Spectacular horse races marked Saturday the Bulgarian holiday Todorovden (the Day of St Theodore), also known as Horse Easter.

The Orthodox Church celebrates the day on the first Saturday of the Easter Fast

According to traditions, the fastest and best-looking horse in the race is decorated with wreaths and heads first to the village, where a lass or a newly-wed woman is expecting it.

In the house of the horse's owner a celebration starts and women bake and give ritual loaves, named "horse" or "hoof", the dough shaped like a horse or a hoof.

The celebrations of the holiday are a mixture of Orthodox religious beliefs and pagan rituals and horse races are held all over the country on the day.