HISTORY OF THE CLUB ESCOLA MENORQUINA
To know the history of the Club Escola Menorquina,
we must travel back to 1940, when JOAN PONS MARTÍ (president
and founder of the Club Escola Menorquina) was born on a Minorcan
farm. The inevitable contact with the horses used to work the
land made him discover what would be his great affection in
life: horses.
Joan Pons Martí's life with horses can
be split into several stages which mark a great dedication and
subsequent evolution in the world of horses.
1. THE BEGINNING:
The fact that he lived and worked in the Minorcan
countryside until thirty-seven years of age suggests a permanent
contact between Joan Pons Martí and horses. For all Minorcan
country dwellers (who were the majority of the population at
the time), working the land required animals, since there was
no sort of technical innovation in the agricultural field (motor-powered
machinery did not arrive until the 1960s).
From this stage there is the first photo: Joan
Pons Martí riding a horse in the courtyard at Sant Joan (the
property where he lived) in 1958, when he was just 18. It is
worth looking at the riding style of the time, and also the
absence of any specialist clothing (jodhpurs, boots, etc.).
This underlines the huge difference between horse-riding as
a hobby and as a tradition.
2. TAKING PART IN MINORCA'S TRADITIONAL FESTIVALS:
In 1959 Joan Pons Martí began to take part
in Minorca's traditional festivals; for example, Sant Bartomeu
de Ferreries 23rd-24th August, Sant Joan de Ciutadella 23rd-24th
June, Sant Llorenç d'Alaior the weekend following 10th
August, Mare de Déu de Gràcia de Maó 7th
and 8th September, amongst others.
Traditionally, horses were led out at the festivals
with minimal preparation, since their main task was to work
the land. There were even cases of youngsters asking a farm
for a horse and then leading it out without even giving the
animal any kind of trial, since the horse had worked in the
fields until the day of the festival. This led to the behaviour
of some animals being virtually wild.
On Minorca, there was the idea that if the horses
bucked, they could not be properly broken-in nor completely
subjected to the rider's wishes because, by its nature, the
horse bucks for reasons of self-defence. Despite this, some
riders preferred that the horse bucked since then it would be
more reliable when it came to working.
.
It was at this time that Joan Pons Martí showed that
by working with the horses they could buck, yet still do everything
the rider wanted in a controlled way. That was the fruit of
spending a large amount of his time with the horses on the farm
where he lived.
The public's admiration grew because the horses
could do both things: buck and be controlled by the rider, as
well as being led out at the festivals with visibly more discipline
than before.
Years
later, in 1970, he gave help and support to his fiancée,
Consuelo Marquès Melià, so that she could take
part in the Sant Bartomeu festivals. No woman had ever led a
horse out in Minorca's festivals, but Joan Pons Martí
thought, and still thinks, that the festivals belong to everyone
who lives in the towns and villages. Everyone loves their home
town's festival and thinks it the best, and so the best way
to keep the festivals alive through the years is to include
everyone, indiscriminate of social standing or sex.
From this time we can see the second photo: Consuelo Marquès
Melià at the festival of Sant Bartomeu de Ferreries in 1970.
You must be aware of the great expectation that this aroused.
3. WORK BECOMES A HOBBY:
From the sixties onwards, motor traction replaced
animal power throughout the countryside, so many properties
were left without horses. Joan Pons Martí, however, kept
a horse at Na Marcona (the family's property) because of his
love for the animals. At Na Marcona he developed a piece of
land to work with horses in the best conditions.
Joan Pons Martí and Consuelo Marquès
Melià were married at the church of Sant Bartomeu de
Ferreries on 2nd August 1971, and from that moment began their
inseparable journey in the world of horses.
Their enthusiasm grew and grew, and through travels,
reading books and meeting other enthusiasts, they saw other
styles, disciplines and fashions.
Seeing horses with a high school discipline, they
began to apply airs of this high level to Minorcan horses, even
when they had already been broken-in according to the style
of the festivals. Some of these airs are the passage, the piaf,
and others. Furthermore, they were able to perfect airs that
had always been present in Minorca. Everyone had always made
the horse gallop, but nobody ever looked to see if the horse
galloped with one hoof or another, and took even less notice
of how to tell the horse with which hoof to begin galloping.
Observing other disciplines, they were able to
introduce many improvements to the Minorcan discipline, whether
it was the gallop, sideways or diagonal steps, pirouettes, or
others.
They realised that many disciplines considered
to be international in fact had their origins in ancient traditions.
For example, the Cowboy discipline originates in work on Andalusian
estates, where the herder controlled the herd with horses and
cattle prods.
Despite having introduced high-school airs to
the Minorcan discipline, Joan Pons Martí and Consuelo
Marquès Melià have never mixed festival and high
school elements, since at a festival the horse's behaviour has
to be controlled but spontaneous. Artificial appearances are
not for festivals.
4. THE WORK WINS OVER THE PUBLIC:
Joan Pons Martí, Consuelo Marquès
Melià and a friend, Antoni Marquès Taltavull,
brought together three horses disciplined in the Minorcan style
with some important airs from other disciplines and began to
do pieces and acts together.
The resultant carousels were shown to the public
and were very well received, and consequentially people asked
for them more and more whenever there was a celebration or a
mass event.
As with everything at the beginning, there were
people who dismissed the work of Joan Pons Martí and
his friends, but these were the same people who afterwards tried
to do the same with their own horses.
At that time there was a change in Joan Pons Martí's
life; he stopped working in the country, which brought a new
job and allowed him to dedicate more time to his affection.
What is more, the improved grounds for breaking-in horses at
Na Marcona gave way to new grounds created specifically for
this purpose. That was just the beginning of the current Club
Escola Menorquina.
5. HE MUST TEACH ALL HE KNOWS:
It was 1980 that saw the change in Joan Pons Martí's
life: he passed the requirements of the Spanish government and
gained a new job with a more intensive working day. This change
not only meant better installations but also more time to develop
his horse-related activities.
At this stage, a number of horse lovers became
interested in learning the discipline that Joan Pons Martí
and his colleagues had brought into practice.
Given the demand, they began to give short three-month
courses, of three hours each week. The first course began 1st
September 1979.
Since that day, a total of 333 pupils have passed
through the Club Escola Menorquina, a total of 174 men and 159
women. These have taken part in a total of 96 courses, of four
to five people in each course. This number does not include
the students who only wanted to prepare for the festivals, nor
the courses aimed at schools and organised by the Consell Insular
de Menorca, the island's local government.
Some of these pupils bought horses and took them
to Joan Pons Martí's stables, which allowed the performance
of larger, more spectacular carousels.
People from all over the island attended the courses
at "Can Joan Marcona" (Joan Marcona being Joan Pons
Martí's nickname), which propagated the appearance of
groups of horse lovers throughout Minorca.
With this rise in the number of people who dedicated
heir free time to horses, Joan Pons Martí began to organise
excursions, some for longer than a day, gymkhanas (where the
rider's skill in overcoming certain trials is tested), and more.
These gymkhanas were not only held in Ferreries,
although this was the first place; following their success they
were held in Ciutadella, Maó, Alaior and elsewhere. Furthermore,
it gave way to the rise in horse jumping in Minorca, although
Joan Pons Martí did not lean towards that branch of equestrianism.
One of the objectives of holding the gymkhanas and other activities
was because of the general belief in Minorca that the Minorcan
thoroughbred was only apt for working in the fields and fearlessly
taking part in the festivals. Joan Pons Martí knew that
this was not the case, since the Minorcan horse can take part
in many disciplines. So, the path was open for the Minorcan
thoroughbred to take part in disciplines of a high level.
The fourth photograph shows Joan Pons Martí receiving
a trophy at one of the gymkhanas in which he participated. To
be precise it is at Maó, in 1982, with the horse Jess.
6. THE CLUB ESCOLA MENORQUINA IS FOUNDED:
Groups of enthusiasts from around the island carried
on meeting and organising different events until they eventually
considered the need to make their situation official.
Joan Pons Martí was always amongst this
group, and was one of its principal spurs.
The first club to gain official status was the
Club Hípic Ciutadella, founded in 1984. Even though Joan
Pons Martí is not from Ciutadella, he and all his family
became members to give support to this positive initiative,
principally driven by Joan Marquès Coll.
The following year the Club Hípic Ferreries
was founded, again with the support of Joan Pons Martí
and even more so with that of his wife, Consuelo Marquès
Melià. She signed up as a founder member alongside Josep
Martí Barber and Gabriel Martí Barber (the Mayor
of Ferreries for many years), amongst others.
In 1986 Joan Pons Martí made his own installation
official, naming it the Club Escola Menorquina de Ferreries,
of which he has always been president.
With time, the majority of Minorca's towns have
set up their own clubs; Grup de Cavallers de Maó, Club
Hípic Alaior, Club Hípic Ses Ramones (at Mercadel)
and the recent additions of the Club Hípic Sa Creueta
(at Migjorn) and the Escola Eqüestre Bini Sebani (at Ciutadella).
7. THE STYLE OF THE FESTIVALS BECOMES THE MINORCAN DISCIPLINE:
In 1986 an old idea stirred within Joan Pons Martí,
which consisted of formalising the riding style which had been
used since time immemorial at Minorca's festivals, following
the model of other styles and disciplines with similar beginnings.
Minorca's many clubs joined forces to bring this
project to a head. After a lot of hard work and effort, the
first official test of the new Minorcan discipline was carried
out in 1989. This trial took place at the Club Escola Menorquina
and was performed by Consuelo Marquès Melià with
the horse Mendrugo. It was done to display the project to representatives
of the Federació Hípica Territorial Balear (Balearic
Equestrian Federation), which supported the enterprise.
Minorcan discipline saw its first official competition
in 1990. The judges were from the Classical discipline, but
had previously agreed to judge the special aspects of the former.
The first Minorcan discipline championship took
place in 1991. This was made up of four separate trials (at
different clubs on the island). The competition has taken place
every year since and has continued to grow.
As well as this, there have been many more competitions
on the fringe of the championship, such as the competition at
the Fira del Cavall de Raça Menorquina (Minorcan Thoroughbred
Horse Fair) at Mercadel in 1999 and the year 2000, or at the
Trofeu Federació de Doma Menorquina (Federation for Minorcan
Discipline Trophy) in 2000, and more.
These past few years have seen a lot of horse-related
activity on the island, which is reinforced by a glance at the
official calendar of events published by the Federation: there
have been championships of Minorcan and Classical discipline,
horse jumping championships, and competitions for other disciplines.
The fifth photograph shows Consuelo Marquès
Melià taking part in one of the Minorcan discipline championships
in 1994.
8. THE SHOW: ESPECTACLE EQÜESTRE REALITATS
DE MENORCA:
Alongside all these activities, the Club Escola
Menorquina has carried on organising carousels and public
shows whenever there has been an event that demanded it.
On top of this, in 1983 and 1984 the task arose
of entertaining a large room of people, in a show offered to
tourists twice a week. So, they had two horses in the aisle
between the tables (and so very close to the public) and one
on stage, spotlit and imposing due to the platform. These acts
were very well received by tourists, who knew that festivals
with horses existed on the island, but only saw the animals
if their trip coincided with the date of one of the festivals.
When the contract expired, Joan Pons Martí
and Consuelo Marquès Melià decided to take the
risk of setting up their own horse show at their facilities,
aimed at tourists.
The Espectacle Eqüestre Realitats de Menorca
began in 1987, and shows how the horses are prepared for traditional
festivals, there is a carousel of Minorcan Thoroughbreds, a
display of long reign work, a colt being broken in, a display
of different animal-drawn carriages and wagons that used to
be employed on Minorca and a carousel of Spanish horses broken
in according to the Minorcan discipline.
The show has reached its thirteenth birthday in
very good health, thanks to the great reception on behalf of
both tourists and locals. People are now trying to imitate this
success: foreign investment has arrived to set up another show
with similar characteristics.
The sixth photograph shows Joan Pons Martí
with some of his pupils displaying one of the many acts of the
ESPECTACLE EQÜESTRE REALITATS DE MENORCA.