Sorry for the Facebook link, I hope you can view the video.
I noticed the horses in this video all seem to be “prancing” a little bit, like the riders are struggling to stay in control of them. Dozens of horses in this parade, acting similarly.
Every horse I’ve seen in a parade looks calm, mellow, or bored. So, are these horses excited and happy to be there? Or are the riders forcing/encouraging this behavior? Are the horses in distress?
For context, this is part of a festival in Tomato, Portugal.
Two of the riders are using a style of riding where they keep the horses head tucked close, this leads to a prancing type gait. It’s on purpose. The horses themselves seem calm but I’m not really a fan of the style.