The last weekend (October 27-30) saw the Equiros Equestrian Exhibition in Sokolniki Park. This annual event is deemed to be the key equestrian exhibition in Russia, and is the leader in terms of the number of exhibits, with the most representation and most popular event. It provides a very convenient, educational, and professional platform for horse breeders, owners of pedigree animals, and industry representatives to share experience, or discuss the latest industry trends.

Every day of the exhibition provided some vivid entertainment, with Saturday, October 29, being the most eventful day. The grand arena in exhibit hall 4 has seen the “Equine Parade - Presentation of the Equiros Participants”. Both heavy and light draft breeds have revealed their power and grace, and the best representatives of the Arabian, Russian Don, Orlov Trotter, Russian Heavy, Vladimir, Soviet Heavy, and many other breeds have experienced an honourable walk-around.

There was also an unexpected pony show for the children, where the miniature American horses as tall as knee-high, performed in singles and pairs.

However there exist much taller ponies, namely the Fjord, which have also been exhibited. These horses inhabited the area of today’s Norway since prehistoric times. At first glance they do not differentiate much from the Przewalsky horse (Mongolian wild) with their head not so heavy and “primitive”. Withers height of this pony is about 132-152 cm.

Marina Bakhtina, owner of Prince the stud and “Margoshin Dom” equestrian facility shared some details about this breed with us:

- What we do, is bring up children promoting love towards horses. And we decided to bring this very breed over, the Fjord, as it’s very rare and at the same time, multipurpose. It’s also an aboriginal breed and known since the 14th century. It originated from the Vikings’ horses, which were military and raw fish fed. These are pure Norwegians, very cold resistant and solid in health. The Fjord comes exactly the way it was created by nature. Even its fur is warm and silky to resist strong winds. Actually, the Russian summer is not very comfortable for it and we have to ensure colder conditions at locations they are kept. The Fjord horses are very good at getting along with people too, as they are easygoing and friendly. Prince is only 2 years old, which is still quite young, yet it’s the champion of Russia, and this championship is the 4th for us. He comes from Europe with a very good background – his parents come from Germany, and Prince was born in an abbey in Poland, which makes him a monk. Our goal for this exhibition is to demonstrate the Fjord as a rare breed. These horses are very practical in terms of keeping and all-round development.

The same day, saw the exhibition performance by Martina Staemmler Gerusel’s who brought three elite heavy horses of rare breeds. Martina owns the (Heavy Horse School) in her native town of Dulmen (Germany) and tours Europe often. Her programme for the “Equiros” included the following workshops:

- “Riding in Hands” programme featuring Casparo the Pfalz-Ardennes;

- “Riding Free” programme featuring Diesel the Bolognese;

- “One Rider and Two Horses” programme featuring Anna, the white Shire, and Paula, the black Pfalz-Ardennes accompanied by vaulters.

As Martina was warming up for her performance, her friend and colleague Evgeny Rudnev, chief coach of the Russian Paralympic dressage team, talked about her.

- Martina Staemmler is the Grand Prix rider who has mastered the classic German dressage school. But her passion lies with heavy horses, and currently she has about 40, rather rare and red-listed horses at her farm. For example, Casparo the Pfalz-Ardennes – these horses number about 1400 species in total these days. Casparo is the licensed stallion weighing 960 kg. Besides there are only two more licensed horses of this breed, and only Casparo, the chestnut gray stallion, is privately owned. Three weeks ago it was ranked the best among the breed representatives. Diesel the Bolognese (weighing 1,150 kg) have also been awarded the best. Martina has been training it based on the classic “Riding in Hands” programme for 6 years now, but it can also perform in trials, such as pulling an 8-ton log. Such competitions are highly captivating. Yet Martina sticks to the classic programmes too. It’s her 4th visit to Moscow when she has held workshops such as “Riding in Hands”, “Riding Free”, “One Rider and Two Horses”. She is very keen on getting a second citizenship in Russia and hopes she will be able to represent Russia with her husband at all championships going forward.

Vladimir breed competition, which opened with an exhibition performance by Julia Bratsun and her Topol the Vladimir horse, has become the key event for that day. The programme featured 11 Vladimir horses that belonged to 6 different farms. The absolute champion 2016 title was given to the 2-year-old Legendarny stallion.

Another competition of heavy and light draft breeds, Bogatyrskaya Sila, has again seen the Vladimir heavy horses taking top prizes of the “Equiros”. “Elite” pedigree stallions or mares won over both the jury and the exhibition guests.

The arena programme was complemented by the exhibition of products and services for both horses and riders: the companies presented equestrian sports equipment, horse care items, veterinary drugs and gear. Craftsmen fair provided an opportunity to buy souvenirs and toys, or hammer a lucky horseshoe. An animation programme was also hosted for children, which included arts and crafts, popular art and painting workshops.

Source: www.yamoskva.com

Last update: Tuesday, February 07, 2017 10:06:09 AM