ROMY ELUSFA
KIDAPAWAN CITY—Horseshows and Competitions have been gaining a lot of popular support in Mindanao as evidenced by the recent 1stTimpupo Lumba sa Kabayo here over the weekend.
Amazed by the support of the public, Kidapawan City Mayor Joseph A. Evangelista declared that “there will definitely a second” Timpupo Lumba sa Kabayo, which was part of the 10-day celebration of the Timpupo Festival here.
Timpupo Festival is a celebration of abundant harvest during the Foundation Anniversary of the city. This year is the city’s 75th.
Jemar Remon, president of the DavSur Horsemen, which 38 members are from the provinces of Davao del Sur and Cotabato, and, the lead organizer of the Timpupo Horse Event, was “surprised and overwhelmed with the support of horsemen from all over Mindanao and the Kidapawan City crowd he estimated to be around 10,000 people who watched the two-day event.
Records of the secretariat of the event bared 65 horses that participated in the race that had three main events, namely, barrel, oval and obstacle races for eight classifications of competitors, to wit: kiddies, youth, ladies, novice, intermediate, executive, royal and expert.
For all events and categories, the crowd that came from different towns of Cotabato province, were entertained by a total of around a hundred races, which Atty. Gerry Olaguer, president of the Philippine Horsemen Federation (PHF), described as “heart pounding.”
Olaguer, in an interview, said he was “all the more inspired to promote horse shows and competitions“ after seeing the huge crowd around the five hectare race track at 3P Farm in New Bohol here.
This year, the lawyer-horseman bared that two more horse clubs have been added to the rooster of members of the PHF, citing the DavSur Horsemen and the Davao Oriental group, which membership to the Federation is already in the process. DavSur Horsemen was declared official member of Olaguer’s organization during the Horse Show and Competition in Malita, Davao Occidental early this year.
Ben “Nonoy” Aznar, a competitor in the Expert Division representing the Davao City Horse Club (DCHC), emphasized that horse shows and competitions “is the only sport event that all members of the family can participate in,” backing his claim by saying: “from grandparents to grandchildren in a family has his own specific event in this kind of sports competition.”
Aznar’s wife, Delia, is the vice president of the women-led Davao Horse Club, which president is Melody Gopnzales. The Aznar’s son, Ryan, has also been racing in the executive division, while their grandchild, six-year-old Tanya, had been bringing home medals for her participation in the kiddies division in almost all horse races in Mindanao.
Along with the growing membership in horsemen clubs in Mindanao, the enthusiasts, said Kobi Troy Tan, are also “continuously breeding and upgrading the breeds of their horses,” reinforcing his optimism that “in the next three to five years, horse events in Mindanao will level up because by then the riding skills of horsemen will also improve a lot.”
Tan’s father, Andy, mother, Cielo, wife, Monica and his three-year-old son have been joining all horse shows and competitions in Mindanao. Kobi bagged in two awards, third place in Obstacle Race and second place for the Barrel Race in the Expert Division, her wife Monica, after a year that she had not race, made an excellent come back by bringing home the trophy for the second place in the Barrel Race for the Ladies Division, while their son, Chase, got the third place in the Barrel Race for the Kiddies Division.
Kobi, however, described their success as a “bitter sweet victory” as the family lost a reliable horse of Chase, Durango, which succumbed to colic, who was buried inside the five-hectare race track here, that was later named by race organizers as the “Durango Race Track.”
Marcelino “Boy” Sarda, a resident of this city and member of the DavSur Horsemen, at 67, said he “will not stop riding horses and joining competitions until my body does not allow me anymore.”
Sarda, who grabbed the second place in the Barrel Race and the second place in Obstacle Race both in the Royal Division during the Timpupo Lumba sa Kabayo last August 11-12, is another grandparent who succeeded in herding his three sons to the race track.
A family of cops, two of his sons ran last Saturday and Monday, one of them, Marlowe, who is also a barangay official here, brought home the trophy for the second prize in the Novice Division of the Barrel Race.
Since October last year, a total of seven horse events sanctioned by the PHF were done in various places in Mindanao, among them were those held in Davao City, Isulan in Sultan Kudarat, Barangay Mana in Malita, Davao occidental, Malaybalay in Bukidnon, Patin-ay in Agusan del Sur, Mati in Davao Oriental and the Timpupo Lumba sa Kabayo here.
On August 24-26, a national horse show and competition will be held in Cagayan de Oro City while the DCHC is already discussing its share of horse event towards year end. ###
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