This year, it commemorates the 13 martyrs of Arad, which is given special significance by the fact that the final day of the competition falls on October 6, the day of remembrance of the martyrs of Arad, the national day of mourning.

The 17th National Vágta, extended to three days this year, will begin on Friday in Szilvásvárád, at the Lipica Equestrian Center - it was announced on the current program of the M1 channel on Wednesday.

Kristóf Nagy Szotyori, the competition director of the event, said that the National Vágta

this year commemorates the 13 martyrs of Arad,

which is given special significance by the fact that the closing day of the competition falls on October 6, the day of remembrance of the martyrs of Arad, the national day of mourning.

Regarding the location, the competition director explained that the Lipica equestrian center in Szilvásvárad has great soil, which is extremely important from the point of view of the health and protection of the horses, and it is also a great location, as it provides space for 300 horses over several days. In addition, the equestrian stadium is more transparent for the spectators than the Hősök tere venue was, he added.

Among the novelties, he mentioned that

on Friday, the zeroth day of the National Race, as part of the International Police Equestrian Competition, mounted policemen from 10 countries compete against each other.

He added: on Sunday, in the international race, the competitors of the International Equestrian Decoration Teams will start, who will ride Lipizzan horses.

Answering a question, Kristóf Nagy Szotyori said that sixty settlements are represented on the National Vágta. He also touched on the fact that the distance was shortened by one lap in the semi-finals and the final compared to previous years.

He told me that

compared to previous years, the composition of the field was changed, as more and more young people want to compete in the National Race. This year, for the first time in the youth field, competitors can compete in two groups: 10-13-year-olds compete on the Huszárgyerek Vágta with ponies, and 14-17-year-olds also compete with ponies on the Kishuszár Vágta.

The main goal of the National Vágta is to revive our equestrian traditions and wrap them in "modern clothes" and enrich them with content, as well as to build an image of the country that has always been characteristic of the Hungarian people, since the Hungarians are an equestrian nation, said the competition director.

According to the previous announcement of the National Vágta

participants from Transylvania, Vojvodina, Muravidék and Felvidék also take part in the competition.

An important difference compared to other equestrian competitions is that the competitors do not start individually at the National Vágta, but by settlement. Only Hungarian-bred Lipizzan horses over five years of age can compete in international races. Sixteen of the sixty teams at the National Race will take part in the middle races on Sunday morning, followed by four in the afternoon finals.

The final of the 17th National Vágta in Silvásvárad will be broadcast live on Sunday by the Duna TV channel, and those interested can follow the sports summaries of the previous days on the M4 sports channel and on the public media's MédiaKlikk interface.

MTI

Photo: Tibor Vermes / Facebook page of Minister of Agriculture István Nagy