Horses for the Middle Class
Source: "Evening Moscow" newspaper.
The equestrian family holiday EquiFest Festival and Equiros show and exhibition, the main equestrian event of Moscow has begun in Sokolniki Park. We visited the exhibition together with Snezhana Shabanova, its press secretary, who explained to us why Muscovites buy horses nowadays.
“The times when rich people bought horses just because of whimsy. To have an expensive horse just to have it – is bad manners nowadays. Of course horses bring profit to the well-off, for example, by participating in the races of harnessed horses. However, representatives of the middle class started to buy horses more and more now, just to keep good shape and get rid of stress”, Snezhana says.
Having listened to Snezhana, we made a rating of popular hobbies among Russian horse lovers.
Riding outside for pleasure. This is the easiest and the most pleasant activity!
Dressage – is kind of a sport, where rider has to demonstrate horse managing while his four-footed partner shows the harmony of moves.
Show jumping – is a competition of show jumping obstacles, which requires great physical training and horse managing from a rider. A horse has to be brave, hardy and hold great coordination of movements.
Western – is an American cowboy style riding. A horse is trained in all the skills, which are required for work in ranches. Traditional cowboy accoutrements and clothes prepare them for competitions. Driving – is the relay competition. Its popularity increases as they are accessible for people of almost any age and physical training.
Trick riding – is equestrian tricks, where Cossacks were the recognized historical masters.
Equestrian vaulting, or simply Vaulting - is described as gymnastics and dance on horseback, circling slowly or galloping.
Source: "Evening Moscow" newspaper.
