Global Horse Culture

Freio de Ouro 2010

The Freio de Ouro (Golden Bit) is a huge annual competition for the Crioulo breed in Brazil. Competitors and breeders from throughout southern Latin America come together in Esteio, a city in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, for a best of breed competition and associated auctions and expositions. The Crioulo is the main breed found in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, and is also bred in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile (in those Spanish-speaking countries it is called the Criollo). Argentina and Uruguay in particular share a strong horse culture and breed bloodlines with Rio Grande do Sul.

Fantastic Cristiani Family circus footage

Intrepid YouTube prowler Mike Matson uncovered this spectacular gem, showing the famous Cristiani circus family demonstrating some of their amazing vaulting. I'd seen still photos of this before, but never video. It's truly spectacular! Take a look:

More Thai Cowboys

I posted a while back about cowboys in Thailand. Here's a little video showing some scenes from the area. Very cute!

Amazing driving

Another great find by Mike Matson - this is a stupendously difficult musical drive performed by the Royal Horse Artillery in 1994:

Recreating a Historic Russian Hunt

With fabulous costumes and Borzoi hounds! What a scene. Thanks to Mike for the tip!

Showmanship

Showmanship is a judged presentation of livestock in hand. You'll see showmanship classes at 4-H shows, involving cattle, horses, goats and other animals. You'll see showmanship judged at dog and cat shows, too. Participants are judged on the clean and breed-appropriate appearance of the animal and themselves and  the quality of their formal presentation, such as standing the animal nicely, walking or jogging the animal for the judge and so forth.

In the horse world, particularly with popular "western" breeds such as Paints, Quarter Horses and Arabians, showmanship competitions have gotten quite fancy. Handlers dress up in fancy attire, and the horses are presented in complex patterns, that include walking, jogging, halting, pivots and circles. You can read more about the details of horse showmanship here and here.

Take a look at this video for an example of the type of patterns and presentation required:

Sorraia horses in action

This short video shows two Sorraia horses in a carriage driving event in Portugal. The Sorraia is an ancient breed thought to have been influential in the development of the Lusitano horse. The Portuguese breed association page is here. You can find English information here. 

Puerto Rican Criollos...for racing!

The Puerto Rican Criollo is a gaited breed of mixed ancestry* (that's what "criollo" means) with a variety of gaits. The slowest gait is a short-stepping fast walk, called the paso fino (which can be seen in this video). The paso largo is a lengthened, faster running walk. Like the speed rackers of the United States and the Icelandic Horse, some Puerto Rican Criollos can do a singlefoot gait (called andadura) at tremendous speeds. Some may pace at high speeds. Racers, called Caballos de Andadura, are often raced drag-race style in short sprint heats, two-by-two.

Gaited Mule in Brazil

This is a short video of a gaited mule on a country road in Brazil, in São Paulo state. This is a show-quality mule, out for a training ride. Mules are quite popular in Brazil, and this one is bred from a Mangalarga Marchador horse (one of the most popular breeds in Brazil).

More on skijoring

I posted a while back about skijoring, the wild sport where horses tow skiers. There are many variations (over obstacles, on a track, in the backyard). See this older post for some links to organizations.

I recently found this new, longer (four minute) video documenting the preparation for and running of a skijoring race in Switzerland. There's lots of fun footage and details of how the races are set up and how the horses are equipped. It can't be embedded, but you should check it out on YouTube.