Wow! National Gallop rider and her horse swam across the Danube in Hungary

Photo: www.facebook.com/abony.hu

The rider girl and her horse will be competing at the 13th National Gallop (Nemzeti Vágta), to be held on 10th and 11th October at Heroes’ Square in Budapest.

Viki Zboray is one of the aspiring competitors of the upcoming National Gallop, an annual event celebrating Hungarian traditions with a large-scale horse riding race in spotlight. The event involves a series of other programmes that make it a perfect weekend activity for the entire family. Still, the most exciting part is by far the horse race: last year, some 250 riders competed for the first prize of HUF 11.6 million (EUR 32,500).

This year’s National Gallop – the 13th since its inception in 2008 – will be held on 10th and 11th October at the usual location, the Heroes’ Square in Budapest.

With only one month to go, competitors are already in busy preparation for the country’s largest equestrian event. Still, Viki Zboray and her horse, Marokkó, representing the town of Abony in Pest county, had just the time to do another outstanding performance: this Tuesday, the young rider and her horse swam across the Danube at Szentendre Island north of Budapest, as reported by Sokszínű Vidék.

national_gallop_hungary_danube_swim_1 — Photo: www.facebook.com/abony.hu

Viki was helped by his trainer Tamás Petrik, who already won the National Gallop a few years ago. Photos were published by the official Facebook page of the town of Abony, wishing good luck to all the competitors of the upcoming event.

Initially organised to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the beginning of King Matthias‘ reign, the National Gallop plays an important role in preserving old Hungarian traditions and bringing people together from all parts of the country. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race will not be open to visitors but can be followed on various channels in TV and online.

For more information about the National Gallop, visit the official website.