A Fantasia in Douar el Koudia

We were coming back from Agadir yesterday when we noticed a lot of cars on the verge and a tent such as used for festivals in a field with a large crowd. We realised it was a Fantasia so stopped and watched.

The Fantasia was in a large field parallel  to the road and seems to be designed specifically to host Fantasias, completely flat, and just the right size and shape.

We were at the far end from the tent so we were just where the riders gathered. They were in traditional dress on richly caparisoned horses. 

They were brandishing rifles/muskets rather like those carried at the moussem in Chefcheouen but these were not plain wood but intricately decorated. They all lined up, set off at a moderate canter, coming to a gallop about 3/4 of the way down the course when they would discharge the rifles in a cloud of smoke, and then pull up quickly before reaching the end. They would then walk back to the start where their ground helpers would recharge the guns and then repeat the whole thing.

 The guy in the picture is recharging two guns at once by using two ramrods in one hand.  The women sitting on the bank by us would chant as they started off.

The Fantasia exhibits great horsemanship. The rider has to guide the horse single-handed whilst brandishing the rifle in the air, and the horse must not shy or bolt when the guns are discharged nor mind the smoke which is quite dense when the explosions go off. Most riders I know would have enough trouble stopping the horses in the short distance left to them at the speed they are going let alone one-handed in smoke. Clearly a hundred years ago or more this would have been essential practice for cavalry. Nowadays technology has overtaken the need but the Fantasia remains popular. There is a commercial version put on for tourists in Agadir with dinner included as an evening spectacle excursion but this was entirely local; I think we were the only europeans watching and there was a crowded of several hundred.