A traditional horse race was held at Farabari Sheegari village under Thakurgaon Sadar upazila last week on 11 June 2015. Thousands of people including a large number of women and children from adjacent villages of Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts came to the horse race at the crop fields in Akcha union under sadar upazila in Thakurgaon.

The race started at around 3:00 pm at the crop field of the village where 25 jockeys with their horses from Thakurgaon, Panchagarh, Nilphamary and Rangpur districts took part. Of the jockeys, 12 were selected for the final round after a primary qualifying selection round. In the final competition Abdullah-Hil-Kafi of Domar of Nilphamary district secured the first prize, Md. Aynal of Pachpir village of Boda upazila of Panchagrh came second and Md. Zahid Hossain of Domar of Nilphamari won the third prize.

The winner was awarded Tk.7,000 as prize money, the second prize winner was awarded Tk. 5,000 while third place was given Tk. 3,000. Upazila Chairman of Thakurgaon Sadar Upazila Parishad Toimur Rahman distributed the prizes among the winners as chief guest while Joint Secretary of district unit BNP Obaidullah Masud was present as the special guest of the event.

A delighted Kafi, who secured first prize, told this correspondent that he had been riding a horse from his very childhood. He takes part almost all the competitions which are organised in the northern districts and has won several prizes in the past as well.

A few youths including Bisu Mohammad, a ward member of Akcha Union Parishad, Golim Uddin of Dakhin Bothina village, Kuddus of Munshirhat village and Biswanath of Farabari village organised the horse race. Bisu Mohammad told the Daily Star that they organised the competition in order to keep the village tradition alive. The organizers had been inspired by the competitions held in previous years in other adjacent villages of Thakurgoan and Panchagarh districts. "We will try to organise the event every year," Bisu Mohammad said. The local people of the area helped to raise funds for the completion, adding that it was a matter of pride for the organizers that thousands of people attended the event with enthusiasm and had a great time.