A different kind of race in Austria

This text was written by

Katharina

and sent by Alexander Sgustav, both of whom organized this event.

In Austria there is a particularly beautiful trotting track near Vienna. This trotting track, in Baden organizes a big festival every year, the "Night of the Horse." The focus is on trotting races, but - as is the case with a horse festival - there are also a few very special highlights.

This year the special event was Icelandic horses, or more precisely a 500m gallop race. The trotting track is 1 km long. The 8 Icelandic horses that took part in the race were supposed to slowly trot or tölt 500m behind a starting car and then start the race directly opposite the spectators' stands. The finish line was then exactly in front of the stands, in front of thousands of spectators who cheered and cheered on our Icelandics. There was betting on the Icelandic horses, as well as on the trotters, and a radio station even sponsored prize money for the first three places.

So far so good. Sounds like a completely normal race, like thousands of other races around the world every week. But I would like to express my boundless admiration for Icelandic horses. For our Icelandic horses, this race was a completely new situation. Grandstands, spectators, bars, betting offices, starting car, music, announcers, support vehicles, large racehorses with their sulkies. When we were asked to organize this race, we didn't doubt for a second about the versatility of our horses. We had deep confidence that Icelandic horses could do it. Better than many other horse breeds; fearless, brave and strong, as they are. We thought that Icelandic horses and their riders could have a lot of fun at a gallop race. To experience something different. We also wanted to show how versatile the Icelandic horse breed is. To make the unbridled power of the small horses, their fearlessness and their strength visible. We also wanted to surprise the spectators with their speed, which at first glance you might not think the small horses are capable of. In a gallop race - we knew that - even people who are perhaps not as familiar with Icelandic horse sport as we are would recognize this.

Photo: Sandra Toegel - www.saendras.at

Because - even if it seems almost impossible to us - many people here only know Icelandic horses as "cute ponies". When our 8 horses were presented at the parade before the race, each horse/rider pair individually, you could hear delighted voices. Spectator Steffi Pilz describes: "What I particularly liked was how the people standing around me in the stands reacted to the Icelandic horses. At the beginning of the parade it was "Oh, they're cute" - but by the time the race started it was "Wow, they're fast".

Many spectators actually had their mouths open. The two announcers also really liked the speed of the little horses. It was nice to see how relaxed the horses ran. How they got involved in this situation. How they wanted to run. The horses' drive, their will to go, was enormous.

Photo: Sandra Toegel - www.saendras.at

How did the moment of the start feel? The riders answered this question for me like this:

"At the start I had tears of joy in my eyes because it was so unreal to be part of such a special spectacle." (Marlene Alfon).

"Táta was so concentrated and really athletic. I felt that she was fully focused and paying attention to my aids. It felt like flying. We had never been so fast before. Her energy was breathtaking." (Julia Polovitzer-Warum)

"I almost ran out of strength before the start, trying to hold Stigandi back. All the horses knew exactly what was happening. You then block everything out and the feeling of happiness overwhelms you when the animal beneath you gives it all." (Ute Sepia-Setti)

"It was an incredible feeling with the speed. I was able to completely switch off everything around me. I felt that Draupnir was having a lot of fun, wanted to show off and you could really feel the pull of the other horses." (Laura Edwards)

"For me as a rider, the race was really fun, but also really exhausting. Skrida was really enjoying herself. She wanted to run, run, run. It was really a once-in-a-lifetime experience" (Leonie Brandel).

Photo: Sandra Toegel - www.saendras.at

The horses' joy was noticeable to everyone and visible to us spectators.

Even though we knew that Icelandic horses are very versatile, we naturally wanted to prepare them as well as possible for this situation. So, about 6 weeks before the race, we organized a trial training session with all the horses on the trotting track. The horses were able to get to know the terrain, the starting car, the green stands, the racehorses that train there. And they also tried out the (flying) start situation behind the car. Just gallop off on the very wide, 1km long track when the car goes faster.

After the trial training, each rider prepared his horse individually for the race. It was important to all riders to keep the horses' joy of running.

Leonie Brandel describes: "We walked longer distances in the countryside and gradually increased the pace. We kept doing short sprints and gradually extended them a little. But because it is so incredibly hot here in Austria at the moment, we only went riding early in the morning or late in the evening. We made sure that Skriða wanted to run. If she didn't want to, we went into the hall and did a bit of strength training.

Other riders made plans for building up their fitness training together with their trainers, but some of them also did habituation training. Ute Sepia-Setti: "For Stigandi's training, I increased the gallop training over four months. I often borrowed a horse from the stable and let them run together on the oval track, which was always fun for everyone. My trainer marked out a distance of 500 m in the fields, which was our training route. Julia, who was the first to cross the finish line with her Táta, added: "Everything was fun and without any pressure."

And you could see that at the finish line. Or at the parade before and after the race. As a spectator, you had the feeling that the horses were proud of themselves and enjoyed showing off. "Let the horses share in the success," as the guidelines say. That's what we did. The Icelandic horse race was a real celebration for our four-legged friends. They thrilled thousands of spectators - and they certainly felt it too.

Photo: Sandra Toegel - www.saendras.at