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Horse extravaganza!
Horse dances, tent pegging, hanky picking, fire arch runs and other acrobatics performed on horseback - will be the highlights of Sri Lanka's first ever Horse Show organised by Lanka Equestrian Association to be held on Sept. 28 at 5.30 p.m. at Parliament grounds.

The Sri Lanka Equestrain Association (SLEA) was established to promote horse related sports in Sri Lanka. It is recognized as the national federation for the sport in the country. The Horse Show will feature not only Indian warhorses - Marwari, already imported into the country for this event, but also foreign horses on as well.

Although the Association plans to establish a Grand Stand for a select crowd, the show is open to all. Grand Stand tickets have been priced at Rs. 1000/- and will be available on reservation via a hotline number.

Nearly all the items in the two-hour show have been derived from the war concept. In days when battles were fought on horseback and tented camps were put up in the battlefield, a king ordered his horse cavalry to attack the enemy camp and uproot the wooden pegs, to which the ropes of the tents were tied.

As the tents fell the king's infantry (foot soldiers) attacked the camp and killed the trapped soldiers. Over the centuries the art of attacking the wooden pegs become a sport along with the training of the horse riders, and thus the rise of the sport - Tent Pegging.

Similarly, the art of making the horses dance also originated from the days of battle. Horses were trained to be fearsome of the noise of the battle and the beat of the drums. Thus they were taught various steps to avoid enemy weapons, which have in time, as battles on horse back were a thing of the past, become dancing steps.

The Marwari horses that will be participating are Indian warhorses and some of them will be garbed in traditional Indian dress to add a hint of grandeur and majesty to the proceedings.

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