{"id":3818,"date":"2017-05-24T14:42:42","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T14:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/?p=3818"},"modified":"2017-05-24T14:58:28","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T14:58:28","slug":"when-life-thrashes-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/?p=3818","title":{"rendered":"When life thrashes movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you see his long, curly hair and the large smile on his face, you could think he\u2019s one of those late rebels who go to Vama Veche and dance barefooted on the beach until morning. \"\"<\/a>Then you see his look. You feel his attitude. His daring. Something tells you he\u2019s different. He can even intimidate you, though he probably doesn\u2019t do it on purpose.<\/p>\n

At 42, Mihnea Virgolici is one of Romania\u2019s mo \"\"<\/a> st well-known equestrian people. His horse farm near Sighisoara, Cross Country Farm, ranks in Lonely Planet\u2019s top recommendations for Europe, and the competition he organizes, Transylvania Horse Show, attracts hundreds of international participants each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew my life would be that of a horse owner ever since I was born,\u201d says Mihnea while stopping the car in the shadow, on the dusty country road. Getting to talk to him is an adventure in itself, as he is always on the phone or on the run.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve almost kidnapped him. When I heard he had to leave to see a tractor, I got into his car. On our way back, we stopped in an area with no phone signal. It was a good idea, as his story lasted for more than one hour. I interrupted him from time to time to make sure the things he was telling me about had really happened and that he was not making fun of me.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 9 I was drawing stable sketches and was trying to plan how much a horse eats,\u201d Mihnea reminds. \"\"<\/a>His strategy, written in a notebook, was to raise two rabbits, then to sell them and buy sheep, then calves and then horses.<\/p>\n

He lived in downtown Bucharest. He planned to make his farm in a small yard his parents had in Otopeni, near Bucharest. \u201cWhen I was a kid, my grandparents used to ask me what I would do with their apartment after they died. To their horror, I told them I would turn it into a stable,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

His first books, the bibles he read daily, were \u201cDomestic animals\u2019 behavior\u201d (at 10), \u201cThe guide of the zootechnic brigadier\u201d (at 12) and \u201cZootechnic constructions and designs\u201d (at 14).<\/p>\n

Noise. A tractor passes by. Within moments, the car is full of dust that we can barely breathe. What a strange kid, I think to myself. Mihnea checks his phone. It\u2019s hard to believe it\u2019s not ringing.<\/p>\n

The beginning<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"<\/a>At some point he had given up the idea of having horses and had started to raise money for a motorbike. But his parents made him a special gift for his 18th anniversary: Maur, a three-and-a-half-year black horse. \u201cI saw my dream come true. It was a modest horse, whom I\u2019ve had for 20 years and 4 days. I\u2019ve identified myself with him,\u201d says Mihnea.<\/p>\n

Without telling his parents, he moved the horse to the house in Otopeni. In the kitchen. He didn\u2019t have a stable yet. \"\"<\/a>He bought a second horse after he entered the Zootechnical Faculty and the third after he sold an old car.<\/p>\n

His adventure in Otopeni, where he had at some point 15 horses, lasted 8 years. He had no stable man during the first four years. He used to leave the house and feed the horses at 5am and then go to faculty at 9am. \u201cBut the horses were unhappy. Their lives were in the stable and in the manege. They weren\u2019t free. I decided to leave,\u201d says Mihnea.<\/p>\n

He was 26. He sold his share in the equestr\"\"<\/a>ian center he owned together with his brother, Vadim, who is now a renowned horse veterinarian, and paid his debts. \u201cThat year I\u2019ve searched for my direction,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Dust again. Now we know what to do. We laugh and close the windows quickly. It is extremely hot. A fly enters the car and keeps buzzing at my ear.<\/p>\n

The medieval festival at Sighisoara. Mihnea was 27. He went to visit an aunt who lived in the area. He walked over the hills, passed by a forest and sat down, thinking how nice it would be to raise horses there and organize competitions.<\/p>\n

It happened that, after one month, he went with his mother in the Prod village, near Sighisoara. \"\"<\/a>On their way he saw an old, degraded hop and cow farm that was to be sold at auction. \u201cI barely had money for a bus. I borrowed from friends,\u201d he reminds.<\/p>\n

He bought the farm in 2002 and was left with EUR 8,000. That meant almost nothing considering the place was a ruin, with no functional door or tap. Shepherds used to live with their pigs in the former farm offices and make fire in the middle of the rooms with the wood from the windows.<\/p>\n

He brought only one horse, Maur. He paid USD 300 for an old Dacia 1300, which needed a willow branch to close its doors. He cleaned the stable, bought a chainsaw, a mower, a concrete mixer, four calves, a horse, made a web page and the money was gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 7-year apocalyptical years of my life had started,\u201d says Mihnea.<\/p>\n

The plot<\/strong><\/span>
\nIt was a big farm, full of degraded buildings. \u201cI wanted to sell it at some point, convinced I was the victim of my own dreams and illusions,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>He found an iron frame in the farm, he painted it, brought a second hand mattress and made himself a bed. During his first winter there, in the morning, he used to take the blanket out of the window and find snow into the room.<\/p>\n

He managed to convince a former faculty colleague to grow potatoes. He borrowed EUR 3,000. T\"\"<\/a>hey slept together in the same bed during the first week because there was no other bed available. It was terrible cold. They kept their clothes in a broken fridge. \u201cWe finished the money before we could plant the seeds,\u201d says Mihnea.<\/p>\n

At this point his story seems hard to believe. I ask him if it\u2019s true or if he makes things up. He says that\u2019s exactly how it was. The fly finally gets out of the car. A neighbor passes by and says hello.<\/p>\n

In autumn, his friend gave up and left. The old Dacia got broken and he was left with a bicycle. \u201cI sold the mower to have money to eat. Nobody came to ride horses,\u201d he reminds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>He also sold some iron he had found in the farm and survived the spring by plowing people\u2019s fields. He had no phone signal there, nor internet. He had to go to a caf\u00e9 in Sighisoara to check his email.<\/p>\n

I wonder if I would have resisted in these conditions. He had horses in the stable, that\u2019s true, but he was alone and without growth perspectives.<\/p>\n

The rise<\/strong><\/span>
\nOne day he received a phone call from an official of the Romanian Equestrian Federation to go to a referee course for the Athens Olympics in 2004. He had to pay the travel expenses himself. \u201cI sold a cow and bought a plane ticket. My colleagues were the wives of Greek millionaires,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He learned a lot there and stayed close to the world\u2019s horse riding elite. He saved money at the Olympics. He started to shoot movies with his horses. \"\"<\/a>He began to buy horses, train and then sell them.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, he had managed to buy an old minibus, which \u201cdefied the physics\u2019 laws.\u201d He made a leaflet promoting horse riding lessons and walks in the nature and distributed it in Sighisoara. He convinced one client. This was the first money he made out of riding lessons. Slowly, this became his main income source.<\/p>\n

At the end of 2004 he had paid his debts and had 18 horses. He had managed to change the first windows and doors for the guest rooms, located in the former farm offices.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything took a long time, each window, each liter of paint. I haven\u2019t left this place for 7 years, except for going to a horse riding contest. I haven\u2019t had one free day,\u201d says Mihnea. He laughs \"\"<\/a>when he says that his rise has begun when he gave up the fridge where he kept his clothes and bought a wardrobe.<\/p>\n

His business grew exponentially from then on. Most of his clients were foreigners, who recommended his farm on Lonely Planet. In 2011 he started to organize the Transylvania Horse Show \"\"<\/a>competition, which was considered the best student horse contest in the world for five times in a row by AIEC (Association Internationale des Etudiants Cavaliers).<\/p>\n

The seventh edition of the competition takes place on June 16-18 and, two months in advance, 15 teams from 17 countries had already occupied all the available seats.<\/p>\n

He starts the car. The story has reached the present. We enter the gate of the farm that hosts now 30 horses. I think what strength of character the man next to me has. I can\u2019t help admiring him.<\/p>\n

I take a good look at the farm and try to imagine how it looked 10 years ago. The house is now elegant, refined, decorated with style and good taste. One can easily see the decorations were made by Adela, his wife, who is a designer. Although they\u2019ve known each other since kindergarten, he asked her in marriage during last year\u2019s competition. \"\"<\/a>Mihnea had asked the blacksmith to make a ring from two nails used for horseshoes. The ring fit Adela perfectly.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s getting dark. It smells like French potatoes. I look out of the window at the horses that graze on the meadows in front of us. I sit on the large armchair that says \u201cMy kingdom for a horse.\u201d Dinner is set in the room where snow used to come through the windows years ago. Everything is now elegant. I wonder how the farm will look in 10 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you see his long, curly hair and the large smile on his face, you could think he\u2019s one of those late rebels who go to Vama Veche and dance barefooted on the beach until morning. Then you see his look. You feel his attitude. His daring. Something tells you …<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-blog_eng","post-with-media","post-with-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3818"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3821,"href":"https:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3818\/revisions\/3821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magdamunteanu.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}