australian, Rod Brown, Chairman of Selectors - Graeme Watts, Selector - Peter Cook, Australian Equestrian Federation CEO - Franz Venhaus (sharing his time between Dressage and Showjumping). It appears that inspite of the recent AUD1.5million additional Government funding given to equestrian sport in Australia, there were insufficient monies available to fund all four selectors to be present at these two all important events.

But enough politics! Let's get onto the all important matters - the showjumping itself!

Friday saw the opening classes as speed classes, giving the horses and riders a chance to acclimatise to the arena and fences - Frank Rothenberger was in charge of the Course Designer's wheel this weekend and all three opening classes saw him in a generous mood, with the times being very gentle to match tracks which allowed horses to skip around and enjoy their first days jumping in Pforzheim.

After a humid night in Pforzheim, Friday dawned bright and sunny and all looked set for a great days jumping in bright sunshine - but this did not pan out to be the case!

Pictured left - Chairman of Selectors, Graeme Watts (with cap) and Chef d'Equip, Stephen Lamb (without cap).

Pictured below right: On the phone, Stephen Lamb, centre, Peter Cook and Graeme Watts walk the course before the main Big Tour class.