Durbar is a good place to see the best horses in mid-winter. Riders in brightly coloured silks urge their mounts into a mad gallop, yelling, eyeballing one another, bumping and boring, waving whips, brandishing swords and firing ancient muskets. Swords? Muskets? The subeditor in you might have thought, for a moment, that I was waffling about Durbs by the sea. But no, Durbar is actually an ancient horse festival in northern Nigeria, held twice a year in the bigger cities - notably Kano and Katsina - to honour the local emir.A pal of mine was there recently and took to Facebook to voice his excitement. It sounds brilliant."Tied to the lunar calendar, the Durbar is celebrated at the end of Ramadan, Eid el-Fitr, and at the start of the pilgrimage to Mecca, Eid el-Kabir. It is men-only, all ages, with the riders dressed in magnificent turbans, one 'ear' or two sticking out to denote royal lineage. Thousands of horsemen approach the viewing stands, raise fists with thumbs pointing skywards, and shout 'Ranka ya Dede' ('May you live long' in the local Hausa language). Drumming fills the air.trumpeters and fluters.acrobats. warriors on brightly armoured horses."Fairview eat your heart out.Finally the emir's procession enters the scene: guards, sons, camels and riderless horses to denote his wives. As he appears, scores of flintlock muskets blast away into the blue African sky.Clad in white with a huge parasol shading him, the emir braces himself as massed horse regiments race up at full gallop to demonstrate their courage, agility and respect - pulling up abruptly, metres away from the man, and saluting with raised, glinting swords.Just last month this emir chap was in Joburg. My better half, an honorary Nigerian, had tea with him.Durban is a good place to see the best horses in mid-winter.But sadly there won't be any on view this weekend. And no blue sky at which to take pot shots either.It's been hosing down and the quagmire that is Greyville racecourse has prompted racing operator Gold Circle to postpone the Gold Cup meeting that was scheduled for tomorrow.South Africa's premier endurance race, along with three other Group 1 contests, will now be run next Saturday, August 1. It's a bit disappointing as this is one of the great occasions of the turf, a race with all the history, pageantry and drama of any fabled equine festival.Luckily for me, I have some consolation in a race meeting at good old bone-dry Turffontein.The loyal reader might recall my foolish pride in a brat of a horse called Duzi Moon. Well, he's stepping out at the Big T on Sunday; his second visit to a racecourse, the first having resulted in an eye-catching fifth place.There'll be no swords, camels or acrobats, just an outside chance I'll raise a fist and blow a trumpet...