A Horse Jumping show in Kaliningrad

Horses are such magnificent and beautiful animals and I always admire them. Don`t ask me to get too close to them because I am really scared of horses. When I was about 16 a horse got upset and tried to bite me. I suppose it was my own fault because they say you should never disturb an animal when he is busy eating and that is what I did. I tried to stroke his neck and he got upset with me. They also say that horses are very temperamental creatures.

When Kaliningrad celebrated a birthday we attended a horse jumping show. I have never been to one and was looking forward to see the riders and horses in action. A live band was playing and a large crowd was gathering. I was surprised to see so many young riders. Some of them looked as young as 8 or 9 years old.

The horses were so beautiful and shiny. Many of the riders were stroking their horses and talking to them. The jumping poles were decorated with pretty flowers and the riders were all dressed in black jackets and white shirts and pants. The horses looked pretty too and some of them had their hair platted. I didn’t understand all of the rules but the riders had an opportunity to warm up their horses before the event. Numbers were allocated next to each jumping pole and a judge was standing there.

Once the horses were warmed up they started to circle the field and then the event started in all earnest. It was interesting to watch the horses and the riders. I spoke about horses being temperamental but I saw this first hand. Sometimes the horses refused to jump and they had to skip a pole and go for the next one. I am not sure if the horses get scared and don`t want to jump or if it is merely a lack of training. The riders never forced the horses but I did see a couple of disappointing faces.

horse jumping games

A pretty young girl did so well until her horse decided he had enough and threw her against a tree. It was not a pretty site and quickly the ambulance was there to tend to her. Luckily she didn’t get hurt but walked away with a couple of bruises. Luckily this was the only injury that we saw that day.

When the event was finished the ladies ran and gathered the flowers to decorate the podium. There wasn’t a real podium but it looked pretty with the brightly coloured flowers. The young riders were forming a line and they each received a prize and also a little something for their beautiful horses.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this event and I wasn’t the only one. Many parents and grandparents came to support the young riders. Although Russian people are very reserved they didn’t hesitate to show their support by clapping.