Cavalia

Cavalia

In June 2013, we went to the show CAVALIA then running in Sydney. Underneath a huge, white ‘Big Top’ we were entertained by acrobats, trapeze artists and some wonderful horses… perhaps the show could be considered to be a cross between ‘Cirque du Soleil’ and an equine ballet. It was absolutely brilliant.

There were 50 horses named in the program ranging from the tiny Miniature  ‘Troubadour’ to the huge Percheron called ‘Merlin’, over twenty are listed as being Spanish Purebreds or Andalusians, several were almost pure white, so one can be forgiven for thinking ‘Spanish Riding School’.

Some horses were at liberty, subtle movements of their trainer’s body and arms indicating to them when to turn, go singly, pairs or even a wheel of eight. There was dressage, Roman riding, trick riding, bareback and a beautiful intertwining of trapeze and horse.

The delightful ‘Carousel” reminded me of the Musical Rides we were taught at my Pony Club in Yorkshire many years ago. Our instructors were all military men with titles like Brigadier, Colonel, Major and Captain. They were products of the British Army School of Equitation at Weedon, and they were all good riders and knew their horses.

(www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Mw-qId_b8)

Copy and paste the above video clip and have a look at what those soldiers were able to do.  Now I know the origin of some of their weird and wonderful ideas. Thank you gentlemen!