Horse Show

Zsuzsa, Aliz, Zsolt
We were treated to an exhibition of superior Hungarian horsemanship.

Back in the day where there was much fighting, the horsemen had to train their horses not to shy and bolt when there was gunfire going off all around them . Hence the bullwhips. We watched a trio of horsemen ride around the covered corral cracking their whips as the horses galloped past us, throwing up little tufts of soil. Then the horses were instructed to lie flat on their sides, a position in which you rarely see horses. Their riders stood on the horses' flanks and continued to crack their whips. I really wanted to try it, but it wasn't offered. You could, however, ride one of the horses so Hans did. Zsuzsa and Aliz also went for a ride around the corral and that seemed to be very popular with the little 2 1/2 year old girl.


The saddles are very different in that first of all, they only weigh about 2 kilos, including stirrups. There are no straps. The saddle just sits on the horse and the stirrups hang down on either side. I'm still not sure how the horsemen mounted them without pulling the saddle down on one side.

The horses' final trick was to sit on their haunches like a dog. Never saw a horse do that before.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Summer Palace

Image
Wow. Our days are full of strange sights and long hours. In the bus every morning at 7:00, and never home before 5:00. The summer palace was built by Rama V to commemorate the village where he met his wife. How romantic is that! Lo hiding between the antlers The gardens are gorgeous, with topiary herds of elephants, deer and rabbits. Sounds of peacocks echo through the gardens but they remained frustratingly elusive. Their cries were augmented by the screech of other unseen birds in faraway branches. But we did see an amazing variety of bougainvillea in all colours. Hans standing by the elephant's trunk. From the walls in the Reception Hall, yellowing faded faces of Ramas I to IX gazed out from acestral photos. Each Rama is believed to be an incarnation of Vishnu. Other rooms held lacquered furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl and stunning teak carvings. As with all Buddhist buildings, we have to remove our shoes and in some cases, we were asked the night before to dress respectfu
Read more

The trouble with winter is…

The trouble with winters here is that they can be incredibly brutal. This is especially true when your driveway is 400' long, oriented east-west, and invitingly open to the howling north wind. Last night the afore-mentioned wind was an unwelcome escort on my drive home late in the evening. All the way home I contemplated whether or not I should risk driving my car down the driveway and into the garage, where it might get trapped overnight. I decided not to risk it. From the head of the driveway I phoned Hans to say I was leaving the car on the road, loaded up my stuff, wound my scarf around my head to ward off the wind, and opened the door. Like a spinnaker, it caught the wind and creaked alarmingly before I wrestled it closed again. I proceeded more cautiously. The driveway was already starting to bulk up with mogul-like drifts and Hans had opened the gate for me – a precaution when drifts in the drive are a possibility. After a soak in the hot tub to fight the chill,
Read more

"The Party"

If you've seen the movie "The Party" with Peter Sellers, you'll be able to visualize the scene at dinner this evening. We had Rock Cornish Game Hens. Just as I was critizing someone else for their bad table manners, my cornish hen flew off my plate and skittered across the table. Bits of chicken went flying in all directions. "You have a piece of chicken hanging from your eyebrow", said Teddy, nodding at Hans. "He's just keeping an eye on it", said Vern.
Read more