Living the Tradition with the 55th Hortobágy Equestrian Days

Visitors to the 55th Hortobágy Equestrian Days are expected to enjoy the spectacle of the finest horses and cultural programs between July 14 and 16, organizers announced at a press conference at the Grand Inn, at the foot of Kilenclyukú híd (Nine-arched Bridge, also Hortobágy Bridge) on Wednesday, MTI reported.

In the past decades, the Hortobágy Equestrian Days have become an important event in the region, known beyond the country’s borders, the main goal of which is to promote the past and present of the Hortobágy pastoral culture, the work of the Mátai Stud Farm, and the collection of horses still in use. The Hortobágy Equestrian Days are a summary of Hungarian equestrian life, in which professional riders as well as amateurs and horse-loving adults and children participate.

Bernadett Fülöp, the main organizer and executive director of the Hortobágy Nonprofit Ltd., said:

The most important goal of the Equestrian Days is to present cultural and national values and to live the equestrian traditions.

There will be jumping competitions, a Hortobágy gallop as a prelude to the national gallop, a children’s riding village, and participants can learn about Hungarian equestrian traditions in the Máty Arena. There will also be foal and bustard shows, a hussar and police carousel, and demonstrations by stunt riders.

Fülöp announced that in addition to the six riders with trotters, there will be a seventh surprise rider, whose identity will be announced on the spot.

László Papp (Fidesz-KDNP), Mayor of Debrecen, said that the number five has a special meaning in this year’s program: Hortobágy National Park (HNP) is 50 years old, the Equestrian Days are taking place for the 55th time, and Debrecen has been involved in organizing the event for five years.

The identity of Debrecen is unthinkable without the Puszta- the Hortobágy is the source of Debrecen’s economy and wealth, the pastoral culture and cattle breeding have established the economy of the city,

declared the mayor. Papp drew special attention to the rich cultural program and highlighted the five folk dance groups that will perform at the Equestrian Days, four of which will come from Debrecen.

According to Gergely Árpád Medgyesi, the director of the HNP, the events in the Puszta are successful because the visitors “experience a different time spectrum;” they are not spectators, but participants of the events. The latter is shown by the fact that children keep returning to the children’s riding village organized by the HNP, he added.

In the following video you can see a summary of the 54th Hortobágy Equestrian Days from last year.

Via Ungarn Heute, Featured image:Facebook/Hortobágyi Lovasnapok