Radio România Internațional

Tag: Prod

  • Transylvania Horse Show

    Transylvania Horse Show

    Prod is a village hosting for the last four years the most popular equestrian event with international participation in Romania. Why here, you may ask yourselves. Because this remote village, without paved roads, but full of soft spoken people, is the place where Mihnea Virgolici from Bucharest, an animal husbandry graduate and great horse lover, has chosen to move one day.



    Mihnea Virgolici: “For a few years, I owned a small club around Bucharest, near Otopeni Airport, but 13 years ago I decided I had to do something closer to my dreams. I found by chance this farm near Sighisoara. It was in shambles. In the evaluation papers it said that the farm was 90 to 98% degraded, so you can imagine what it looked like. There was no roof that wasn’t leaking, there wasn’t even a footpath, there was no running water, no toilet, no doors, nothing. I was very nervous making this step, especially since I had no financial support. Basically I sold everything I had in Bucharest to buy this farm, and at that moment the money ran out too. I had no other means of making a living, and initially I came here with one horse, and a car worth 300 dollars.”



    Even though his friends had nicknamed his farm Utopia, since it was so run down and far from his dreams, Mircea Virgolici never quit. He knew what he wanted clearly: equestrian tourism, accommodation for horses, training, and especially large scale and ambitious equestrian competitions. For that, however, he had to work and keep his belt tight for seven years.



    Mihnea Virgolici: “I went through several stages: apprentice potato farmer, something I never got the hang of, at some point I had some cows and sold the milk. I had to sell a cow to pay for my referee courses for the 2004 Athens Olympics, I was plowing people’s fields, I was training horses, sometimes I rented a horse out for movies, but it’s a long way from one horse to 25 horses.”



    As he was plowing, sowing and selling, the farm in Prod was growing. From Maur, his first horse, a gift from his parents on his 18th birthday, the one he brought first out here in the back woods, Mihnea came to have between 25 and 30 horses cared for at the highest standards, much appreciated by the tourists who little by little came there, falling in love forever with the picturesque landscape, the well groomed horses, and this long haired dreamer full of energy and humor, but also highly professional.



    Mihnea Virgolici: “In 1998, together with my brother, I organized the first university competition in Romania, and the management of the National Equestrian Federation were so impressed by our work that, the very year that happened, I was already a part of the team organizing international cups in Romania. In addition, I came to be a sort of referee with the International Equestrian Federation, I was selected for the 2004 Athens Olympics, and I was involved in organizing some very large scale events. At the same time, the people I worked with in Germany kept inviting me to all kinds of five star competitions, where I was sitting behind the scenes taking notes.”



    It is no wonder, then, that the Transylvania Horse Show proved to be a real triumph since its first edition in 2011. Three years later, the event was gathering competitors from 19 countries, around 3,000 spectators a day, and a team of around 250 people. The 2014 edition had three competitions: Romania’s Cup, the International Complete Competition, and the now well known International University Competition, which the International Association of Student Equestrians awarded as the best university equestrian competition in the world in 2011 and 2012.



    However, in addition to fame and success for his projects, above even the joy of seeing his dream come true, Mihnea Virgolici has great inner joy: “I would like to change people a bit. I was very surprised this year when the son of a local shepherd, used to just throw a candy wrapper over his shoulder, came to me and asked: Uncle Mihnea, would you like me to help you gather up this garbage near the stalls? And, together with other kids in the village, he cleaned up, and that means that we have a bit of hope of changing things and complain less.”



    Mihnea Virgolici certainly has no reason whatsoever to complain. Sighisoara is a stone’s throw away from the farm in Prod. There he can take a train which takes five hours to get to Bucharest, where he comes every time he misses an opera or theater show, or to catch a movie and hang out with his friends. After that, however, it’s back to the train station on the double, because people in Prod wake up at the crack of dawn to get working. For someone who gave a kingdom for a horse, the early bird gets the worm.

  • Transylvania Horse Show

    Transylvania Horse Show

    Prod is a village hosting for the last four years the most popular equestrian event with international participation in Romania. Why here, you may ask yourselves. Because this remote village, without paved roads, but full of soft spoken people, is the place where Mihnea Virgolici from Bucharest, an animal husbandry graduate and great horse lover, has chosen to move one day.



    Mihnea Virgolici: “For a few years, I owned a small club around Bucharest, near Otopeni Airport, but 13 years ago I decided I had to do something closer to my dreams. I found by chance this farm near Sighisoara. It was in shambles. In the evaluation papers it said that the farm was 90 to 98% degraded, so you can imagine what it looked like. There was no roof that wasn’t leaking, there wasn’t even a footpath, there was no running water, no toilet, no doors, nothing. I was very nervous making this step, especially since I had no financial support. Basically I sold everything I had in Bucharest to buy this farm, and at that moment the money ran out too. I had no other means of making a living, and initially I came here with one horse, and a car worth 300 dollars.”



    Even though his friends had nicknamed his farm Utopia, since it was so run down and far from his dreams, Mircea Virgolici never quit. He knew what he wanted clearly: equestrian tourism, accommodation for horses, training, and especially large scale and ambitious equestrian competitions. For that, however, he had to work and keep his belt tight for seven years.



    Mihnea Virgolici: “I went through several stages: apprentice potato farmer, something I never got the hang of, at some point I had some cows and sold the milk. I had to sell a cow to pay for my referee courses for the 2004 Athens Olympics, I was plowing people’s fields, I was training horses, sometimes I rented a horse out for movies, but it’s a long way from one horse to 25 horses.”



    As he was plowing, sowing and selling, the farm in Prod was growing. From Maur, his first horse, a gift from his parents on his 18th birthday, the one he brought first out here in the back woods, Mihnea came to have between 25 and 30 horses cared for at the highest standards, much appreciated by the tourists who little by little came there, falling in love forever with the picturesque landscape, the well groomed horses, and this long haired dreamer full of energy and humor, but also highly professional.



    Mihnea Virgolici: “In 1998, together with my brother, I organized the first university competition in Romania, and the management of the National Equestrian Federation were so impressed by our work that, the very year that happened, I was already a part of the team organizing international cups in Romania. In addition, I came to be a sort of referee with the International Equestrian Federation, I was selected for the 2004 Athens Olympics, and I was involved in organizing some very large scale events. At the same time, the people I worked with in Germany kept inviting me to all kinds of five star competitions, where I was sitting behind the scenes taking notes.”



    It is no wonder, then, that the Transylvania Horse Show proved to be a real triumph since its first edition in 2011. Three years later, the event was gathering competitors from 19 countries, around 3,000 spectators a day, and a team of around 250 people. The 2014 edition had three competitions: Romania’s Cup, the International Complete Competition, and the now well known International University Competition, which the International Association of Student Equestrians awarded as the best university equestrian competition in the world in 2011 and 2012.



    However, in addition to fame and success for his projects, above even the joy of seeing his dream come true, Mihnea Virgolici has great inner joy: “I would like to change people a bit. I was very surprised this year when the son of a local shepherd, used to just throw a candy wrapper over his shoulder, came to me and asked: Uncle Mihnea, would you like me to help you gather up this garbage near the stalls? And, together with other kids in the village, he cleaned up, and that means that we have a bit of hope of changing things and complain less.”



    Mihnea Virgolici certainly has no reason whatsoever to complain. Sighisoara is a stone’s throw away from the farm in Prod. There he can take a train which takes five hours to get to Bucharest, where he comes every time he misses an opera or theater show, or to catch a movie and hang out with his friends. After that, however, it’s back to the train station on the double, because people in Prod wake up at the crack of dawn to get working. For someone who gave a kingdom for a horse, the early bird gets the worm.

  • Transylvania Horse Show

    Transylvania Horse Show

    Derrière des collines, à un jet de pierre de la vieille citadelle de Sighisoara, c’est là que se trouve le petit village de Prod. Cela fait quatre ans que ce hameau oublié du monde accueille la plus populaire des compétitions équestres internationales de Roumanie. Tout a commencé au moment où Mihnea Vîrgolici, Bucarestois diplômé de la Faculté de zootechnie et grand amoureux des chevaux, avait décidé d’y emménager.



    Mihnea Vîrgolici: « Plusieurs années durant, j’ai tenu un petit club près de Bucarest, plus précisément aux alentours de l’aéroport d’Otopeni. Il y a treize ans, j’ai décidé de faire quelque chose qui puisse me rapprocher de l’accomplissement de mes rêves. J’ai trouvé par hasard cette ferme, près de Sighişoara, et qui était en ruine. Les documents d’évaluation attestaient d’ailleurs un état de dégradation du site à hauteur de 90 à 98%. Les toits étaient percés de trous, il n’y avait pas de chemin praticable, pas d’eau potable, ni de toilettes, aucune porte, aucune fenêtre, rien. Mon serrement de cœur était d’autant plus grand que je démarrais sans le moindre soutien financier. Au fait, pour acheter cette ferme, j’avais dû vendre tous mes biens. Après l’achat, je m’étais retrouvé complètement fauché. Il ne me restait plus qu’un cheval et une bagnole, une vielle Dacia qui ne valait pas plus de 300 dollars. »



    Les amis de Mihnea Vîrgolici s’amusaient à surnommer sa ferme « Utopie », tant elle était délabrée et loin de ses rêves. Mihnea Vîrgolici n’a pas pour autant sombré dans le découragement. Il savait très bien ce qu’il voulait faire: du tourisme équestre, une pension pour les chevaux, organiser des stages de formation et surtout des concours d’équitation. Des grands. Pour y parvenir, il lui a fallu travailler d’arrache-pied et serrer les dents pendant sept ans.



    Mihnea Vîrgolici: « J’ai dû traverser plusieurs étapes. J’ai commencé par cultiver des pommes de terre, mais comme l’affaire n’a pas marché, je me suis orienté vers l’élevage des vaches. J’ai vendu du lait et même une vache. Il me fallait de l’argent pour des cours d’arbitre qui me permettent de participer aux Jeux Olympiques d’Athènes de 2004. Des fois, j’ai labouré les champs des autres, j’ai entraîné des chevaux. Il m’est arrivé aussi de louer des chevaux pour le tournage des films, mais de là jusqu’à 25 chevaux, le chemin a été bien long ».



    Tout à fait, car tandis qu’il labourait la terre, cultivait et vendait des légumes, sa ferme équestre ne cessait de grandir dans le village de Prod. Au début, il n’a eu qu’un seul cheval, qu’il avait nommé Maur, (Maure). Les parents le lui avaient acheté à l’occasion de sa majorité. Peu à peu, il en a acheté d’autres. Aujourd’hui, sa ferme compte une trentaine d’exemplaires élevés avec beaucoup de soin. Les animaux dorment sur les meilleures pailles qui soient, amenées de l’étranger, et sont ferrés par un maréchal ferrant professionnel qui vient expressément de Bucarest. Les touristes sont vraiment ravis de la ferme, des chevaux et des endroits pittoresques. En plus, ils tombent irrémédiablement sous le charme de Mihnea, ce beau fou débordant d’énergie, d’humour et de professionnalisme et qui aime porter ses longs cheveux attachés… en queue de cheval.



    Mihnea Vîrgolici : « En 1998, mon frère et moi, nous avons organisé le premier concours universitaire de Roumanie. Les représentants de l’époque de la Fédération nationale équestre ont été si impressionnés de notre travail que, la même année, nous faisions déjà partie de l’équipe d’organisation de plusieurs coupes internationales de Roumanie. En plus, j’ai été sélectionné pour les Jeux Olympiques d’Athènes, en 2004 et j’ai participé à la mise en place de plusieurs concours d’envergure. Par ailleurs, mes collaborateurs d’Allemagne m’invitent à toute sorte de compétitions 5 étoiles. Moi, je reste dans les coulisses et je prends des notes ».



    Aucune surprise donc que Transylvania Horse Show fut un succès dès sa première édition, en 2011. Trois ans plus tard, l’événement est parvenu à réunir des concurrents d’une vingtaine de pays, 3000 spectateurs par jour, et une équipe d’environ 250 personnes. 3 compétitions ont été prévues à l’édition 2014 : la Coupe de la Roumanie, le Concours complet international et le déjà célèbre Concours Universitaire International. Les éditions 2011 et 2012 de ce dernier ont d’ailleurs été désignées par l’Association internationale des Etudiants Cavaliers — AIEC – comme la meilleure compétition hippique au monde.



    Toutefois, hormis le renom et ses projets à succès ou encore le plaisir de voir son rêve devenir réalité, Mihnea Vîrgolici a aussi une satisfaction personnelle : « Je veux changer un peu les gens. Et cette année, j’ai été très surpris de voir l’enfant d’un berger, habitué à jeter par terre l’emballage d’une barre de chocolat, venir me demander : « M’sieur Mihnea, tu veux que je vienne t’aider ramasser les ordures jetées près des tribunes ? Et il s’est mis à les ramasser avec d’autres enfants du village. Cela nous a donné l’espoir de pouvoir changer des choses, au lieu de nous lamenter ».



    Et Mihnea Vîrgolici n’a pas de quoi se lamenter. La ferme de Prod est près de la ville de Sighisoara. Il peut donc prendre le train, pour arriver au bout de 5 heures dans la capitale, où il se rend chaque fois qu’il a envie d’un spectacle d’opéra, de théâtre, d’un film ou bien de revoir des amis. Alors il se lève de bonne heure, car à Prod les gens sont déjà debout au petit jour, prêts à se mettre au travail. En plus, comme Mihnea est quelqu’un qui « a donné son royaume pour un cheval », il sait très bien que « c’est par le début qu’on peut juger de la fin ». (Trad. Mariana Tudose, Alexandra Pop)