Trotting

The French like the English like to gamble of horse racing. Not content with making the horse run round the track quickly they also make them trot round as well. Horses like most quadrupeds have a variety of different gaits and trotting is a quick one but slower than a gallop. It can be judged by observing how many feet are on the ground at once. Thus the art of trotting it to make the horse go as fast as possible without it changing from a trotting gait into the faster gallop.

I can't say I'm a fan of horse racing, but I do go to the track most days to walk the dog around it, as it's the best open space near by. Today after work and after the dog walk (though not at the hippodrome) we went there, as there was an evening spectacle on at the hippodrome. There were a series of horse and rider trotts and a series of horse and cart events (see here a rider on parade). Behind the main stand was a stage and live music and dancing and varions activities to entertain people.

We watched a couple of races (no gambling) and it's all very strange. For each race a van full of adjudicators ride round next to the pack to make sure the horses are trotting all the time, and it's all very surreal as the horses are keen to gallop (disqualification) or do nothing and eat grass!

Afterwards we had some very bad chips and then watched the fireworks display which was actually very good, and a great end to the evening.

Today's two month late back blip is one of the horses, pulling the tiny racing buggy with a rider on. This section of the hippodrome is quite new being part of the recent renovations, though when I walk there it's usually empty and the dog can sniff for things undisturbed!