Magyar Hírek, 1987 (40. évfolyam, 1-23. szám)
1987-03-07 / 5. szám
A MEMORIAL PARK FOR LIPPIZANER HORSES Szilvásvárad and its environs are a well-known and much frequented holiday area in the Bükk Hills. The round, white-washed Calvinist church rising above the houses was built by József Mild, one of the outstanding architects of the classicist period. I n the park of the manor covering some 558 hectares exotic trees and plants grow as well as local flora. The I’allavicini manor designed by Miklós Ybl in 1860 is surrounded by the park. The classicist building is now a trades union holiday home. The equestrian museum and stable of the Lippizaner horses is in the vicinity of the manor. The building boasts an elegant exterior and interior and beautiful wrought-iron lamps worthy of the noble animals it houses. The horse was not only the favourite animal, but also the boon companion of Hungarians of old. They lived in a close symbiosis during and before the landtaking, at work, war or in the sporting life. Horses deserve their place in the thinking of Hungarians. This was the idea, which helped the establishment of this special memorial park, which raised a monument to sporting horses of the most outstanding ability. The idea of establishing a memorial park for Lippizaner horses arose in 1985, when one of the favourite horses of Gábor Finta dropped dead in harness during the annual coachdriving championship. On the afternoon of the competition Gábor Finta called on Zoltán Egri, the manager of the Lippizaner stud asking his permission to bury the horse in the vicinity and to mark the grave. Egri agreed and they decided to establish a garden in memory of the famous horses of the stud. Some of their horses did well at international races as well as at stud and their names live on. Sándor Zágoni, a folkartist was commissioned to design and build the memorial park. His work now symbolises the appreciation of generations of these trusted friends of man, the first such memorial park in Europe. A unique atmosphere prevails on the rise behind the equestrian museum PHOTO: ESZTER REZES MOLNÁR among the carved memorial signs, wooden boards and posts with nailed on horseshoes and suspended cart wheels. Approaching the rise over a small wooden bridge and through a carved gate one’s eyes are cought first by the biggest of the boards, which display the name of eight worldfamous Lippizaner stocks. Four other boards bear names of horses, which contributed to this world-wide reputation in competition or by siring or throwing outstanding progeny. In the eighteen months, while these carved posts were made, Szilvásvárad became the second home of Sándor Zágoni, and this is evident in hiH manner, as he shows us around his realm, and talks about his experiences and plans. Everybody knows him in the workshops and the stables, even the horses made friends with him. When we praise his carvings and his enthusiasm he adds immediately that what we see here is the joint work of the collectives of the Mátra District forest and Timber Authority and the Lippizaner stud farm, from Btart to finish. KLARA ZIKA Carriage driving — a successful sport for Hungary “Did you know that four-in-hand’s been the most successful sport for Hungary in the last 15 years?” Ernő Váczi, the team captain, asked me when I rang to arrange to sit down and talk about the sport. “I didn’t,” 1 admitted when we met. “Only that we’ve won several world championships.” “In fact We won 18 gold medals for carriage driving, from the early 1970s onwards. The Hungarians were placed so often they divided the field into two — the Hungarians and the rest. Carriage driving was officially recognized as a sport by the International Equestrian Association in 1969. Then in 1971 we ran the first European championships here in Budapest, as part of the World Hunting Exhibition. That was a championship where we won the lot: the team title and the first three places in the individual.” “You keep saying ‘was’. Aren’t we top any more?” “We’re at the top, but we don’t enjoy the old hegemony any more, or rather we don’t at present. But let’s stay with those successful seventies for a bit longer. In those days carriage driving in the West was the sport or recreation of bored millionaires. Let’s be frank, ours isn’t a participation sport. Selecting, buying, training and keeping four matching horses, buying a competition carriage and the harness, then travelling from event to event — only millionaries can afford that kind of thing. We Hungarians can get into the front rank thanks to the support of the big agricultural combines, cooperatives and state farms. It costs about a million forints ($ 23,000) a year to keep a four-in-hand.” “What happens at a four-in-hand contest?” “There are four parts: presentation dressage, marathon and obstacle driving. The presentation’s a kind of beauty contest: they rate the condition of the horses and how they match, the beauty of the carriage and the turn out of the drivers. So the judging’s fairly subjective. One judge likes one thing and another likes another. The real contest is marathon driving, and that’s where we’re really strong. Of course the rules have changed here as well over the years. For instance, they’ve brought in a pacing stage, which has to be covered at 7 kph. A show speed like that is just not in the genes of the traditional Hungarian horse, he gets so tired, but I can’t complain. If you want to be best you have to be best at everything. In fact it’s not at the judge’s table or out in the field that we’ve lost our hegemony, it’s far earlier than that, at home — ” “What do you mean?” “As I say, an equipage costs a million a year to keep. Not even a cooperative farm can afford that nowadays. The field at home is narrowing, in a worrying way. Back in 1975 we’d have 30 or 40 entries, but these days it’s six or eight. The biggest expense is travelling, even around Hungary. And do you know what our sport was getting from the old Sports Bureau? 250,000 ft a year. So the money was practically nothing, but they expected the results just the same, as if we were getting all the support in the world. Sometimes we’d get together to compete internationally. One idea that came up was to found a school to teach driving to foreigners who were interested; part of what they paid would go to finance us. Someone else suggested membership for supporters. There’d certainly be plenty of takers abroad, because local Hungarians have helped us already at several international events. They pick us up, take us places and offer us hospitality, and we always go out to the course in some compatriot’s car. One thing’s certain: we gladly welcome all suggestions. Because we’d like to stay in the world forefront in this sport, with its truly Hungarian, age-old traditions.” ISTVÄN pokorny 30
