On August 15, from 14.30, the riding school in Ungheni Deal hosts the seventh edition of the “Iacob Ciachir” Cup — the town’s only equestrian competition. The announcement comes from the Ungheni District Council, and the poster also gives a contact number for details: 061 014 411. The event is held under the aegis of the Republican Specialized School of Equestrian Sport and Modern Pentathlon and the young people of JCI Ungheni.
The name of the cup is no accident — and behind it lies an older story of the town.
Who Iacob Ciachir was
Iacov Ciachir (1912–2003) was, for decades, the director of the “Prut” state farm in Ungheni district. He led the enterprise from 1960 and was decorated, in 1972, with the title of Hero of Socialist Labour and the Order of Lenin — a distinction received, according to his biographical profile, for results in agriculture, especially in grain production.
But in Ungheni, his name is tied to something else. According to the City Hall’s tourism page, at Ciachir’s proposal the town’s horse farm was put into operation in 1967–1968 — over 120 horses, some of them of pure English breed. The stud made Ungheni known across the entire Soviet space and came to host the all-Union equestrian competition. It is the legacy that the cup bearing his name honours today.
A revived tradition
After the collapse of the USSR, the town’s equestrian tradition faded for many years. It was revived in 2018, when the young people of Junior Chamber (JCI) Ungheni organized the first edition of the “Iacob Ciachir” Cup, together with the Republican Riding School, with the declared aim of bringing equestrian sport back to the town. The first edition brought together horses from several riding schools around the country.
Since then, the competition has become a recurring event of the Ungheni summer, and this year’s edition, the seventh, takes place on August 15.
A legacy that lives on in place names
The memory of the state-farm director and his stud is preserved not only in the cup. In Ungheni there is still today a neighbourhood called “Vile Ciachir” — served by bus route 5 — and the building known as “the White House”, also built in his time. For a town searching for its landmarks, a horse competition on the grounds of the former stud is, beyond sport, a way of remembering its history.