CENTAURS OF THE SANDS
Horsemen of Morroco

PHOTOS : © Patricio ESTAY
TEXTE: © Philippe Barbie de Preaudeau 
REF: 010-50001 / LES CAVALIERS


Rooted in Moroccan tradition, the Fantasia is a combination of charging on horseback and rifle shooting; though it is highly spectacular, there is more to it. It is above all a warrior game, impressive in itself, of course. It exists primarily to recreate the fighting conditions of yesteryear. The rules alone are a genuine rite.

Thirty thousand horses are bred in Morocco for the fantasias. Four thousand horsemen train and remain prepared for each one of them. This is the regulars' working capital for this typically Moroccan war game. There are others, occasional participants, who just wait to prove their worth and organize their "sorba". . . .

	The sorbas are groups of seven to ten riders, whose ages range from fourteen to seventy, since a senior member must be present. They are commanded by a mokhadem whose authority is recognized by everyone. The sorbas are grouped together by ethnic group, or tribe, and they all know each other. In some exceptional cases, the sorbas can include as many as a hundred riders. These are primarily rural people, farmers and mountain dwellers, who sometimes come from very faraway, from the foot of the Atlas Mountains, to participate in the fantasia. Each family has at least one horse, which is only bred for pleasure. Participation in fantasias is far from being paid; it is purely an affair of honor. Fantasias are proof of the "soul of the lord" of those who take part in it. Winning is sublime, but participation is already highly respectable.



	Physical and psychological preparation are necessary to participate in the fantasias. When the time comes, after proceeding through ritual ablutions, they are under divine eyes, invoking the protective God, "Al Hafid Allah", without which no Moroccan fantasia could begin.


STUDIED MAGNIFICENCE

	Full, baggy trousers often tucked into a leather sock, a jellaba, a cape, a turban and a shirt, all generally white, make up the costume of the fantasia horsemen. They symbolically carry a dagger, but the classic weapon of the fantasias is the large, finely damascened Moorish rifle, the mokhala. However, single- or double-barrelled hunting rifles are used more and more. The charges contain black powder, without projectiles. The horses, often grey, are purebreds:  barbes and arabarbes. They are appropriately trained as of the age of two. The horsemen are honored to take great care of their horses and are very careful with their food.

	The fantasia saddle is made up of a tree in wood covered with a goat hide. The tree has a raised horn (the karbouss) and a high cantle (the guedda). All this has a leather saddle cover richly embroidered with gold and silver. The saddle lies on seven mats in different colors. The breast and headstall are elaborated with the most precious patterns. The iron, rectangular-shaped stirrups, with a slightly convex bottom, are wide and sharply angled, so as to double as spurs.

	The bridle is severe, with a large ring on the bit used as a chain. It enables the riders to stop the horse within a few meters. Blinders protect their eyes against the wind and sand.

	Judged for their dexterity and daring, the sorbas are also ranked according to the richness of the team and elegance of their equipment. This explains the capital importance given to everything that may appear to some to be a simple detail.



SKILL AND DARING

	The term fantasia is rather recent, substituting "baroud game" (laab al barode) or "powder game". It was only in the 19th century that this martial art was given its current name. It belongs to the  sabir language, made up of Arabic, French, Italian and Spanish terms used in the Orient and the Maghreb at the beginning of the colonial period. Fantasia means "entertainment" in this language. The game takes place on a grass or sand field, from fifty-five to two hundred meters long and between eighty and one hundred meters wide. The participants line up at the start, with the mokhadem in the center, and as soon as the signal goes, the horses take off in a gallop. They charge the length of the field.

	It is sometimes accompanied by various acrobatics like changing horses in the middle of a gallop, a belt picked up off the ground, a rifle tossed and caught in the air. . . .

	With the command to shoot given by the mokhadem, the rifle shots sound all at once, in order to make it sound as much as possible like one single shot. Although shots are sometimes fired towards the ground, they are generally in the air, above the horse's head, with the butt of the rifle held in both hands and pressed against the rider's chest. Immediately after the firing, the horses are stopped within a few meters and do a quick half-turn. The sorba starts up again, in columns, with the starting line alongside one of the sides of the field, while the following team comes in turn.

	Two French writers, the Tharaud brothers, described the atmosphere of the game in "Rabat":  Just as another fantasia is off in the dust, letting out cries, exciting the horses, burning the powder in a glowing fire, it stops suddenly, turns around and untiringly starts again.

	When the game is over (often at sunset), the sorbas gather and return to the tents in religious silence.The end is to be taken in the full sense of the word, because in Morocco fantasias have a true spiritual dimension. It is more than entertainment, more than a sport, more than folklore, it is a difficult and dangerous exercise that requires skill, a taste for risk, team spirit and a way to develop authentic human values.





FIGHTING TRADITION

	Today, fantasias are associated with all kinds of celebrations, particularly moussems, big annual gatherings that take place for the pilgrimage to the tomb of a saint. They often go along with songs and dance. But fantasias come directly from a fighting tactic from the peoples of the steppes, for whom rapidity was a condition for survival. The rider charged at a gallop with his weapons, which varied according to the period. Facing the enemy, dealing a brief blow that was as effective as possible, he abruptly turned around as if he were fleeing. The operation was repeated as many times as necessary.

	The Numidians were specialists in this form of combat, which disconcerted their Roman adversaries, but they rode bareback and lacked the stability that saddles later brought. The saddle first appeared with the Scythians, took on a deep shape and was equipped with stirrups around the year 800, the period of Haroun al Rachid. It is found on a figure of a chess set given to Charlemagne by the illustrious caliph. It spread throughout the Maghreb where it took over, at the same time as the short mount "in a hook" spread, thanks to the great Berber tribe, the Zenetes, from which several Moroccan dynasties came. This mount, which allowed the rider to ride suspended when he wanted to go fast, greatly facilitated the traditional fighting tactic inherited from the Numidians.




	This saddle, adopted by all the Islamic horsemen, then summarized quick military action in two phases:  the thundering attack (el karr) and the sudden retreat which actually simulates fleeing (el farr). At the end of the karr is the cut and thrust or sword edge, or even an arrow shot (even, later, a hand crossbow was fired).

	It was in the 17the century, thanks to the appearance of the stone rifle, obviously not loaded since this involves a simulation exercise, that the baroud game spread. Its success continually grew.

	The first fantasia of which a detailed description exists is the one that took place in Mogador, today Essaouira, in 1818, recounted by Ali ben Hodeil El Andalusy in a book on horse adornments. He wrote of this celebration that brought together over 1000 horses:  the riders were covered with ha•ks with extremely fine embroidery and armed with a long Moorish rifle. Each horse had a scarlet frontal piece of cloth in velvet with fringe hanging down, almost covering their eyes. The neck was covered with a piece of red fabric decorated with a set of tassels. Hanging at the neck were little red leather bags full of amulets. . . .


Philippe Barbie de Preaudeau