Photographer’s Note
The Festes de Sant Joan on the small but rich island of Menorca celebrates the liberation of Menorca by St. John. A cavalcade of horsemen ride all day and end up in the streets of Ciutadella to be greeted by a rowdy audience. A description in Menorca a poc a poc by Ralf Freiheit describes it best.
"The riders perform the Caragols (turns), over and over again riding through the old streets that have been covered with sand to give a firmer surface. A dance with the horses involves the yound (and the not so young), who put the skill of horse and rider to the test; with gestures and noise the horse is made to rear up; the horses have been trained to do this and riders' skill consists of controlling the horse's leaps; at that moment the spectators spring forward to suppport the horse and sometimes seem to actually carry it."
It is said that the closer one gets to the heart of the horse, the greater ones luck will be the followig year.
Critiques | Translate
greghume1
(447) 2005-06-26 19:33
An amazing custom - the horsemen must be highly skilled. I would have liked a slightly wider shot to capture the horse's head, but overall a great capture. You might also place this in the "decisive moment" category.
KevRyan
(22422) 2005-06-26 19:41
A fascinating custom - an unusual composition but I like it very much - I don't mind the missing horses head as we all know it's a horse and you have captured another horse entering with a head behind so the 'deficit' is made up - a really interesting image.
best wishes Kev
feather
(50480) 2005-07-27 12:02
A wonderful image Kevin. There is so much in the shot that it took me a while to realise that you had missed off the horse's head, so I guess it wasn't so important, although in a perfect world..........
What I really like is the reactions of the people.
Well captured.
Kath
fserajian
(4619) 2008-08-14 13:51 [Comment]
Photo Information
-
Copyright: Kevin Crouch (kcrouch)
(227) - Genre: People
- Medium: Color
- Date Taken: 2004-06-24
- Categories: Festivals
- Camera: Pentax *ist D, Sigma 24-70 f/3.5
- Exposure: f/8, 1/250 seconds
- Photo Version: Original Version
- Theme(s): World of Horses [view contributor(s)]
- Date Submitted: 2005-06-26 17:58








