…It
takes time to develop a horse; it takes time for us, human, to develop into
better beings. Amongst others, patience is key.
Two
weeks have gone by and not much of what I WANTED TO DO and people I WISHED TO
MEET had happened. i left my old straight line thinking ways aside, looked on
the other bright side of life and tuned in to the Camarguaise ways of doing
things and here is what the last week in the Camargue had in store for me:
i met up with old friends Melanie & Flo and rode again their smooth-feather-light-800kg Rocket on a day’s long ride in the glorious Alpilles.
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| Rocket driven by Flo |
...At
the Mas de la Cure, Georges Vlassis,
its director, took me a few steps back into the past to better appreciate what
this incredible place has to offer today. In the early XIX century, it was a
23,000 hectare property encompassing a third of the Camargue. The domain was a
huge collection of farm dwellings (mas), vineyards,
arable dry land and marshland on which sheep, bulls and horses would roam.
Around 1870, with the signature of a new treaty allowing free trade with the US
and Russia and the destruction of all the French and European vineyards by the
phylloxera, a ravaging insect, the Mas de la Cure was parcelled off and sold
off at auction. In 1893, Mr Noilly-Prat acquired what is now known as Le Mas de la Cure. At the time (time of
the Universal Exhibition in Paris featuring La
Tour Eiffel) it was a model farm with its own generating electricity
facilities, wrought iron structure, own soft water supply, 3,000 Sqm of living
quarters accommodating the agricultural workforce, a chapel, stables, a forge,
a bakery and its huge 2,000 Sqm of wine cellar. The Vermouth-like
wine named after Noilly-Prat, is a fortified beverage which is still commercialised today – Excellent as
an aperitif with a few slices of dry cured bull sausage!
Again,
the economic climate changed in the late XXst century and the domain was sold in 1985 to the Patrimoine du Littoral and has since become
the site for the preservation of the biodiversity of the Camargue as well as the head quarter of the Association for the Camargue horse. A herd of
‘pure’ Camargue horses live in extensive on the property. Mares are donated by
established and recognised breeders and stallions from different manades are
alternatively used as stud.
Today,
George carries forward the vision of Noilly-Prat into the future with commendable
determination and enthusiasm. Le Mas de
la Cure which is also the backdrop of Camagri stands high in my
recommendation of places to visit. http://www.maisonduchevalcamargue.com/
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| The kitchen used to prepare the workforce meals. From right to left, we can see the sink, the smoke room used to preserve the meat, the foyer and behind George we can see the area where the food was kept warm. |
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| Wine barrels where the superior wine aged... |
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| ...and on the opposite wall, more wine containers for the more ordinary wine. |
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| One of the building is used as an indoor manège.
...From
the Mas de la Cure to Mas d’Estanion i carried on my training
in the bulls. There i trained with Gardian Ludo, one of his master cow horse,
20 odd bulls and a few more gardians. Again, the horseman is looking for
calmness: calm cows, horse moving calmly and a calm and slow heart bit all
around. Cow working is a team work where each participants need to focus on the
job. One gardian is in charge of cutting the cow out of the herd whilst others
are in charge of guarding the herd as immobile as possible. Position about the cow,
position about each other gardians, distances, sensibility of the cow, rating
of the horse to the cow, sides on which the cow and the horse put their weight
on make the difference with cutting the cow or not. Let alone the style in
which it is done! On day two, we cut cows in pairs. Two gardians were cutting one
cow out of the herd. The level of complexity shoots up miles. Suddenly, two
horses were in the bulls and the pressure on the chosen cow becomes more
intense particularly if the two gardians are out of tune with each other. As
difficult as it was, i loved every minutes of it! Ludo is a no non-sense
excellent trainer which i hope to have the opportunity to train with again.
   
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...Each year, the Brotherhood
of the Gardians meets up over one long day of riding in a hosting manade. There we rode together, acamper (which in Provencal means the
gathering of the stock over the range) and finished the day with the unavoidable
aperitif, lunch and topical discussion related to the life of the Gardian. 65
horses turned up at Manade Raynaud,
our host. Pictures talk for themselves:
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| Victor Mailhan with Stallion Vaillant de Gageron is loaded last with 6 other horses... |
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| ...then unloaded and ready to ride... |
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| Elodie Mailhan and her dad, Mr Borelli, on Stallion Hogard de Gageron... |
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| Jana |
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| Elodie & Pablo |
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| Silvie |
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| a good looking horse |
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| Raoul & Vaillant |
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| From the left, Elodie, Victor, Mr Borelli on Hoggard, Vaillant... |
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| ...and Mars de Gageron, my horse for the day. |
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| ...glass bottle, plastic, cans, tires, car wheels...everywhere beached by the sea. To me it makes me think a little bit harder when i run the tap & use my car. |
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| Jacques Mailhan's 2 years old |
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| Stallion a tad higher than my knee at the withers sporting the colours of the Koniks |
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| Aunt Marcelle & Uncle Boby in Sanary |
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| Angela & friends |
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| cat & 9 months old Davalan |
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| A chainsaw to work cows a la Colombet |
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| Ruby are you sure you brushed your nails? |
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| 18 hands Trait Du Nord suffering from mud fewer |
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