Cow riding at Puylagarde village fête

Watching the horse racing at Puylagarde seems to have become a permanent fixture on the Summer calendar. It's held every year as part of the Puylagarde village fête. Amateur racers ride in carts that look as though they are going to fall over every time they go round a bend, round a field in the middle of the village. Everyone comes out to watch the spectacle. There is a bar and music that painfully makes its way out of speakers. This year however, there was no racing. Due to a heavy storm the night before, the festival committee had decided that the ground was unsuitable for the horses and instead we were treated to a horse show.

Things kicked off with a group of riders performing a horse dance accompanied by traditional flamenco music. The women were dressed in elaborate Spanish dresses while the men wore suits (and lots of hair gel.) This was followed by a woman dressed like an American Indian and a display of bareback riding. She showed her horse off a bit first with more dancing and then did an impressive ride before un-impressing us all with her inability to hit the target with her bow and arrow.

Into the ring then came a pony, which I think was just to contrast with what came next...the cow that thought it was a horse. A Frenchman did a comedy routine with the cow where the cow knocked him over and did a few tricks. There were a couple of moments where the cow, who obviously didn't find the humour in the show he was performing, charged into the corner of the ring to try and escape before being lured back in with food. I may have been in flip flops but I was ready to run! The man riding the cow then decided to treat us all to a strip show down to his rather red pyjamas before laying down on a mat (which the cow unrolled) to rest with his cow. Who knows what the little old ladies sat in the front row thought by this point. Then it was on to another dancing horse (I'd seen it all by now,) a horse that pulled a man along on some skis, and Lilou and her little pony.

Reuben enjoyed the horse dancing, particularly when they jumped up in the air. Jacob was more interested in the tractor parked nearby and wandering about the field. Jacob does seem to be becoming a bit of a wanderer here. He's quite happy roaming about, usually in the other direction that you want him to travel in. He waves goodbye and disappears around a corner. I'm sure it wont be long before he's off around the village on little adventures!

Becky x