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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2011 19:15:37 GMT
I have absolutely no interest in horses. Zilch. Nada. However, I must confess that this is the bait I used to lure my brother and sister-in-law back to Paris this year. A year ago, I made of point of mentioning to them that the annual Paris horse show takes place at the beginning of December every year and I gave a link to the website. In July, I was told that the air tickets were purchased, and as the date approached, I was even told that tickets had been purchased for the "Nuit du Cheval" show for all of us and that it would be the highlight of the trip. I had to work one day, which gave them the opportunity to go to the trade show and wallow in the manure see all of the wonderful things of interest. I should mention that they own horses which they love as much as their children, and also my sister-in-law works in a horse clinic, where she doesn't meet the rich and famous but at least gets to meet their horses. ("Last week, we had Spielberg's horse for an ear infection.") Anyway, the date arrived for the night show, so we took the train out to the exhibition center again. They were very proud to know the way there, whereas I had never been there, even though I've been through the station "Parc des Expositions" hundreds of time. It was necessary to pay admission to the horse show again to get to the evening spectacular, so I was able to see all of the wonders that had fascinated them. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2011 19:18:58 GMT
(Can you believe that the last picture did not display until I put an asterisk in the text?)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2011 19:28:04 GMT
There were customers test driving riding some of the horses for sale.   Some of these creatures cost 12,000€.   Stable boys are a necessity.  The gendarmerie is a major user of horses in France.    Luxury bars served refreshments.  We did not have tickets for this section.  |
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Post by mich64 on Dec 19, 2011 19:39:19 GMT
Very interesting Kerouac. I can see how someone involved with horses would be so excited to attend such an event, it seems they had quite a substanial amount of merchandise for sale and your brother must have enjoyed viewing this trade show. The horses are beautiful, I do watch horse racing.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 19, 2011 19:47:57 GMT
You're a really, really, really good brother! Your lack of interest in horses is only equaled by mine, so I deeply admire your doing this to make other people happy.
Did you get some nice straw-y poop for your window garden?
There was a craze for Shetland ponies in the US during the 1950s. Did other countries succumb to this as well?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2011 19:52:36 GMT
Modern exhibition hall buildings are really huge, so there is no problem putting in big horse riding areas.  The first part of the show had mounted gendarmes and members of the garde républicaine doing some stunts. They were the most amateurish, but everybody (including me) was quite indulgent when it was not perfect, because these shows are just a sideline for them rather than a profession -- these are working horses and working policemen, not circus performers.  After they did their bit, the master of ceremonies arrived. I did not retain his name, but he is the #1 horse trainer for movie stunts in the world with about 350 movies to his credit, including more than 150 American ones. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2011 20:15:57 GMT
There was actually a really good medieval jousting event. Even though the lances were made of balsa, there were no movie tricks, and the jousters really had to attack each other to break the lances and be knocked from their horses, along with some carefully rehearsed foot-caught-in-stirrup dragging which was sometimes a bit alarming. |
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Post by fumobici on Dec 19, 2011 22:11:33 GMT
My equine indifference even survived being relegated to a riding academy for the bulk of one precious Summer vacation. In retrospect the horsey crap I learnt came in handy on more than a few later occasions for chatting up cute girls who would otherwise not have bothered talking to me but were eager to talk about said horsey crap with a boy who could. And I see the jousting entertainment did produce some pretty sweet photo opportunities.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 20, 2011 2:05:25 GMT
I took riding, too. I learned how to post -- not this kind, the kind that's useful for Other Stuff. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2011 5:55:30 GMT
Armies of teenage girls were at work constantly picking up debris and changing elements of the set. (horses + horses + horses = armies of teenage girls) At one point the stunt king executed a carbon copy of the Gene Kelly "Singin' in the Rain" choreography on horseback during the preparation the flaming finale. He explained that fire is one of the things that terrifies horses the most and as movie stunts get more and more spectacular, there is a growing need for horses on fire. So he trains them for that. The public was thrilled as the show ended. All of the performers returned to salute the crowd.   It wasn't really a bad way to spend an evening, but I was very happy that I was not paying. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2011 6:31:44 GMT
Here is a pitiful little video just to show the horses moving. The seats on the far side of the arena are obviously the "premium" seats including champagne and snacks.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 20, 2011 15:24:46 GMT
I wish my videos looked that "pitiful".
*vows to actually read camera manual*
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Post by tod2 on Dec 27, 2011 15:34:20 GMT
I only had a quick glance at this amazing horse show before today and have come back to pause and squizz all the photos in more detail...Just fantastic Kerouac! Thank you so much for putting them out here for us to salivate over. I can ride but have not done so for many years. I don't think my fitness level would allow it now, and breaking something by falling off is not an option I care to contemplate  |
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