Iberian Festival of the Horse

[Geta]

Just got back from Exeter after visiting this, did anyone else go? I was very disappointed. Quite shocked at the harsh riding that is considered to be normal. Also thought that the daytime ticket was a complete waste of money.

Oh we went to this. Wasn’t it absolutely awful. So, so tacky. I guess it was aimed at all the tourists in Devon and was what non horsey people think horses are like?!
I dunno, but I was very disappointed, bored and also just dying of cringe on behalf of everyone involved.
The outfits for the flamenco dancers were so tacky. They looked like what you’d find if you googled ‘flamenco fancy dress’ and had a budget of a tenner 🙄
The women on the gray stallion looked like an extra from a power ballad video circa 1988. The guy with long hair dressed like an extra from Lord of the rings clearly fancied himself a lot.
the tacky tacky magic show where he produced a naff bunch of flowers from his sleeve.
god it was so bad I can’t believe how much it cost as well. DH bought the whole family tickets as an end of summer surprise, (we’re all horsey) and I felt so sorry for him 😞
the absolute worst bit was when they dimmed the lights, and the horse came on, covered in fairy lights followed by the 15 or so flamenco dancers. They sidled on, waving their fans, accompanied by wishy washy music, which I think was supposed to create an ethereal atmosphere. Then simply turned round and walked off again. When the sound track suddenly stopped and they all carried on awkwardly waving and walking off. I was expecting (another) dressage display and some exquisite synchronised flamenco dance. Our local primary school end of year play was a million times better than this.

I was tempted to travel to this.
So so pleased I didn’t given the overnight cost & tickets.
Thanks for the heads up MN.

I clicked on this thread expecting it to be about Golega, thinking I'd missed it (I haven't!). Why would the UK have an Iberian horse festival??

This is the biggest horse festival in Europe - https://feiranacionaldocavalo.com/