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Airdate: Drunken Horse Racing

Nope, this title refers to villager riders in Guatemala -not to their equine transport!

In what must be one of TV’s weirdest titles, Drunken Horse Racing, is a documentary screening on SBS VICELAND.

The title refers to villager riders in Guatemala -not to their equine transport!

Do not attempt at home?

Every year at the end of October, the Mayan villagers in Todos Santos, Guatemala, throw a week-long party to celebrate their independence.

After days of drinking, dancing and barely sleeping, the bravest men in town face off against each other in a wild, wasted horse race. It’s not uncommon to see a drunk rider fly off his saddle and land on his neck, or to watch someone get trampled by another racer’s horse.

Most years at least one villager dies in the race. But after the Mayan townspeople have suffered through centuries of genocide by the Spanish and their government, dying drunk and free on the back of a horse isn’t the worst way to go. At least it’s on their terms.

Thursday, 12 October at 10.20pm on SBS VICELAND.

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