Arosa horse race

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Racecourse on the Obersee. In the background the Tschuggenwald with the Weisshornbahn , the Arosa train station and the Brüggerhorn

The Arosa horse races on snow are an annual winter equestrian event held in January in the Swiss sports and holiday resort of Arosa . The competitions have been held on the frozen Obersee since 1911 and are among the oldest horse races in Switzerland.

Competitions

Every January, the Grisons turf season opens with the Arosa horse races . In addition to over 1,800 and 1,725 ​​meters of flat and trotting races, as well as mounted skijörings for sponsors, the program includes 2,200 hurdles on snow that are unique worldwide.

One week after the first, the second race day will take place on the Obersee-Oval. The main event is the Arosa Tourism Prize endowed with CHF 12,000 . As a gala event, the Arosa horse races are not only attended by experts, but also by holiday guests from all over the world.

Other horse races of this type, besides Arosa, are only carried out across Europe on Lake St. Moritz .

history

On December 29, 1910, the hotelier association there suggested introducing the sport of skijoring on site. The Skijöring Club Arosa was founded on January 13, 1911, under the chairmanship of Director Richter von Waldsanatorium , and the first race on the Obersee started on the 29th of the same month. Only workhorses from Schanfigg were at the start. The regulations stipulated that training could be held on the racetrack from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on weekdays, while the races and show drives were held on Sunday afternoons.

Spectators at the horse race in 1913

The first thoroughbred horses soon appeared at the start and they added flat and trotting races to the program . As a result, the Skijöring Club was renamed "Rennverein Arosa" and it was given new statutes. No races were held in the early years of the First World War , but those responsible resumed their activities in 1917. Various Swiss racing teams used the opportunity for training and for well-staffed competitions. In 1921 the club joined the Swiss Racing Association. From 1926 to 1930, no races could be held, but the racing club was re-established in 1930. A Concours Hippique was planned for 1931, but it had to take place under very difficult new snow conditions.

In the following years, especially military, trotting, mounted and unmounted skijoring races were held. The racetrack was drivable throughout the winter and was not only used for racing, but was also available for private riding and skijoring. In 1933 the competitions had to be moved to the Obersee promenade due to insufficient ice cover. The establishment of an airfield on the Obersee required an adjustment of the organization, whereby flight operations were suspended during the horse races.

As a result, the competitions underwent certain modifications; so in 1937 the event was extended to two days. In 1941 there were 4,000 spectators despite the chaos of the war , whereas the races in 1943 and 1945 had to be canceled due to a lack of horse fodder and in 1944 due to a snow storm. In 1947 the Kurverein Arosa leased an old military barrack at Arosa train station as a permanent stable . In 1953 the races took place on two Sundays for the first time.

In 1980 the "IG horse races on snow" was launched as the successor to the Arosa racing club. Variously that sank Pistenraupe in the preparation of the race track entirely or partially in the seawater. In 1983 the Arosa City Council refused to temporarily accommodate the racehorses in the collective protection room of the Ochsenbühl civil defense system . In 1984 the second day of racing had to be canceled due to an unstable surface; It was assumed that there was a connection between the formation of ice sheets and the extraction and return of water for the artificial ice in the Obersee ice rink . In addition, there were again problems with the stabling of the racehorses, since the storage shed of the Arosabahn was demolished; the community of Chur refused to provide an alpine stable on Maran as makeshift accommodation.

In 1992 the official 75th anniversary of the Arosa horse races was celebrated. For various reasons, the event was not held for a short time from 2002 onwards. In 1965, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2012, 2013 and 2015 there were no races due to a lack of stable ice or snow cover.

Recent developments

Racing scene from 2010

To date, the Arosa horse races have always had a permanent place in the national event calendar; they were accordingly attended by numerous and well-known participants. However, due to the fact that the races in 2012 and 2013 were not held, the organizer got into financial difficulties, so that in November 2013 the cancellation of the races on January 19 and 26, 2014 was announced. This met with incomprehension and regret in specialist circles.

Thanks to the combined personal commitment of OC President Christian Hebeisen, main sponsor Carl Brauch and spa director Pascal Jenny , however, it was possible to generate additional sponsorship contributions of 40,000 francs within a short period of time. Since a cancellation of the races would have had negative effects on the White Turf in St. Moritz , especially in the sporting field, the organizers there also awarded a one-off financial contribution. This enabled implementation for 2014 to be ensured.

As a result, the structures of the event were revised. With the establishment of the Arosa Horse Club , a vessel was created through which income can be generated and the Arosa horse races can be financially supported. Yves von Ballmoos took over the OC presidium from Christian Hebeisen. In addition, a new “World Snow Hurdle Championship” was launched in cooperation with St. Moritz's White Turf. The race trilogy thus created is intended to create additional incentives for the owners of hurdle racehorses. However, due to the poor racing track, the competitions scheduled for January 18 and 25, 2015 could not take place.

After the slope conditions made it impossible to hold the horse races in 2016, two days of racing were held on January 22 and 29, 2017, as planned. The events, presided for the first time by Martina Luzi, who grew up in the Arosa station building, took place in good external conditions and attracted a total of around 6,000 spectators to the race grounds.

Varia

Since 1963 the races have been run in a counter-clockwise direction , which is particularly useful for the attractiveness of the spectator fields around Oberseeplatz and on Poststrasse . 1991 saw the temporary introduction of the highest betting counter in the world, on the Weisshorn restaurant terrace .

See also

literature

  • Southeastern Switzerland from January 18, 2013, p. 12.
  • Hans Danuser : Arosa - as it was then (1996-2003) , Vol. 7, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 2004, pp. 43, 110.
  • Hans Danuser: Arosa - as it was then (1979–1995) , Vol. 6, Eigenverlag Danuser, Arosa 2002, pp. 36, 65, 79, 90, 117, 177, 186, 206.
  • Hans Danuser: Arosa - as it was then (1962–1978) , vol. 5, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 2001, pp. 20, 22, 36, 63, 77, 89, 185.
  • Hans Danuser: Arosa - as it was then (1947–1961) , Vol. 4, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 2000, pp. 25, 102, 109, 161.
  • Hans Danuser: Arosa - as it was then (1928-1946) , vol. 3, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 1999, pp. 46, 56, 63, 98, 156, 168, 198, 220, 224, 243.
  • Hans Danuser: Arosa - as it was then (1907-1928) , Vol. 2, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 1998, pp. 51, 73, 126, 150.
  • Hans Danuser, Ruedi Homberger: Arosa and the Schanfigg , self-published by Danuser / Homberger, Arosa 1988, pp. 100-102.
  • Andri Peer, Ruedi Homberger: Arosa - a colored picture book, Ra-Verlag, Rapperswil around 1973, pp. 62–65.
  • Fritz Maron : From mountain farming village to world health resort Arosa , Verlag F. Schuler, Chur 1934, p. 91, 170.

Web links

Commons : Arosa Horse Racing  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arosa hurdle race video clip (1957)
  2. ↑ Video clip about Arosa with impressions of today's horse races (from 3:49 min.)
  3. ↑ Video clip of a military race on the Oberseepromenade in the 1930s
  4. ↑ Video clip with impressions of the Arosa horse races in the 1930s
  5. ↑ Video clip of the mounted skijoring competition on the Oberseepromenade in 1933
  6. ↑ Video clip horse racing around 1938
  7. ↑ Video clip of the flat race in 1957
  8. ↑ Die Südostschweiz, November 21, 2013, p. 11.
  9. ↑ Arosa horse race before the end? In: Südostschweiz.ch. November 21, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2013 .
  10. ↑ Aroser Zeitung of November 29, 2013, p. 4 f.
  11. ↑ Arosa horse race saved. In: Südostschweiz.ch. November 28, 2013, accessed December 1, 2013 .
  12. ↑ Die Südostschweiz, November 29, 2013, p. 12.
  13. ↑ Aroser Zeitung of September 26, 2014, p. 21.
  14. ↑ Die Südostschweiz, December 11, 2014, p. 27.
  15. ↑ St. Moritz and Arosa cooperate on everything to do with horse races on snow. In: Südostschweiz.ch. December 12, 2014, accessed December 27, 2013 .
  16. ↑ Horse races in Arosa canceled. In: nzz.ch. January 5, 2015, accessed May 23, 2015 .
  17. ↑ Die Südostschweiz, January 23, 2017, p. 19, January 26, 2017, p. 21 and January 30, 2017, p. 20.
  18. ↑ The horses are loose in Arosa. In: suedostschweiz.ch. January 20, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2017 .
  19. ↑ Video clip horse race Arosa clockwise (1957)
  20. ↑ Video clip of the Arosa horse race, counterclockwise (around 1968)

Coordinates: 46 ° 47 '4.3 "  N , 9 ° 40' 53.3"  E ; CH1903:  771,244  /  183930