If all you can think about when the name Hermès comes up in a conversation is a Kelly or Birkin bag, think harder. 
Just as horses have had to do with the most ancient of sports, dating back to the classical empires of Greece, Rome, and the Byzantine, the French brand boasts of a long history with horses. In fact, its origins are mostly equine, dating back to 1837, when the orphaned son of an innkeeper in Germany, Thierry Hermès, founded his first workshop in Paris, specializing at first in horse harnesses. The atelier soon expanded into saddles, bridles, and other leather riding gear catering to European noblemen, including, in later years, the likes of Emperor Napoléon III and his empress Eugénie. 

What Hermès considers its firstborn, “the oldest member of the family,” was designed in 1900, before the era of the automobile, to protect and transport saddles and riding boots. Originally unnamed, the holdall—tall (haut) and equipped with straps (courroies)—which became a showcase of Hermès expertise in saddlery and leatherwork, came to be known as the haut à courroiesbag, evolving, as the invention of cars revolutionized itinerancy, into the bag of choice for travelers and adventurers who would demand elegance and refinement even as they hurled themselves across great distances.

In honor of its long love affair with horses, Hermès conceptualized the Pony Dance, a collection referencing the house’s rich equestrian heritage, along with bridles, hooves, ribbons, and everything equine, in pieces like the mini clic chained’ancre bracelet, the Izmir sandal, the Gaspard hat, and the Funk ankle boot. It was also a show, a dinner treat for the clients, the press, and the friends of the maison, imbued with infectious energy similar to that of winning, galloping, elegant horses.

In the Philippines, the Hermès Pony Dance was held at Lakehall at Nena’s Sanctuary within the Sta. Elena Golf and Country Estate in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, deftly transformed by Hermès Philippines general manager Mario Katigbak and his team into a barn or a stable or Saumur, birthplace of the Cadre Noir, a corps of écuyers (instructors) at the French military riding academy École Nationaled’Équitation in Western France, and the equestrian capital of the country. 

Turned into a beautiful stable for the evening, the venue was lit dramatically, glowing in romantic orange as if from a campfire in a ranch, with lifesize horse sculptures made of straw and performers as well as ushers and usherettes dressed in leather, denim, equestrian helmets, horse race hats, and riding boots. 

The Pony Dance was pure party, which sent each of the guests galloping into the world of graceful horses, dancing the night away in wild abandon, but not before partaking of a sumptuous pre-game dinner cleverly crafted with local and French touches—a crêpe duck confit for starters, red snapper and beef cheek five founders for the main, and Davao chocolate and raspberry apple sphere for dessert. 

Between the appetizer and the main course, accompanied by a collective gasp from the guests, who had traveled from Manila and even all the way from Cebu, was the foie gras with black truffles potato mousseline. 

Just like the high-level classical dressage maneuver referred to in equestrian circles as “Airs Above the Ground,” during which the mighty horses leap off the ground in a move best described as “a living art form of balletic grace and precision,” the Pony Dance appeared so easy, but deceptively so, as it must have demanded the highest level of expertise, experience, and élan, for which Mario Katigbak is known, to put together such a breathtakingly exquisite evening to remember.