One of my favorite things about the equestrian world is discovering different horse traditions in different countries around the world. Do you remember the ‘Hungarian cowboys’ who were believed to be predecessors of the American cowboys?
What about the Belgian tradition of fish hunting where riders were on top of their Belgian draft horses. These are only a few out of hundreds of different cultures around the world. Now we are going to talk about a French tradition. The French town of Saumur, in the western Loire Valley, has had an equestrian tradition for more than 500 years.
In 1825, one of the world’s most prestigious horse-riding schools, the “Cadre Noir”, was set up here. Today, 35 instructors teach 300 students every year, carrying on the tradition of French horse-riding, which was added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage in 2011.
“You Are Here” takes you behind the scenes of the school. This horse-riding tradition is protected by a huge organization as UNESCO for a lot of reasons that you will be able to understand after watching the video below. I think that it is absolutely incredible and I strongly encourage the remaining of its legacy to the following years.