Fantasia Riders Row Editorial Image

Photo taken in Morocco. Fantasia is a traditional exhibition of horsemanship in the Maghreb performed during cultural festivals and to close Berber wedding celebrations. Fantasia is an imported name, the actual traditional term used is lab el baroud (the gunpowder play). The performance consists of a group of horse riders, all wearing traditional clothes, who charge along a straight path at the same speed so as to form a line, and then at the end of the charge (about two hundred meters) fire into the sky using old muskets or muzzle-loading rifles. The difficulty of the performance is in synchronizing the movement of the horses during acceleration of the charge, and especially in firing the guns simultaneously so that one single shot is heard. The horse is referred to as a fantasia horse and is of the type called a Barb or Berber horse.