RSSIn Arosa, Switzerland (4)
At first, this sounded to me like something out of a Marx Brothers movie: “A Day at the Races: In Snow”. But this snow horse-racing is serious business, as I’m about to learn.
Arosa has been hosting this event since 1917. There are only two such snow race days in the world, the other being not far, in St. Moritz, Switzerland. I ask the organizer, Cornelia Hebeisen-Schmid, why racing in the snow is particular to Switzerland, and she laughs that snow is particular to Switzerland.
“The snow is special,” she explains on this race day. “It’s not sand, and it’s not normal ground. Some horses love the snow, and some refuse to run in it. Each coach and jockey needs to have the feeling for the snow.”
The weather is the crucial issue each year to prepare for this snow race. In December, organizers begin testing the lake in the center of Arosa. They need 15-20 centimeters of ice before they can begin flattening the race track atop the lake. “Some winters are better than others,” Cornelia admits. “We need a good amount of real snow, and not a lot of icy conditions, otherwise the horses can’t get enough speed.”
Arosa now hosts these horse races two Sundays each January. (In 2010, the dates are January 17 and 24.) I met Swiss people who took the train from Bern just for the day, to come eat hot sausages and drink warm alcoholic punches in the tent set-up for the occasion. And to bet. This is, after all, still horse-racing.
There are multiple distant races, jumping competitions and pulled-skier races. “Is it safe for anyone to be behind a horse like that?” I ask. “It’s okay, the skier is far enough away that they can’t be kicked by the horse,” I’m told. Though it wasn’t the kicking I thought the skier would be concerned about. It was the horse crap. “And what do you do about the horse crap in the snow?” I ask. “Oh, we just leave it and hope it melts away with the snow,” Cornelia laughs.
On this day, 26 year-old Regina Schmid wins the one kilometer race with her horse Freiberger. Regina, a Swiss law student, races year-round as a hobby, but admits that she especially likes riding in the snow. “It’s soft, and quiet, and there’s something wonderful about feeling connected to nature, especially when riding on freshly fallen snow. I feel that my horse likes it also, and enjoys being outside in nature in winter.”
Regina’s prize winnings today? Flowers and champagne. Freiberger’s? The horse, you could say, is left out in the cold. Happily.
Benjamin Thomas
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Benjamin Thomas from the USA has been using Eurail Passes to explore Europe. On this weblog he shares his (train) travel experiences. Intro
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I’m living in Las Vegas just only see the snow at Mnt. Charleston … When I read this, I hope one day I’d go to Arosa, Switzerland…. That will be nice…