I am gearing up for my trip to the Bahamas to film the Abaco Barbs and I got to thinking about a horse travel adventure of the past. Three years ago I went to Hungary for the second time and went out to the the Puszta, the desert-like plains of Hungary. It is home the the famous Hungarian Horsemen, the Csikos (pronounced che-kowsh). My friend and I spent the day with them, and were just "wowed" by the things we saw. I am rusty on my history, but I remember that they struck fear in all those whose crossed their paths while they raided Western Europe. They look pretty harmless in these photos, and were actually quite jovial. Traditionally, they teach their horses to "play dead" on command for war strategies and they rode "standing up" to appear larger from a distance. I am going to post more about them because they are great photos and I don't know if anyone out there knows a lot about them. They taught me how to use their bullwhip and there are some fun photos of that. For me, this is just great thinking back and remembering my day with the Csikos. By the way, they make great wine as well!
4 comments:
Thanks somuch for visiting my blog andleaving your comments.
I have enjoyed reading your recent posts and envy you your travels.
I will be back to check in from time to time. Love your horse, I have 16 at the moment and no time to ride, wish I could cut down on numbers and then maybe I would enjoy my fillies and get some riding time.
Lori
What an amazing experience. And interesting pictures. I'll look forward to hearing more about this horsemen.
I spent a great day watching these cowboys (for that is what they were, latterly, on the Great Plains) at Hortobagy in Eastern Hungary. The Hungarians are the descendents of a tribe whose people migrated from Mongolia to Europe with their horses around a thousand years ago. The Hungarian culture is still very horse-oriented. The stunt where one rider controls a team of five (in the second photo) is especially interesting. First depicted in a nationalistic painting in the 19th century, this feat was only achieved (if I remember the date correctly) in the 1970’s. Now it is quite a party piece for these accomplished riders, and the greatest of them has now “ridden” a team of 10 horses made up of three rows of 5, 3 and 2 horses. There is also a horseback archery club near Budapest, whose members ride bareback wearing historical Magyar costume.
Do I have someone from Transylvanian reading my blog! I am so happy that someone else has seen the Hungarian Horsemen. They are just amazing aren't they! Thank you for your insight.
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