Читать книгу Spunky Horses (Part One) - A Year With The Horses - Vaughn Bolder - Страница 1

Other than a handful of joyous memories from my formative years in Ireland, of having a horse stand on my foot and a vague recollection of falling off one or two, I don't remember having much to do with horses growing up, and the opportunities for getting covered in horse poo I only ever remember becoming available when on holidays staying on farms.

I spent the majority of my time working with musicians and performers, or on special events, which were many and varied over the years. And it was on one of the more memorable events in France that I discovered that perhaps I'd just forgotten about horses because suddenly my interest was awakened at a party on a horse farm.

On this one, I was rigging, programming, and then operating the lighting for the main party of the event inside a very large marquee. What I discovered as we arrived on site was that the guests were to be entertained during dinner by a troop of highly trained horses being ridden by seriously skilled trick riders around a ring positioned between the stage area and the dining area. It was a pretty impressive thing to witness and I got to see it a few times during several rehearsals and then the main show.

On cue, sometime during the dinner, I dimmed the lights right down and then brought up a spotlight on the entrance to the ring, and in rode this display team headed by a very eccentric French horseman and a couple of his family, along with several other gifted riders. They rode around the ring standing on the backs of the horses, sometimes straddling two horses, or jumping from one to another, or performing stunts like jumping off and then back on the horses as they rode around at some speed.

Now I was used to seeing a variety of new and fresh forms of entertainment on a regular basis in my job, as I was a regular member of crew for some very well-connected event and party organizers and designers, who had reputations for pushing the boundaries and finding amazing head turning acts on every new event. This lot were no exception and had to be seen to be believed. So, after the horse show itself was over and the guests were on the dance floor, I put the lighting on an auto setting, handed over the controls to the DJ, then disappeared outside to go and see the horses and their team of riders.

When I got outside I found the horses all cooling down with the riders talking and laughing amongst themselves, and basically hanging out with and talking to the horses, almost like they were their human friends. All of this was happening in a temporary corralled area made up of their horse trucks, bales of hay and other kit they'd brought in for the event. Within a very short time I was being shown how to lead the horses around, and over the next hour or so ended up helping to load them onto the trucks ready for their departure.

Perhaps there had been more interaction with horses in Ireland than I'd remembered, and something had been picked up by the younger me, which the older me still had, and which these stunt horses recognized, as they were happy to follow me onto the trucks without any arguments or fuss. Now whilst I'd just assumed it was because they were well-trained horses, I was informed that usually they had to be handled by people they knew who had a certain knack with them.

This was a relatively new experience for me but it felt quite easy as the horses all cooperated, and at the end one of the horsemen told me he thought I had an affinity with their horses and should come and work with them on the horse side of the things. It was a pretty good thing to hear and I wanted to experience more of it and see more of what this lot did. But I was too busy lighting parties, shows and festivals and having a great time doing that, so I literally didn't have the time. However, the amazing horse show, the experience, and the words of that particular horseman stayed with me.