Best In Show Travel

14/10/2026

After the Eventing at W.E.G there was 2 tour days for the group. Equestrian themed of course with some sightseeing mixed in. Thanks to Carrie for the pictures and insight into they day.

So our first excursion day sent us to Peelbergen Equestrian Centre in Kronenberg, Netherlands for a tour of a premier competition and training facility complete with a full gourmet restaurant.

When we arrived we got to sit a minute and have a complementary beverage before the tour. Our tour guide really gave us a good insight in the planning and business side of of the facility, the design of the property and future plans on expanding. Some interesting notes include while they have their various sponsors hanging on the walls, the signs are designed in a monochrome fashion so the your focus is always more on the horse and rider when spectating. After the tour we had a preplanned two course lunch from their restaurant.

We then stopped next door to the Gucci of tack shops - Emmers Equestrian and had a look around. In Hollywood tourist fashion we slowed down as we did a drive-by of Laura Kraut's European training base while on our way to our next destination - Roermond for a look at the city and have a river boat tour.

Our driver and Dutch tour guide Calum took us around the city explaining Netherlands culture and architecture. He pointed out in places throughout the Netherlands they have commemorative plaques in front of houses of those who once lived there, honoring them as they lost their lives in during WWII, many in concentration camps. We had a nice boat tour down the river where we saw white and black swans, ducks, sheep and cows. Apparently their is a large beaver population but they are only out at night. Then dinner at Zusje for a tapas style dinner. Tomorrow is our second excursion day, more traveling adventures to come.

12/10/2026

Back to our World Equestrian Games recap. We had a later start which was nice for Sunday morning. We had some time before the competition started to look around the shops.
When I say there are brands there that we haven't seen in Ireland in years I am not exaggerating. I am lucky I don't have a riding horse or I would have needed a bigger suitcase. 🤑
Back to the horses. We had great seats an amazing viewpoint for a tricky track, a dog leg at the start gate and some tricky combinations. They were no match for the top combinations they skipped around like it was a 90. Special word of appreciation for Flourescent Adolescent (Canadian coloured horse 💓 but the home crowd had it.
The atmosphere in the stadium when Michael Jung crossed the finish line clear I will not forget for a while. Unfortunatley for me and the 2 Eventing Ireland prize winners we couldn't stay for the medal presentations as we had a flight to catch.
Serious FOMO here but an absolute fantastic weekend seeing the best in the world doing what they do best. We had the best group and the best laughs.
From tomorrow Carrie will be very kindly donating her content for the recap. I will try to do it justice.

09/10/2026

Cross country day at the World Equestrian Games.

We all had high hopes for the day after our course walk on Friday and we were not disappointed. After an early breakfast we set off, nearly got stuck under a bridge.......(there was apparently loads of room). Expertly guided by our Eventing Ireland volunteers 🤣

As soon as we got to Aachen there was so many people moving in the direction of the cross country course. We narrowly got there in time to see Ian Cassells beautiful clear cross country. Not as many pictures as I would have liked but we were there to take it in.

It is so amazing how easy the top horses and riders make these huge obstacles and tricky combinations look. I was just in awe. Highlight for me was seeing Ros Canter, Michael Jung and the legend that is Andrew Hoy, eventing really is an amazing sport when you see someone with the longevity of Andrew Hoy still competeing at top level. The partnerships these riders have with their horses is just amazing, the trust and willingness to help each other get around these huge courses is amazing.

An epic day in every way, there was a huge crowd there but there seemed to be spectator room at most fences even the water complexes. The course was well spread out and most importantly there was somewhere to refill water on the way around. After lunch we got some respite from the heat and conditions cooled down some bit.

We made our way back to Valkenburg where we got Callum to drive us up to the Cauberg as we had enough walking done. The novelty of a hill in the Netherlands was lost on us after the excitement of the cross country 🤣 that and we couldn't see anything.

Quick freshen up and off to explore some more of the hospitality in Valkenburg,
a mexican buffet was the choice. Beautiful restaurant, delicious food and the best company what more could you ask for?

08/10/2026

On to the second day of our tour.

After a great breakfast at the hotel we headed for Aachen. Callum was gone to the airport to collect more of the gang so Rob brought us to Aachen.

The excitement of being in Aachen for the World Equestrian Games was amazing, we were there early and got our bearings. We had tickets for the Dressage Grand Prix Special (hot seats my bad!) and I managed to get tickets for Eventing dressage which we could not get before we travelled.

There was lots of zipping back and forth between stadiums to see different horses and riders. The rest of our group arrived just before lunch including our 2 prizewinners from the Eventing Ireland volunteer prize. They got a whirlwind tour and got a minute to sit before we headed out to the Cross country course. It was absolutely boling so we found a shady spot and had a chance to introduce everyone before meeting Ian Cassells, Irish team rider to walk some of the cross country course.

Ian was so generous with his time and this insight into the riders mind and how they prepare for the Cross country course was amazing, adjusting to their horse and how to prepare for the different obstacles.

After the course walk we headed back to watch more of the competition before heading back to Valkenburg with Callum that evening. The evening plans were made and some headed off to explore while others had a group dinner.
Lots of excitmenet for Cross country day the next day!!!

07/10/2026

As the days get shorter and winter nearer I want to look back on our glorious summer trip to Aachen for the World Equestrian Games.

On arrival day we flew in from everywhere to lots of different airports (much to Callums dismay). We had time to relax and settle into our beautiful accommodation in Walram Hotel Valkenburg.

By late evening everyone arrived and we headed for dinner as a group. Valkenburg has so many dinner options as we found out over the week of the trip and all within walking distance.

Dinner was lovely, everyone excited for the week ahead and between the exhaustion from travelling and introductions and meeting everyone we heading back to the hotel at a reasonable hour ready for our first day at the World Equestrian Games the following day.

Keep following to see our day by day on our trip to Aachen.

15/09/2026

Take us back to WEG cross country day. Amazing to see the best in the world making it look so easy

09/09/2026

A little teaser for our Christmas trip

05/09/2026

Best In Show Travel Christmas Trip 2026

05/09/2026

Is it too early to talk about🎄🎄🎄

02/09/2026

Top riders on these teams for Major league jumping 🌟👌🔥

This season, eight teams will compete at nine MLSJ venues across the U.S., Canada and Mexico during a season that spans from September to end of April 2027.