Rebecca's Field Notes

On Sunday May 5th, I went to the Gagauzian Hederlez celebration in Ceadir-Lunga, Moldova. It is the celebration of the beginning of summer and when livestock starts to go out to pastures again. One of the main activities at this celebration is horse racing.  #Hederlez2019

First up are the beautiful mares and foals.

Next up, the races. It is said the races are more about participation and not about winning and this was reflected in the small awards ceremonies. At times the racers seemed to just be slowly moving along, and then they would fly by me and I would realize how fast that they were actually going.  The first photo is the jockeys listening to the rules and I found at least one women competing in the races.