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World University Equestrian Championship26.-30. July 2000 Berne, Switzerland |
Originally studentriding used to be a mandatory part of university education. In
1681 the University of Basel, Switzerland was the first one to introduce riding to its
curriculum. With the goal of the "universally educated human" during
the Age of Enlightenment in the first half of the 18th century many other
universities in central Europe followed. "Universally educated" among
other things ment the upbringing of a leading generation capable of maintaining a
political status quo, and therefore chivalrous qualities like riding and
fencing were indispensable. Great minds like Goethe, Kant and others had
to go through a riding education leaving some funny episodes. During the
19th century and the early 20th century some of the original university
riding institutions disappeared in favour of riding schools for military
purposes. Between the wars Germany saw a rapid revival of many university riding
groups and in many places riding became a part of academic physical
education again. In Hannover, Germany, in 1926 one of the first
inter-university studentriding competitions comparable to the ones today
was held and in 1929 an association uniting all german universitiy riding
groups was founded (ARB).
After World War II the main initiative for international studentriding
came from Sweden which invited a team from Germany in 1954 and held the
first international competitions in 1963 and 1966. In Germany the DAR
(Deutscher Akademischer Reiterveband) was founded as a successor of the
ARB in 1954. The late sixties saw increasingly popular international
competitions in Sweden, France, Great Britain, Germany and at the EMPFA in
Berne. Many countries now also had formed national associations: France
(ANEC), Sweden (SAR), Holland (SNS) and Great Britain (BURCA). Problems
with ambiguous regulations for international competitions and "World-Cups"
led to the founding of an international umbrella organisation in 1984:
AIEC (Association International des Etudiants Cavalier). The first
European Championship of studentriding under FISU regulations was held in
1985 and the first World Championship of Studentriding in 1988 in Saumur,
France. The last WUEC in 1998 also took place Saumur and five out of six
gold medals were won by Switzerland.
Pictures from: "Reitende Studenten - Studierende Reiter" by Hans Kirchner (ISBN 3-88542-254-9)