Maybe EA has been reading the THM facebook page, because after we pointed out that having half the dressage squad in the three-star, and half in the four-star at the first selection event in Odense, was hardly the promised ‘head-to-head’ contest for team places, things have changed for Rotterdam. Now all the Australian team contenders will be competing in the three-star out the back of nowhere in what used to be the jumping warmup arena, now dubbed the InterChem arena. That’s a real bargain, EA pays the usual €20-25,000 bribe to get our entries in (it’s called buying VIP tables but it is not optional) and we end up competing in front of two lost backpackers and a three legged Belgian Barge dog in the forest. That’s what happens when you put people who know nothing in charge. Oh well, at least they are competing against each other on a level playing field, but there were other options, like Wiesbaden, that would have also tested the horses ability to deal with a bit of atmosphere.