“The overall tableau should be so harmonious you’ll want to hang it on the wall,” says a mustachioed judge as a horse and buggy trots into view against the backdrop of a lush vineyard in the heart of France’s Loire Valley.
The team is one of a dozen competing in a contest devised to help preserve a tradition that was once an essential element of daily life.
The event, the sixth organized by the Che’Val* d’Amboise association, sets several criteria besides visual impact. The judge, Alain Bahuchet, ticks off the challenges including completing a 17-kilometer (10-mile) circuit through the school’s vineyard, the Domaine de la Gabillière, and demonstrating prowess in navigating the teams through a slalom course marked out with traffic cones.
One quirky test involves stopping the horses beside a post to pick up a glass of wine, then proceeding to another post without spilling a drop. The Grand Master of Amboise’s wine brotherhood, Robert Crosnier, was on hand in his full red-robed regalia to monitor this phase, along with his secretary Patrick Garnier. They see themselves as “heritage ambassadors for viticulture,” Crosnier told Lovin’ the Loire.
Young drivers take the reins
In line with its goal of assuring continuity for the tradition, Che’Val d’Amboise saw to it that young drivers studying at the Lycée Viticole (Amboise’s viticulture and equestrian school) could take part thanks to a partnership with the French Horse and Riding Institute, which lent carriages to student competitors, while the school provided horses. Among them were Louise Boulais—the youngest driver at age 17—and her teammate Clémence Chaufour who came third in the competition after finishing eighth last year.
Jean-Louis Libourel, a specialist in the history of vintage horse-drawn carriages and consultant to France’s culture ministry, provided a running commentary of the main handling event, offering details about the carriages’ manufacturers such as Boston-based Ferdinand French: “The peculiarity of American carriages is that they are generally lighter,” he noted.
*Che’Val is a play on words, as cheval means horse and val is a short form of the word vallée, or valley.