Equestrian Illustrated Novembre 2019 by Milano Fashion Library

Issue #6 - November 2019

INTERVIEW

Pieter Devos

RETURN TO THE ORIGINS

A one-on-one with the 2019 European Team Champion

Page 11

EVENT

Jumping Verona

The World Cup event returns to Fieracavalli

Page 20

PORTRAIT

Ben Maher

Objective: all the gold of Tokyo 2020

Page 28

“Dawn”, fresco on canvas, Carlo Romiti

horse and the dawn. An equestrian image that takes us back to the beginnings of time, to an ancestral language marked by the rising of the sun and of the moon, to the time when man depicted his world in stone. Cave art that acknowledges Renaissance studies, exalting morphology, anatomy, movement and energy. The warm colours of fire and of earth take us back to autumn and the season of meditation. The inspiration for these works of art comes from the very earth where Tuscan artist Carlo Romiti lives, walks and rides, in the countryside between San Gimignano and Volterra and they are created with the use of an ancient art: “Geologically speaking, there is an incredible variety of colours here – he says – from red ochre and yellow to greys that fade into blues. Then there are the blacks: vines, oak, pine and Lebanese cedar. I gather the raw earth, dry it well and then grind it in a stone mortar. I sift it and then grind it once more. I mix it with water and with egg or with different glues as the case may be. This is the way mankind has always painted since the time of the

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cavemen. Put earth and animals together and Lascaux or Altamira come to mind; and the fresco painting technique is based on the use of earth, as we have been taught by Renaissance art.” A physical connection with the earth sees his work centred on the horse. One of the most complex subjects in art and doubly important for him as horses have always been a part of his life: “The horse is a translator of the world - he explains - he is your mentor through the countryside. He is responsible for you and it’s a wonderful feeling from under the saddle when the horse arches his neck, when he senses something moving in the undergrowth. That’s when I feel like running to the studio to start a painting of him.” His contemporary paintings seem to emerge from the mists of time and from Leonardo Da Vinci’s studies, but at the same time they are original expressions of a powerful and magnetic matter. Carlo Romiti’s paintings travel all over to exhibitions and shows, most recently to Rome during the Longines Global Champions Tour international horse show.

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E D I TO R ’S 5

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LETTER

he horse demands balance and harmony, necessities for both beauty and life. It is with this concept, a return to the intrinsic equine nature, that I wish to greet my readers and present the new Equestrian Illustrated. A magazine

speaking from the heart: the heart of passion that has always pushed

Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art. Ralph Waldo Emerson

humankind to know, create, express, communicate and listen. That same passion which, starting from this issue, will explore what is behind this world of horses, what drives it. Humans are fundamentally and instinctively attracted by the horse. We see them represented in every artistic form throughout history and today they are partners in sports, travel and life. The world of sport at the highest level will be explained through the personalities of those who populate it: horsemen and women, first and foremost, professionals who go into the stables every day and breathe the scent of hay in the morning dew and know that they could never do without it. You will find reports from the equestrian world, the stories of champions on the great international podiums and in their everyday lives, the creations and performances of great equestrian and other artists, key figures from the past and future winners, and stories from behind the scenes as well. We want to write a cultural encyclopedia of the horse, not only for enthusiast but also those who are just fascinated by the equine world. The horse speaks directly to our soul; it’s pure beauty and as you know beauty is female. For this reason, I am proud to introduce our team composed entirely of women, with one sole exception: the artist who illustrated our last page. Our objective is in our name: to illustrate (admirably, we hope) the equestrian world.

BA R BA R A L EO N I Although born and raised in Modena, at heart Barbara is Ligurian as this is the origin of her family. She has however been living in Milan for too many years by now to not also feel Milanese. A crossbreed however not only in terms of origin but also in interests. Known from her schooldays as “the horse girl”, she was a rider as well as athlete but she chose however to pursue a career as a writer and journalist. Barbara worked as a journalist in both print and television but also enthusiastically embraced photography and video media, marrying her equestrian passion with journalism. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in communication, in 2010 she commenced her masters degree in journalism. This was interrupted however by the start-up ClassHorseTV, and she whole-heartedly and passionately dedicated the next four years to this, presenting the world of equestrian sports for the first time on television. This was followed by work with Cavallo Magazine, Cavalli & Cavalieri, Sky Sport – where Barbara also covered tennis and golf – Mediaset with the programme Verissimo and at Class CNBC. In her free time, Barbara reads a lot, writes, paints and takes photographs. She acknowledged at an early age that, as Göethe said: “A man doesn’t learn to understand anything unless he loves it”. And so for this reason, she has decided to take the reins of Equestrian Illustrated.

Restelli Guanti Temporary Fino al 15 Febbraio 2020 via Manzoni 19, Milano www.restelliguanti.it

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6 CONTRIBUTORS

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C R I ST I N A P I OT T I G I U L I A P E Z ZO L ES I

MARION DIDIER

Born in Fano in 1987, living in Milan, from an Apulian family, journalist, video maker and editor. Her career includes fashion, show business, politics and… horses. From Elle.it to l’Uomo Vogue, by way of ClassHorseTV and then the leap to Mediaset, in 2013, where she works on the daily newscast and on the Videonews programs: X-style, Mattino Cinque, Terra, Confessione Reporter, Miracoli, Il Labirinto and Verissimo. Television is her home, she can’t imagine herself anywhere other than in the saddle, the only place where she can be at peace with herself: for this reason, she writes with all her energy for Equestrian Illustrated.

Born in Milan in 1981, she started riding when she was a child. First a show jumping rider and then a journalist, she gained her degree with a thesis on the equestrian world and in 2010 arrived at ClassHorseTV, where her profession came up beside her passion. In 2013, she went to Cavalli Campioni and since 2016 she has been expanding her professional experience working as a video maker for the agency Alanews and as a video reporter for Ansa. This has given rise to work with FattoQuotidiano. it and for La7 where she does freelance work covering sport, news, current events and politics, without ever forgetting about horses.

Indo-Italian, an independent journalist, she lives between her two cities, Mumbai and Milan. She has a degree in language mediation from the journalism school Walter Tobagi in Milan and a master’s in India Italy international relations from Ca’ Foscari in Venice. She writes about art, design, luxury and lifestyle for IO donna, Style magazine, Wired and How To Spend It Italia. Every year, after the monsoon, she goes back to Asia to discover and write about unknown itineraries, emerging designers and trends coming from the East.

BA R BA R A G I G L I O L I Born in Varese in 1990, what she loves about the town are the sunsets on the lake and walking in the woods. Her two great passions have always been writing and cooking. Being insatiably curious and a great lover of food, she wanted to combine her two passions by becoming a journalist. She has a degree in language and media, a master’s in journalism and a great desire to have her say. She writes for newspapers, magazines, websites and television. Her greatest pleasure? Talking about the world of food, the comfort sort which goes beyond just raw ingredients and becomes emotion. A story to share with others.

Editor in Chief BARBARA LEONI b.leoni@equestrianillustrated.it Contributors GIULIA PEZZOLESI, CRISTINA PIOTTI, MARION DIDIER, CRISTINA CORAZZIA, BARBARA GIGLIOLI Photographs: FEI/ŁUKASZ KOWALSKI, FEI/MASSIMO ARGENZIANO, FISE/MARIO GRASSIA, MICHEL ROBERT HORSE ACADEMY, GETTY IMAGES FOR FEI/DEAN MOUHTAROPOULOS, GETTY IMAGES/MARK KOLBE, GETTY IMAGES/ALEX LIVESEY, QUALITY SPORT IMAGES/ GETTY IMAGES, GCT/STEFANO GRASSO, CHI GENÈVE/ WWW.SCOOPDYGA.COM, IJRC/FABIO PETRONI, EEM, SALON DU CHEVAL PARIS, BARBARA LEONI, FISE/ STEFANO SECCHI, RODRIGO PESSOA, OLYMPIA HORSE SHOW KIT HOUGHTON/HORSEPOWER, SNOW POLO WORLD CUP ST. MORITZ Illustrator ERNESTO ANDERLE Art Director FABRIZIO MAJERNA

C R I ST I N A C O R A Z Z I A

E R N ESTO A N D E R L E From Milan, tucked away in Trentino, he is an all-round artist: painter, sculptor, cartoonist and illustrator. He got his diploma from the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera and, after brief experience in one of the city’s art galleries, he took refuge in the woods where he lives and works. From his Facebook page Vincent Van Love which has 70 thousand followers, in 2019, together with BeccoGiallo Editore, he published two graphic novels: the first one of the same name about the painter’s life, and the second one about the Italian singer Fabrizio De André. On the same social network, he achieved the same success with Roby Il Pettirosso. His drawings animate the Vevo videoclip “Imparare ad Amarsi” by Ornella Vanoni, presented at the Italian music Festival Sanremo in 2018, and he is the visual artist for the singer and rapper Murubutu, Characterised by their poetic vein, yet at the same time ironic, his digital illustrations touch the soul. Fascinated by nature, the horse is a favourite subject for his artistic output.

Born in 1984, Milanese, with an innate love for horses and for the full spectrum of communication. Having completed her university studies, she entered the workplace bringing her combined talents to the newsroom of the television channel ClassHorseTV and then working for the prestigious show jumping circuit, Global Champions Tour. She has also worked with several weekly publications in the Milan area, covering culture, local politics and current events.

Translator TANYA RUDKIN

Contacts redazione@equestrianillustrated.it

Adv chief MARCO POLI m.poli@belviveremedia.com

Equestrian Illustrated is published by BEL VIVERE SRL Corso Colombo 9, 20144 Milano Tel. +39 0283311211 www.belviveremedia.com

Logistic operations FRANCA GHETTI f.ghetti@belviveremedia.com Editorial office LAURA MANDELLI l.mandelli@belviveremedia.com Chairman DIEGO VALISI d.valisi@belviveremedia.com Publisher Assistant PATRIZIA ZERBO p.zerbo@belviveremedia.com Website www.equestrianillustrated.it

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Advertising Bel Vivere Media Via Alessandria 8, 20144 Milano Tel. +39 0283311211 adv@belviveremedia.com Printing Rotopress International srl via Brecce 60026 Loreto (AN) via Mattei 106, Bologna All rights reserved©/The material on this magazine may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Fashion Illustrated. Photo credits: the publisher has sought to find the holder of the copyright to uncredited photographic images, by every means possible and without success. The publisher is at the complete disposal of the copyright holder for any payment due.

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8 C O N T E N TS

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“Dark bay”, fresco on canvas, Carlo Romiti

PREVIEW Playoffs Prague By Giulia Pezzolesi

INTERNATIONAL ARENA Geneva: where gods jump

DON’T MISS Salon du cheval Paris By Giulia Pezzolesi

By Barbara Leoni

INTERVIEW Pieter Devos

INSIDER Duccio Bartalucci

By Cristina Piotti

By Giulia Pezzolesi

WISHLIST Him, Her, Christmas

CHRISTMAS TIME London Olympia

By Marion Didier

By Giulia Pezzolesi

EVENT Jumping Verona

ON SNOW Polo St. Moritz

By Cristina Corazzia

By Barbara Giglioli

FOCUS Michel Robert

BELVIVERE Food & wine in Franciacorta

By Barbara Leoni

By Cristina Piotti

PERSONALITY Jan Tops

DESTINATION Verona

By Barbara Leoni

By Ernesto Anderle

PORTRAIT Ben Maher

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EQUESTRIAN ILLUSTRATED Straight from the horse’s mouth

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CMY

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DEVOS: “I’D LIKE MY CHILDREN TO LIVE THEIR CHILDHOOD AMONG HORSES: WITH THEM THEY’LL LEARN THEIR BIG LESSON FOR LIFE” PIETER DEVOS ON APART JUMPING A TWO-PHASES 145 CLASS AT THE LGCT IN ROME, 2019. PHOTO © BARBARA LEONI

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Interview with the European gold medallist in Rotterdam 2019, 6th of the Jumping Longines FEI Ranking. But Pieter is first of all a hard worker and a horse lover

DEVOS ON APART AT THE LONGINES FEI JUMPING NATIONS CUP OF POLAND IN SOPOT, 2019. PHOTO © FEI/ŁUKASZ KOWALSKI

by B a r b a ra Le o n i

et’s start from the great achievement of this year, the team gold medal in Rotterdam…

Yes, it was an unbelievable week for our team. We have a completely young and new generation, it took us a few years but, we had already good results in the overall ranking, we won in Nations Cup a lot but yet we didn’t have a medal at any championship, we were very close in Göteborg, two years ago. Last year we had a bit of bad luck in Tryon and this year everything worked out perfectly: our goal was to qualify for the Olympics and we were not thinking about the medal, we just were thinking about the qualification, then step by step it came closer. We did everything we could and we had a super team atmosphere, we have a very good chef d’équipe, that’s why at the end we got the gold medal. We stick really together as a team and I think this is very important. Sometimes things are working fine but on the very day something goes wrong, how do you deal with it? It’s so difficult to say in our sport: we can be the best overall but at the end in that week if you have a little bit of bad luck or just one of the team has bad luck… it must all go in the good direction and with horses you cannot predict anything: sometimes they are reacting different than we think, it’s just on that week, everything has to work perfectly. The same with us, we were top favourites last year in the world championship and it also didn’t work for us, even if on the whole year we had been one of the best teams. Everything can happen, what matters the most is to go there as any other team competition and look for your best individual performance and everything good comes then on the team. What about your equestrian origins and when did you understand you would become a professional show jumper? I was already riding ponies at the international shows and then step-by-step I also went to school, I went to university where I attended marketing studies, but beside that I was good first with the ponies. In 2000 I jumped my first international pony competition. Two years later I became Belgian champion with Côte d’Or and I was victorious in four international GP. Côte d’Or was not an easy pony and he characterized my attitude: never quit, persevere and act consistently and respectfully. I grew up with these values and recognized them in Dirk Demeersman, my inseparable trainer. In 2006 I met Equipharma Tekila D. Still a young rider, I became Belgian champion with her. She introduced me to international sport. Since 2007 I have been knocking every now and then at the gate of international top-class sport and I secured my first selections for the Super League Nation Cup heats of Hickstead and Dublin. In 2008, with a year of international experience under my belt, I finished second in the fourstar GP of Antwerp, second in the Hickstead GP and second in the Oslo GP. Was I becoming an eternal second? Fortunately not, thanks to Riviera, with whom I won the Odense GP. On the eve of 2009, at Jumping Mechelen, I was elected Talent of the Year by the Flemish Horse Riding League. Then I had ups and downs with some injuries in my stable and i just kept working hard to grow at the international level up to 2015 when Dream and me jumped clear in our first Nations Cup of Aachen and our Belgian team won the class for the second time in history. I experienced that day the most beautiful of the year. It happened: at a certain time you roll into it, and before you now you’re into the game and you’re making a profession of what was just your passion and it’s just so great for me that my passion and my job are the same thing. Where and how is your stable set up? We have a sport stable of forty horses, we have also a breeding stable with mares and the foals and the horses come to the sport stable when they have five years old. We are situated in Bekkevoort, Belgium. I don’t come out of a horse family, yes, my parents were like riding horses but more for hobby, they were nor in the horse business nor riding at top level at horse shows. We have a family company, a fruit company, where I’m also working in a lot, so I actually built up my way myself together with good team of people around me of course, my wife Carolina who is also very important for me and she is managing my horses and my stable, my parents and my brother. So all of

them made me believe that I could do it. I built up in my own way with my own horses, with the respect of the horses which I think is very important and always trying to build my young horses up to the top level because I don’t have a big sponsor, but we’re doing a very good job for the moment. I’m looking for somebody who can support me so that I can keep my horses, because now sometimes you have to sell, but I didn’t find yet a partner to do that and I’m still financiering everything myself. Only working hard in my family company allows me to keep them. The only way for me was to start with a lot of horses and try to make them myself, that’s why I’m very proud that in the last few months I reached the top ten of the world with my own horses, which is the result of what I have established in the last ten, fifteen years and, hopefully, a lot more to come. What do you look for in a horse you’d like to ride? The sport has evolved a lot in the last couple of years, everything is going faster and faster and the material of the jumps is becoming more delicate, which I think is very good. We need very fast horses with blood and the most careful horses because one you touch the bar is on the ground. In addition the mentality of the horse is really very important: you have to find horses who are really in the ring willing to fight for you and go clear and I think that is something a horse has or doesn’t have. You can see it already with the young horses when they’re jumping consistently clear rounds without the rider helping them it means they are naturally competition horses. Do you feel like more individual or team competitor? Since I was young I have always been giving everything for the team, to me the team is very important. I’m a Nations Cup rider. That’s why I like this new formula of the Global Champions League too, because it’s the same feeling except for the patriotism you have when you ride for your country. Competing in a team brings always a little bit of pressure on because, when you’re riding individually and things go bad, they’re

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THE BELGIAN RIDER ON JADE VD BISSCHOP AT THE LONGINES FEI JUMPING NATIONS CUP FINAL 2019 IN BARCELONA. PHOTO © FEI/ŁUKASZ KOWALSKI

just bad and you can blame yourself, but when you do it for your team you have other people involved and you feel you have to do good. Winning then the gold medal with my team was an unbelievable emotion, as we lost the year before in the world championship: but still we lost together and that’s something different you can’t experience when you are on your own. In bad and in good luck, you just have to stick together focusing on positive things and trying to come back the next time. That’s what we did and it worked. The Olympic dream is just here around the corner? In Belgium we have a lot of good combinations so it is not decided yet who is going to go to Tokyo 2020. I think I have a big chance because I’m the highest ranked Belgian rider but anyway we will see next year. Claire Z jumped amazing in the Championship, she has been doing very consistent results this year, one of the most consistent horse in the Global Champions Tour, she is my number one horse and with one and a half year more experience I think she will be perfect because she has everything a jumping horse needs to have and she has the time to mature and become calmer and in balance. But I still have Jade Vd Bisschop who is also coming up and I think he will become one of my best horses, so he could be possible my second option. We will see in the next months but what is already good is that I have options. Which is in your opinion the biggest difficulty in show jumping? In our sport we deal with two brains and two bodies. This aspect is often underestimated because we always ask ourselves: is the horse fit, is the horse ready, is he mentally ok? I think a lot about these topics because I’m convinced that if a horse is not mentally fit, and not just physically, it’s not good news coming. Myself I go riding a lot in the fields, walking outside, in the trees, in the forest, in order to keep him in the nature as well the same we need it. They have to charge their energy and distress, so we have. This is why I think our fitness is basic too: if we cannot be mentally fit ourselves what can

PIETER AND CHEF D’ÉQUIPE PETER WEINBGER CELEBRATE WITH CHAMPAGNE DURING THE PRIZE GIVING AT THE LONGINES FEI JUMPING NATIONS CUP IN SOPOT, 2019. PHOTO © FEI/ŁUKASZ KOWALSKI

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we get then? We have so many shows, every week I have a 5 stars show, and it’s hard to have the focus every time. For me that’s the most difficult part of our job, compared to the other sports: we don’t have any break in the whole year. We never have the time to reload if you want to keep your place in the ranking, the show must go on. We are always worrying about the horse but we forget we have to stay fit ourselves too and for me that’s the most difficult part. Do you have other passions in life? THE BELGIUM TEAM CELEBRATE WINNING THE GOLD MEDAL IN THE LONGINES FEI JUMPING EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP IN ROTTERDAM, 2019. PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES FOR FEI/DEAN MOUHTAROPOULOS

Horses of course are my biggest passion but next to them I have also developed a passion for the business I’m running with my family in the fruit trade. Previously my parents were fruit growers and I started from scratch the business of it, also buying from other growers and doing export and selling it to the retail and other clients and now we are one of the biggest players in Belgium and it is so nice I have also this in my life beside the horses, of course my family is so important for me… and then there is not so much time left for anything else. Of course I’m always looking in my head for new things to do, to develop some new businesses, to find a way to manage my horses and a good balance between the breeding farm and the sport farm: I’m always busy with those things, I’m not only focused on the competitions, no, there’s much more than that and it is what I like about. What do you dream for your children, your daughter Lisa and your new-born Vic?

PIETER DEVOS ON APART DURING THE LAP OF HONOUR AT THE LONGINES FEI JUMPING NATIONS CUP IN SOPOT, 2019. PHOTO © FEI/LUCASZ KOWALSKI

My daughter Lisa is now two years old and she is also in love with the horses, and now we just have our second child born on the last 25th October! Every morning Lisa comes in the stable and she wants to seat on a horse, she is very nice. But for sure I’m not going to push them in one direction, my parents never did that with me, they always asked me when I was sixteen or seventeen years old: «What do you want, to take over the fruit farm, yes or no? It’s up to you». They needed to know because they had to make plans for the future and I said yes, but we could decide ourselves. The same way my children will have to decide themselves, if they’ll join the fruit business it will be nice, and nicer even more if they will be in the competitions with the horses. But first they’ll have to have fun with the horses, and if one day they would like to go into the competitions I will support them with all I can because I think it must be great to be parent having done the big sport and then having your children coming in your footsteps. I will give them all my experience, so that they’ll have all the chances to go far in the sport if they have talent, but still we don’t know, even if dreaming of it is very nice. Is there anything the horses taught you that helped you in life? This is a difficult question… that’s the reason why I love my children to be with the horses since childhood: because the way you treat them is the way you get respect from them. It’s very important the connection between you and the horse and as a child you learn how you have to behave, and if you respect your horse you’ll get his respect too. This is how it worked for me, I brought them up to the top and never bought one ready. That meant I had to find a way to get the best out of my horses to know what he or she would do in the ring for me. I never tried to have horses working in my system but I always adapted my system to the horse: they are all different, different types, tempers, and you must be patient. The same is in life with people you love. Sometimes in our sport people want to go too fast, but when you believe in something or you have that feeling it could work, you have to stay cool and give it time. And I think in life it’s a little bit the same: when you go for a goal, you must never think to give up but just stay quiet and work forward step-by-step to that goal. Horses and people, we work just the same. It’s just a matter of behaving. I’m very straightforward, I always say what I think honestly and for me one of the most valuable in life is respect and to be straight-forward and not to choose other ways and turnarounds to reach your goals. Be straight and be correct, then you’ll go very far, with horses and in normal life.

DEVOS WALKING THE GCL CLASS COURSE IN ROME, 2019. PHOTO © BARBARA LEONI

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season of rarity

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FO R H I M

MENS SNEAKERS IN ECO LEATHER (U.S. POLO ASSN)

GEOMETRIC PATTERN JUMPER (U.S. POLO ASSN)

DOGMA CARBON MATT HELMET (KASK)

GREY CHECK JACKET (LA MARTINA)

MEN’S GLOVES WITH TAILORED DETAILS (RESTELLI GUANTI)

CLASS& ELEGANCE

SCOTT’H WOOL PLAID BLANKET (HERMÈS)

S e l e c t e d by C r i s t i n a P i o t t i

A wardrobe with a love for detail SAFETY FIRST S1 METEOR GREY STIRRUPS WITH COVER – LIMITED EDITION 2019 ETOUPÈ GREY (SAFE RIDING)

TWO-TONE BROWN CALF CAP TOE BOOT (CASA FAGLIANO)

CORDUROY TROUSERS (COS)

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FO R H E R

ANKLE BOOT IN LEATHER (U.S. POLO ASSN)

DARK BLUE JACKET WITH BUTTON FASTENING (LA MARTINA)

ELEGANT WOMEN’S GLOVES (RESTELLI GUANTI)

CARDIGAN WITH BELT (U.S. POLO ASSN)

‘PAVIA’ BOOTS WITH SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL TRIMMINGS FOR THE LILY DECORATION (SERGIO GRASSO)

EXCLUSIVE& REFINED ‘MARCEL’ BAG (MARNI)

S e l e c t e d by C r i s t i n a P i o t t i

Good taste and femininity for standing out both in the saddle and in the day to day SAFETY FIRST S2 SATIN COPPER STIRRUPS WITH COVER – LIMITED EDITION 2019 DESERT WHITE (SAFE RIDING)

BIRKIN SELLIER FAUBOURG BAG (HERMÈS)

METALLIC TAILORED TROUSERS (COS)

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18 W I S H L I ST

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C H R I ST M AS

THE WINE BAR CASE, THE “WINE CELLAR IN A TRUNK” (LAERRE)

SCOTTISH-TARTAN INSPIRED CUPS (BIALETTI) TEA CUPS FROM THE CHARM COLLECTION (RICHARD GINORI) LOUNGE CHAIR ‘SUZENNE’ BY CHIARA ANDREATTI (GEBRÜDER THONET VIENNA)

STAR LADY SWAROVSKI PEARLS HELMET (KASK)

DREAMS& DESIRES

VASE OR UMBRELLA STAND “RAINBOOTS MEMORABILE GOLD” (SELETTI)

S e l e c t e d by C r i s t i n a P i o t t i

Must-haves under the tree for the coziest season of the year. BLACK HORSE BLANKET IN SOFT WOOL AND CASHMERE BLEND FROM THE BLACK COFFEE COLLECTION (U BLACK)

QUILTED THROW IN ECO-FRIENDLY CASHMERE (C&C MILANO) BANKSIA FRAGRANCE (LOCHERBER MILANO)

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www.artioli.com *Ручнaя рaботa из Итaлии. РЕКЛАМА

20 E V E N T

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JUMPING VERONA IS BACK The Italian World Cup leg turns 19 in the city of Giulietta and Romeo

GERMAN RIDER DANIEL DEUSSER ON CALISTO BLUE, WINNER OF THE WORLD CUP GRAND PRIX IN VERONA, 2018. PHOTO © FEI/MASSIMO ARGENZIANO

by M a r i o n D i d i e r

ith the 121st edition of Fieracavalli, Jumping Verona is back again, the fourth official stage of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Western European League, which for the nineteenth consecutive year brings the world’s best horses and riders to the noble Scaligera city, transforming it into the capital of international show jumping.

A bit of history The FEI World Cup began in 1978 based on an idea of Swiss journalist and editor Max Amman, who wanted to create a competition circuit similar to the Formula 1 and tennis championships, and to do so, not only had to convince journalists and equestrians from around the world, but also the International Equestrian Federation itself. Amman succeeded, meeting the, then, President, Prince Phillip Duke of Edinburgh, during the Montreal Olympics in 1976, where he spoke for the first time about his project: an indoor show jumping world series. Sixteen legs in the first season, nine in Europe and seven in North America, with a final jump off in Göteborg in 1979, thanks to the collaboration with Volvo, main sponsor of the event, a role later ceded to Rolex and subsequently, to Longines. Following the success of the inaugural series, Australian and Canadian riders were also invited to take part in the circuit. Since then, other countries have joined the FEI World Cup, today subdivided into sixteen legs reaching all continents. The best riders from the preliminary competitions, fourteen in our own Western European League, qualified for the grand finale which will be held again in Las Vegas for the sixth time (2000, 2003, 2005, 2007 e 2015). This is how The World Cup brought jumping out of the large outdoor arenas and into sports centres, from natural grass to sand and then later to synthetic materials. The technical aspects also have to keep up: shorter courses, tighter turns, lighter fences and shorter time allowed. The horses must achieve greater elasticity and speed and their riders must fine-tune new approaches to the management of the two to sustain a fulltime program that lasts all year round. The top winners and the records Austrian Hugo Simon won the first ever final of the World Cup, in Göteborg, Sweden in 1979. Riding the energetic Gladstone, he won first place in the ranking, ahead of the American Katie Monahan Prudent. The following year the World Cup final moved to Baltimore in the United States and then to Birmingham in England in 1981, before returning once again to where it started in ’82. For Hugo Simon too, the story doesn’t end there. Riding E.T. he was the first to win the final three times, in 1996 and 1997. After him, it was the turn of the Brasilian, Rodrigo Pessoa to re-write the FEI World Cup honours roll with three consecutive wins riding the same horse, Baloubet du Rouet (1998 Helsinki, 1999 Göteborg and 2000 Las Vegas). The first woman rider to have her name on the World Cup was the German Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum riding Shutterfly, one of the most loved horses in the history of world show jumping, who achieved this in Las Vegas in 2005, in Göteborg in 2008 and again in Las Vegas in 2009. Germany, together with the United States holds the record for the greatest number of wins, 21 out of 42 seasons. The Canadian Mario Deslauriers, who won with Aramis in 1984 at 19 years old, is still today the youngest ever winner. Last year, another serial winner, the Swiss Steve Guerdat, together with Alamo, adding his own name to the story of successes, with a third win on the Göteborg arena after victories in 2015 and 2016. The Verona edition The World Cup made its debut in Milan in 1983, but since 2001, Verona has hosted the Italian stage of the circuit. This year, once again the program includes three days of competition and seven categories, with a total of 416 thousand euros prize money, 190 thousand euros of which are reserved exclusively for Sunday’s Gran Premio. The Longines FEI World Cup in Verona is the fourth of the fourteen stages of the World Cup’s Western European circuit and the only date in Italy. It is among the most loved shows in the international equestrian calendar. Uliano Vezzani himself confirms this, guaranteeing a five-star show: “Verona is an amazing arena, for this reason we have always had the world’s best riders here. The courses will be selective yet at the same time they will also give a great show for an indoor arena audience. My job is to create a perfect blend of technique and showmanship, even though in the end it is the riders who will make the difference… you’ll see, the show is guaranteed, as only top-notch riders will be competing”.

Michel Robert, the superstar rider born in 1948, is one of the most eagerly awaited names. He holds nine European Championships, four World Championships and two Olympic titles. Ready to enter the fray once more after a six-year break from competing, the French rider was the first to sign up for the Verona leg. On Saturday, as Technical Director of Team Wow, he will also be presenting his ‘WOW Michel Robert Experience’, a whole day of theory and practical training. Also representing France, are two superstars of worldclass show jumping: Penelope Leprevost and Simon Delestre. 18 nations in all will be taking part in the CSI5*W 2019: alongside France are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Holland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, and of course Italy. Representing Italy are: Emilio Bicocchi, Lorenzo De Luca, Emanuele Gaudiano, Giulia Martinengo Marquet, Luca Marziani, Paolo Paini, Riccardo Pisani and Alberto Zorzi, all taking part in this leg of the World Cup. Amongst the big foreign names there are the leaders in the world ranking: Steve Guerdat and Martin Fuchs (Switzerland), Daniel Deusser (Germany) and Peder Fredricson (Sweden). With them are: Henrik Von Eckermann (Sweden), Christian Ahlmann and Marcus Ehning (Germany); Darragh Kenny, Cian O’Connor and Peter Moloney (Irleand) and then: Pieter Devos, Niels Bruyseels, Nicola Philippaerts (Belgium) and Scott Brash and Robert Whitaker (Great Britain). International women riders are also well-represented: the Australian Edwina Tops-Alexander, the Greek Athina Onassis, the Swiss Jane Richard Philips, the American Jessica Springsteen and the young Belgian Zoe Conter. The event is one of the most eagerly awaited by the crowds of enthusiasts and visitors who come to Verona every year to see their champions in action. The battle-field lies in fact, inside Hall 8. This area, and its stands, is entirely dedicated to jumping. Only a fence separates the athletes preparing in the warm-up arena from the spectators who are able to admire up close the bond that unites horse and rider and to breathe the suspense of the minutes leading up to entering the ring. The competitions can be seen in the Pala Volskwagen, an arena able to seat five thousand people, that acts as a frame to the competition ring. Jumping Verona represents, together with the Rome CSIO5* in Piazza di Siena and again in Rome with the stage of the Longines Global Champions Tour, one of the few exclusive opportunities afforded to Italy to host the leading names in riding, in one of the most prestigious equestrian fairs the world has to offer.

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JUMPING VERONA FEI JUMPING WORLD CUP WESTERN EUROPEAN LEAGUE CALENDAR 2019-2020 2019 16-20 October - Oslo (NOR)

7 NOVEMBER - Thursday 13:00 CSI5*-W

Horse Inspection

16:30 CSI5*-W

Warm up

8 NOVEMBER - Friday

24-27 October - Helsinki (FIN) 30 October - 3 November - Lyon (FRA) 7-10 November - Verona (ITA)

11:15 CSI5*-W

Class n. 1 Competition in 2 phases - Tab. A - h. 1.45 € 5,000.00

13-17 November - Stuttgart (GER) 28 November - 1 December - Madrid (ESP)

15:20 CSI5*-W Class n. 2 Competition against the clock - Tab. A - h. 1.50 € 25,000.00

13-15 December - La Coruña (ESP) 16-22 December - London-Olympia (GBR) 26-30 December - Mechelen (BEL)

17:45 CSI5*-W

Competition against the clock with jump-off - Tab. A - h. 1.50/1.55 € 50,200.00

2020 9-12 January - Basel-St. Jakobshalle (SUI) 16-19 January - Leipzig (GER) 23-26 January - Amsterdam (NED)

Class n. 3

9 NOVEMBER - Saturday 12:00 CSI5*-W

Class n. 4 Competition against the clock - Tab. A - h. 1.45/1.50 € 25,000.00

6-9 February - Bordeaux (FRA) 19-23 February - Göteborg (SWE)

17:00 CSI5*-W

Final

Class n. 5 Competition against the clock with jump-off Tab. A - h. 1.55 € 95,000.00

15-19 April 2020 - Las Vegas (USA)

10 NOVEMBER - Sunday ITALIAN RIDER GIULIA MARTINENGO MARQUET ON ELZAS AT JUMPING VERONA, 2017. PHOTO © FISE/MARIO GRASSIA

10:00 CSI5*-W

Class n. 6 Accumulator competition with Joker, against the clock - Tab. A - h. 1.45 € 26,300.00

14:15

CSI5*-W Class n. 7 - Gran Prix Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Competition against the clock with jump-off - Tab. A - h. 1.60 € 190,000.00

2014 Bertram Allen (IRL)

Molly Malone V

2013 Christian Ahlmann (GER)

Aragon Z

2012 Sergio Alvarez Moya (ESP) 2011

Zipper

Canceled

2010 Jeroem Dubbeldam (NED)

— BMC Van Grunsven Simon

2009 Michael Whitaker (GBR)

Insul Teck Amai

2008 Alois Pollmann Schweckhorst (GER) 2007 Albert Zoer (NED) 2006 Gerco Schröder (NED)

VERONA GRAND PRIX GOLDEN BOOK 2018 Daniel Deusser (GER)

Calisto Blue

2017 Maikel Van der Vleuten (NED) 2016 Abdel Said (EGY) 2015

Simon Delestre (FRA)

VDL Groep Verdi TN

Hope van Scherpen Donder Hermes Ryan

Lord Luis Okidoki

Eurocommerce Milano

2005 Albert Zoer (NED)

Okidoki

2004 Toni Hassmann (GER)

Lolita H

2003 Lars Nieberg (GER)

Loreana

2002 Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) 2001 Stanny Van Paesschen (BEL)

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Lianos O de Pomme

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JUST DO IT NATURALLY Michel Robert is back in Verona for a day of teaching by C r i s t i n a C o ra z z i a A FREE-REIN HORSE JUMPING A TREE TRUNK, LED BY THE HAND OF HORSEMAN MICHEL ROBERT. PHOTO © MICHEL ROBERT HORSE ACADEMY

FIVE TIMES FRENCH CHAMPION, MULTIPLE MEDALLIST AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AND THE OLYMPICS, OVER THE COURSE OF HIS 40-YEAR CAREER, ROBERT HAS BECOME A RESPECTED LEADING FIGURE IN THE EQUESTRIAN WORLD. PHOTO © MICHEL ROBERT HORSE ACADEMY

ave you always dreamed of having a lesson with Michel Robert? This year, from the 7th to the 10th of November, it will be possible to meet him in Verona at the Fieracavalli. The great French champion will be present for spectators and fans alike during the event’s 121st edition in the city of the Scaliger, nine years after his last appearance in Verona and having hung up his boots some years ago. A break, however, which didn’t last very long, as the French show jumper, who was born in 1948, recently returned to the saddle like a true champion with victories in St. Gallen and Valencia. In Verona on Saturday, November the 9th, he will be giving a lesson in natural horsemanship. This will be a tutorial session for all those interested in his world-famous horse training method, based on technique, ethology, reciprocal understanding and trust between man and animal. That’s not all, Michel, one of the Italian public’s most loved horsemen, will also be entering the competition, with the self-awareness and lightness of spirit of someone who has already achieved everything that he possibly could in the sport – European championships and World and Olympic championships – but also with the desire to share the story of a sporting career which at a certain point led him to ask himself about his ultimate goal: that of being at one with the horse, since to win doesn’t just mean completing a course, it also means working constantly on the daily training method. In fact, Michel Robert plays an active part in the “Fieracavalli Academy”, a new initiative this year to promote the ethical approach to the world of the horse. As technical manager, together with the WOW team, Robert will be representing the sports side of the project and with his WOW Michel Robert Experience, he will explain, alongside Italian rider Giulia Martinengo Marquet, what it means to communicate with the horse: from the fundamentals of the theory to its application; from stable management to ground schooling and lunging; from flatwork to jumping exercises; from preparatory work with the rider to the competition itself. This project is the brainchild of businessman Vittorio Garrone of the Basini di Arquata Scrivia stud in Piemonte, and it seeks to improve human and horse interaction following the principles of listening and of “dialogue” with one’s own mount. The aim of this virtuous method is to improve the sporting performance of the subjects based on natural horsemanship. The method is grounded in the principles of gentle conditioning, and seeks to educate the horse through a long process which avoids traumas, starting with play and physical and muscular preparatory work leading to overcoming possible cognitive obstacles present in the horse’s nature. Not only this, but also working with the rider on his ability to relate to the animal in terms of trust and understanding. This is a complete training method aimed at deepening the bond between horse and rider, with a lot of work on theoretical study and its application in the arena. The WOW Michel Robert Experience will not be a ‘one-off’. It sets out to be the pilot episode of a tour that will see Michel and his team travel the world to continue spreading an ethological vision of the horse in equestrian sports.

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MICHEL JUMPING BRIDLELESS. THE FRENCH RIDER NOW DEVOTES HIMSELF TO TRAINING COMPETITION HORSES IN HIS STABLES IN MORAS (ISÈRE) AND ALSO TO PASSING ON HIS KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE WITH HIS HORSE ACADEMY. PHOTO © MICHEL ROBERT HORSE ACADEMY

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07/11/19 15:32

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MR JAN TOPS IS THE FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF THE LONGINES GLOBAL CHAMPIONS TOUR AND CO-FOUNDER OF GCL. PHOTO © GCT/STEFANO GRASSO

JAN TOPS: “HARD WORK IS THE BASIC START FOR EVERYTHING” by B a r b a ra Le o n i

FACE TO FACE WITH THE “GLOBAL FORMULA” FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT: HIS START, HIS BELIEFS, HIS VISION OF THE SPORT HE LOVES

will always be more beautiful than in any other sport which is the horse and that’s completely another story: not the rider, but the horse is at the heart of our sport.

ider, breeder, trainer, horseman, businessman. There is no equestrian profile which doesn’t fit the name of Jan Tops, founder and president of the Longines Global Champions Tour and co-founder of GCL. Equestrian Illustrated met him in Rome, for the 16th leg of the GCT and GCL.

Mr Tops, the Global Champions Tour and the Global Champions League are nowadays a successful formula. What hides behind the original idea? What did come up to your mind the first time you thought of the Global? As I myself was a rider on the top level for many years, competing on the events for more than 40 weekends every year, I was visualizing how or sport should evolve to the better and I tried to get a different vision of show jumping. It was about people not only directly in this sport but I wanted to reach people out of this, trying to come closer to other sports which are really popular like soccer, tennis, golf etc. sports with a lot of followers, and I also wanted that media, tv, and all the stakeholders connected would benefit from it. Like owners had better prize money, like riders had better prize money, better conditions both for themselves and the horses, better conditions in the VIP area, and for the public too. We have a lot of free entrance events, not all but most of them, in order to get people involved in our sport. This is what happens directly, but if you look at the indirect side – you know, auctions, foals and young horses – the whole industry went up. This is the reason why I did it. When we started in 2006 with the Global – it’s already 26 years ago when I started organizing my CSI5* - I knew that also other events began to copy and that could be a good spin-off not only for the riders involved but also for the riders who would have had a new chance to be on great events. Are you passionate about other sports? I follow a lot of sports: soccer, tennis. I love top sports, that’s why I like to compare. Obviously we’ll never get the numbers of sports such as soccer, which we don’t need, but we have a different way, a different entourage and we have something which

Looking back to your rider career, what does the word “horse” mean to you? We organize 25 events in total a year, with 18 of the Global, with some CSI2* and other competitions for young horses and for young riders, children and ponies, so I think it’s important we keep looking to all the stakeholders. That’s why I organize a lot but in my heart I love to work with the horses, that’s the core, the start of everything. I breed horses, we buy and sell a lot, and that’s the part I even like the most. It takes a lot of time for sure, but this is where my passion is and where I’m best at. Now we are a great team of people, starting from our Italian show director Marco Danese, who’s a great asset for us all, and everybody who joins our team makes these top events possible. As a trainer, how do you sense the talent in an up-coming rider? I built a lot of riders from the beginning to the top of the world like Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, who started with me twenty years ago: he was number 300 on the ranking and when he left our stable he was 2nd. The same for Daniel Deusser, from 202 to the top ten when he left, and Steve Guerdat as well, he was nowhere to be seen on the ranking and brought him also to the top, then Edwina (Tops-Alexander, his wife) and now Alberto (Zorzi). That’s something else I enjoy: give to people who are talented an opportunity in our stable to build their career. When I ask the riders, they tell me that you are a visionary. How can you foresee the future of our sport? I see a lot of things far ahead. I never looked ahead for two, three or six months, but I’m always looking ahead for years. Things are in my roadmap and I keep on reaching my goals. That happens in my mind with the horses, with the people, with the events. And now I’m determined to bring our sport as high as possible. I have clear that if riders and owners cannot make their living they cannot continue in this sport. But if they are really well treated they’ll join the both, our Global circuit and the Nations Cup circuit too. So we’re adding something, which is not stealing anything from the

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JAN TOPS WALKING THE COURSE ALONG WITH ITALIAN RIDER ALBERTO ZORZI AT THE LONGINES GLOBAL CHAMPIONS TOUR IN ROME, 2019. PHOTO © BARBARA LEONI

Who is Jan Tops Founder and president of the Longines Global Champions Tour, Mr Tops is one of the most well-recognised and experienced figures in show jumping. An exceptionally high achiever in his chosen field, Jan won numerous individual and team championship titles and the distinction of an Olympic team gold medal in Barcelona in 1992. Shortly after, Jan launched CSI Valkenswaard and turned it into one of the best horse shows on the international equestrian scene. But his vision and goal was to comprehensively raise standards across the whole sport, so in 2006 he launched the Global Champions Tour and transformed the world of international show jumping.

A YOUNG JAN TOPS WINNING OLYMPIC TEAM GOLD MEDAL IN BARCELONA, 1992. PHOTO © GCT WEBSITE

classic competitions. Riders and owners are free to choose their calendar: they just have more opportunity than before. I have never met one of them who is not riding for his country, giving back something to his country. It’s very important that we go to the highest level in everything and it should be the showcase of our sport, so that the media and the public will come closer just as it happens in the other top sports. We have seen already with CNN, Eurosport, Sky Sport, they all great channels, which are following us. That’s something new in the show jumping, it never happened before that the name of the Grand Prix winner was on the CNN tickets. We are building profiles for our riders, we’re investing for them. What would you like your daughters to become as you are a rider and a businessman? Many parents dream of their sons to do what they like to do. The luck I had was that my mother and my father let me choose what I wanted to do in my life. And I want to do the same with my daughters, they must do what they want not what I want. I would love that they worked with me but I would rather they choose what they like. You can be very good at something only when you do it with a lot of passion. You must like what you do. They can work with me, they can choose another job, they must build their own identity. That’s what my parents did with me and that’s what I want for my daughters. There is something in your life that represents for you a lesson for what came after, maybe something that happened to you about life and growing, about the man you wanted to be?

MR TOPS DURING A PRIZE GIVING CEREMONY. PHOTO © GCT/STEFANO GRASSO

I think in life the most comes it natural, obviously the first thing in life is to be healthy. We can control a lot, but not everything. If you have a good health, then it depends on you. I consider myself very lucky because even if a work a lot, I will never be working as much as my parents did, 7 days a week from 7 am till late evening, every single day keeping on smiling. I inherited that perseverance from them and this is the basic start of everything. I owe to my parents what I got from life: they gave me the determination to do and to build something not only for myself but also for the sport I love.

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MARCO DANESE, THE RIGHT-HAND MAN AT GLOBAL

f Jan Tops is the brain, it could be said that the Global machine functions thanks to an entire team of the brightest and best. Marco Danese, the owner’s right-hand man, is also the organiser of the Rome stage of the tour, the circuit’s only leg on Italian soil, now in its fifth year.

Even though it is now a seasoned event, what does the organisation of the Global at the Stadio dei Marmi entail? It is still a colossal event: this location was not built for equestrian competitions and it needs a total transformation, in fact a “global” one. It is part of the Foro Italico sports complex: on the opposite side we have the spiritual home of tennis, whereas the Stadio dei Marmi is actually devoted to track and field athletics. It is without doubt, the home of sport in Rome as it also contains swimming pools and a university dedicated to sport. And yet horses here are not something new… No, quite right. In the past, Raimondo D’Inzeo rode here before the Olympics and in more recent years the FISE organised a championship for young riders… So, it was to be expected that, sooner or later, horses would make their return. Today the show jumping world has been completely revolutionised and requires a very high level of specialist organisation in both logistics and infrastructure.

MARCO DANESE IS THE EVENT DIRECTOR OF THE ITALIAN LEG OF THE LONGINES GLOBAL CHAMPIONS TOUR IN ROME. PHOTO © GCT/STEFANO GRASSO

The “Global” formula appears to be a machine where nothing is left to chance. Is it all so perfectly organised? The Global is a format that is repeated in nineteen events around the world and consequently from a technical standpoint, it has fixed technical prerequisites. There is particular interest in finding central locations in the destination cities, whether it is the Eiffel Tower, the port in Monaco or the Chelsea Hospital… to bring this sport as close as possible to a wider audience and to the attention of the media. Roma is lucky to host two, great, five-star equestrian events… What is Italy’s role in the “Global” world? Indeed, and both are located in two settings as beautiful as they are different: the Stadio dei Marmi and Villa Borghese, with Piazza di Siena. Italy has been involved since the very beginning of the circuit’s history, firstly with the leg in Arezzo and then in Turin. Furthermore, we are proud to have a technical team that includes a great number of Italian professionals. What changes are there this year and what can we expect next year? Innovations in 2019 have seen stages of the competition in Stockholm and New York, whereas 2020 is the year of the Olympics and there will definitely be adjustments made to the calendar. The great innovation, besides this, has been the growing success of the Global Champions League, the team competition with a new concept bringing show jumping closer to other professional team sports, where an owner has a selection of six riders, the only obligation being to have an under25 who is not in the FEI’s top rankings in order to give opportunity to new talent. The technical level of the teams and the courses themselves is increasing year after year as more and more top riders take part in this type of competition. MR DANESE DURING THE COURSE BUILDING AT THE LGCT IN ROME, 2019. PHOTO © BARBARA LEONI

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BEN MAHER OF GREAT BRITAIN RIDING TIC TAC COMPETING DURING THE EQUESTRIAN JUMPING INDIVIDUAL FINAL ROUND OF THE RIO 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES. PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES/MARK KOLBE

“ALL I WANT IS GOLD” By B a r b a ra Le o n i

BEN MAHER’S LONGTIME SUCCESS IS LEADING HIM TO TOKYO

miling, polite, modest and with a very British accent, it doesn’t matter if at the age of 36, Ben Maher has already won everything a rider can dream of in a career in the sport… But wait, that is not entirely true; he still seeks the most coveted medal of all the individual Olympic gold. That’s what Ben Maher is working on and working hard on. After what has been an exceptional year, he is heading straight to Prague for the second year in a row, hoping to claim the overall individual title in the Global Champions League along with that of the overall championship for the London Knights in the team Global Champions League. A 2019 that has turned out to be as explosive as the name of his mount, Explosion W, a big-striding, 10-year-old chestnut gelding. This season, the pair who won in Rome, London and New York, amassed more than 590 thousand euros in prize money: “I think 2018 was an unexpected year for me. I started with two new nine-year-old horses. I knew they were good, but I didn’t have any expectations of winning the Global Champions Tour overall – he says – My goals were higher this year than last year, because I knew that we could do it. We started 2019 much slower with Explosion, we took our time. I also rested him a little longer, so we started a bit later, which enabled me to jump a little more now, knowing I had the European Championship 2019 and upcoming shows happening in a short space of time. It’s been a more difficult year, everything was much closer, with the rankings and with Olympic qualification, but so far we have checked things off the list…”. Still considered to be one of the new generation of British show jumpers, Ben’s victories and successes are a testament to his already long career and great experience in the world’s top arenas. He has won most of the Grands Prix, from London Olympia to the Hickstead King George V Gold Cup. He represented Britain at three Olympic Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016), bringing home a team gold medal

for the first time in 60 years, in front of a home crowd. As a result of this, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours list, for services to equestrianism, by Her Majesty the Queen. His long list of successes includes many European medals: a team gold and an individual silver in 2013, a double team bronze in 2011 and 2019 and finally a second individual silver medal at the latest Championship in Rotterdam this year: “In the European Championship I got the individual silver medal twice, the last one was this year, riding Explosion, when I went through the finish heart-broken, as I had the second last fence down… – he remembers – I think Explosion could jump this jump a hundred times and not make a fault… I just really felt for the horse, he deserved to win. Between Aachen and Rotterdam, he probably made only two mistakes this year, very costly ones, but it’s hard to be disappointed. He is an incredible horse, that very special horse everybody looks to”. Explosion W is indeed a special horse and Maher is building a very strong relationship with him: “He gives me, as a rider, the belief I can do everything. Now I’m conscious that I find myself at an incredible time in my career: Explosion is also helping me bring all of the other horses on. I have Concona, who was originally owned by Poden Farms, but now my other big longtime owner Jane Clark has bought her for me to secure her. Then I have F One, plus horses developing, coming for the future, maybe to help next year. In addition, I have a good team of people around me and the support of the owners. I’m feeling great and grateful, this is the result of a job well done”. What makes a top champion the champion he is, is daily work, willpower, knowledge and a good team, never giving up no matter what: “I think you make your own luck. I don’t rely on luck; I try to be very calculated, accurate and really ride to a plan. I don’t like change. I trust my system. I had good training when I was younger and I have my staff around me: Fiona in the office, who has worked for me for twelve years, my grooms, Cormac, who mainly only looks after Explosion

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BEN AND EXPLOSION W, WINNERS OF THE LGCT GP, DURING THE PRIZE-GIVING CEREMONY IN ROME, 2019. PHOTO © BARBARA LEONI

and knows every hair, everything about this horse and I think this is very key in our sport nowadays. The horse is the real athlete and the star and we try to leave no stone unturned with the preparation and the well-being of the horses. I’m very lucky to have my team around me”. Born in Essex on 30th January 1983, Ben has breathed horses since he was a kid. Ludger Beerbaum was his hero growing up and he learned a lot from the great British riders: John and Michael Whitaker and Nick Skelton. “I’m not from a horse family at all, but I had a lot of help when I was growing up, I trained with good trainers when I was very young. My mum used to ride one horse as a hobby; I think she jumped sometimes. I had a Shetland pony I used to go on when I was a kid. Then I had a couple of small ponies and I rode in the pony club for local children – he tells us – I just enjoyed it, I had the bug for this and my parents supported me in it through school. I rode the ponies and finally, when I was fourteen or fifteen, I told them «This is what I want to do». I couldn’t wait for school to finish. I just wanted to go...”. Ben’s passion was then lucky enough to meet the world of professional riders: “For two years I was a stable rider for Beat Mändli, so I experienced, in the stable of a ‘top ten’ rider, the system, the dedication, the hard work and the importance of good horses and owners. I learned this very young and slowly had my goal of building the same thing for myself. There was only one time, when I was twenty or twenty-one, that I almost gave up. It was when I started on my own, back in England, after riding with Beat Mändli and it was such a difficult time. I didn’t see how I could make money and survive in this sport and do it the way I wanted to. At that time, I had Rolette, the horse that I took to Beijing. She was a nice horse, but with no results, and all of a sudden it changed my career. We took off in just one year. This brought good publicity and I grew the foundation of the team we have now from it. This was really a good crossroads in my life”. But it’s not just a question of crossroads. A rider’s life is a combination of hard work, constancy, good-planning, good choices and good communication, staying in good physical condition and the mental fortitude of both horse and rider, and anyway, not all that glitters is gold. “As a sport, we lose a lot more than we win – he explains – before 2018 I had probably two of the worst years in my career after Cella retired. I really was down in results and I think you learn a lot from this: in the end, good riders and good teams fight back. It won’t always be like this for me. I’m going to come down and then I’m going to have to come back up again. That’s why I guess I’ve learned that I have to really enjoy it now when it’s good, because I know how easily it can go the other way. I think this isn’t a job, this is a lifestyle and it is very hard to understand. When I speak to people outside of our sport they say: «Wow, you’re travelling to Rome, you’re travelling here and there…», but they don’t understand how many hours of hard work we put in. We don’t have holidays; we don’t have time off and we always live in an airport or in a hotel. We are very, very lucky to enjoy what we do, but it’s very hard work and you always have to be trying to improve, otherwise the other riders are

PODIUM OF THE INDIVIDUAL FINAL, LONGINES FEI JUMPING EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP IN ROTTERDAM, 2019. MAHER POSES WITH THE SILVER MEDAL, MARTIN FUCHS OF SWITZERLAND WITH THE GOLD MEDAL AND JOS VERLOOY OF BELGIUM WITH THE BRONZE MEDAL. PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES FOR FEI/DEAN MOUHTAROPOULOS

BEN MAHER CONGRATULATES THE SWISS WINNER MARTIN FUCHS AFTER A VICTORIOUS INDIVIDUAL FINAL AT THE LONGINES FEI JUMPING EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP IN ROTTERDAM, 2019. PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES FOR FEI/DEAN MOUHTAROPOULOS

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GOLD MEDALISTS NICK SKELTON, BEN MAHER, SCOTT BRASH AND PETER CHARLES OF GREAT BRITAIN CELEBRATE ON THE PODIUM DURING THE MEDAL CEREMONY FOR TEAM JUMPING IN THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES AT GREENWICH PARK. PHOTO Â© GETTY IMAGES/ALEX LIVESEY

A VERY YOUNG BEN MAHER RIDING BEECHWAYS DELIGHT.

BEN AS A YOUNG BOY WITH HIS PONIES: TOM COBBLEY, GO EASY II AND DUSTY BOY.

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getting better and you don’t stay ahead. I think it’s an under-estimated sport. Riding a horse is a lot of hours, a lot of time to go to building the relationship and you have to balance this special bond with the pressure of equestrian business”. In recent years show jumping has been experiencing a revolution in terms of visibility and growth, which shows how it is not so far off from other top sports, yet people are still far from being able to understand it: “I’m training a young girl in the stables, she’s seventeen years old and her brother is Lando Norris, one of the youngest drivers in Formula 1 at the moment. So, I went to Silverstone and I saw the sport and that there are lots of similarities with our sport: the care of the car and all the little things. People say that show jumping is an elitist sport and dismiss it, saying only rich people can do it; yet Formula 1 has millions of fans and they can never afford those cars. Show jumping is an exciting sport and you are dealing with an animal. The communication is not with an engine but with an animal. That makes our life harder, but I think that also makes it more special”. So, Tokyo is waiting for Ben Maher in just a few months’ time. He is concentrating all of his efforts into getting THE medal. “I am starting to feel a little bit older now. I’ve been to three Olympic Games. I’ve been very lucky to win the team gold medal in London, the best achievement in my career so far. My dream now would be to win an individual Olympic gold medal. We’re looking forward to Tokyo. We qualified and Explosion has proven that he is a horse that can compete in any scenario, any arena, grass, sand, hot or cold countries… and I really hope to be able to still have him to ride, but I also have other very good horses such as Concona, who was also purchased as a backup horse for Tokyo. I just keep my head down. I work hard and always keep pushing to try and improve”. Yes, because what Ben cares about most, beyond the shows and the medals, is enjoying the horses day to day, just riding them: “Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen very often, but I absolutely love on a Tuesday morning, if I’m home, to go on Explosion and get just me and him going around in the fields with nobody around and no real pressure. It’s nice to just relax, just to ride and not be always on the treadmill trying to improve… And it’s very important for me that when they are at home the horses are fit and we keep them mentally fresh in the paddocks, in the grass and walking outside; so that when they go to the start gate they’re looking and really want to fight and to win as much as we do”.

BEN MAHER OF GREAT BRITAIN RIDING EXPLOSION W COMPETING IN TEAM FINAL OF THE LONGINES FEI JUMPING EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ROTTERDAM, 2019. PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES FOR FEI/DEAN MOUHTAROPOULOS

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LET THE BATTLE BEGIN Prague Playoffs LGCT 2019 IT’S TIME FOR THE FINAL RECKONING IN THE JAN TOPS CIRCUIT. FROM THE 21-24 NOVEMBER THE TOP-RANKING NAMES IN SHOW JUMPING RETURN TO THE HISTORIC 02 ARENA IN EUROPE’S MOST FAIRY-TALE CITY, COMPETING FOR THE TITLE OF THE YEAR by G i u l i a Pez zo l e s i

THE PODIUM OF THE LGCT SUPER GRAND PRIX AT THE PRAGUE PLAYOFFS IN 2018: 1ST EDWINA TOPS-ALEXANDER (AUS), 2ND LUDGER BEERBAUM (GER) AND 3RD FRANK SCHUTTERT (NED). TROPHIES ARE PRESENTED BY JAN TOPS AND WALTER VON KANEL. PHOTO © GCT/STEFANO GRASSO

RIDERS COMPETING IN PLAYOFFS 2019: 1. Julien Epaillard (FRA)

lory, suspense and eliminations. The last date on the Longines Gobal Champions Tour, the unique indoor event on the millionaire’s circuit which returns to Prague for the second year with the new but already proven formula of the Playoffs. It is an unmissable rendez-vous, combining breath-taking courses, impeccable organisation and all the greatest names in show jumping. Awarded with the title of overall champion last season, was Lady Tops herself, the Australian rider Edwina Tops-Alexander, wife of the circuit’s founder and winner of the Super Grand Prix riding her faithful companion California, having already conquered the circuit for two consecutive years in 2011 and 2012. Compared with finals in the past, the Playoffs formula leaves the competition open, because it doesn’t take rankings from previous rounds into consideration and places qualifying pairings of riders and horses on the same terrain for a ‘gladiatorial’ battle starting from point zero. The last leg in New York at the end of September saw Ben Maher triumph in the GP. Having won the highest placed podium in Rome, over the last few years the rider has distinguished himself with continuity and great results and has now been rewarded with the command of the ranking. Again, in the Big Apple, placed just a whisker away from the British rider, is Marcus Ehning with Cornado NRW who failed the qualifier for the Playoffs last year. Another contender will be the Belgian rider Pieter Devos, second in the ranking and the new European Team Jumping Champion in Rotterdam in 2019. Surrounding the main event, is an array of shows and displays including liberty horse shows like that of Jérémy e Sélyne Gonzalez who will dance in a performance that is a mix of art and classical ballet, whilst performer Lisa Röckener will display the special connection that bonds horse and rider. There will also be pony races for children. “The City of a Thousand Spires” will come alive over four days with top-level sporting entertainment, gathering 14 thousand spectators from all over the world. It is a magical event, held right in the run up to Christmas, offering visitors the opportunity to enjoy all the culture, art and architecture, history, traditions and design that a city such as Prague can offer, without missing a single moment of the epic battle of show jumping titans. May the best rider win.

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2. Jérôme Guery (BEL) 3. Pieter Devos (BEL) 4. Dani G. Waldman (ISR) 5. Martin Fuchs (SUI) 6. Daniel Deusser (GER) 7. Niels Bruynseels (BEL) 8. Peder Fredricson (SWE) 9. Ben Maher (GBR) 10. Maikel van der Vleuten (NED) 11. Christian Ahlmann (GER) 12. Darragh Kenny (IRE) 13. Ludger Beerbaum (GER) 14. Shane Sweetnam (IRE) 15. Olivier Philippaerts (BEL) 16. Marlon Monolo Zanotelli (BRA) 17. Jessica Springsteen (USA) 18. Marcus Ehning (GER)

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OLYMPUS MAKES ITS HOME IN SWITZERLAND GERMAN RIDER MARCUS EHNING AND PRÊT À TOUT, WINNERS OF THE ROLEX GRAND PRIX IN GENEVA, 2018. PHOTO © CHI GENÈVE/WWW.SCOOPDYGA.COM

WITH THE ROLEX GRAND SLAM AND THE IJRC ROLEX TOP 10 FINAL, THE GODS OF SHOW JUMPING ARE ON THE MOVE

he Concours Hippique International de Genève

La crème de la crème: it’s all about Geneva from 12th to 15th December. Since 1926, the historic Swiss Concours Hippique International has welcomed the very best riders of the planet in the biggest indoor arena, in front of 42 thousand spectators over the four days, for what is considered to be one of the most prestigious equestrian competitions. The CHI, which is part of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping (alongside the CHIO Aachen, in Germany, the Spruce Meadows “Masters” of Calgary, in Canada, and the Dutch Masters of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, in The Netherlands), has been awarded ‘world’s best equestrian horse show’ nine times, hosting two show jumping World Cup finals (1996 and 2010) as well as thirteen Rolex IJRC Top 10 Finals. This year, just as every year, the equestrian agenda is dense with numerous highlights, something for everyone’s taste: Indoor Cross, the 19th IJRC Top 10 Final, the Rolex Grand Prix and the FEI World Cup Driving. The Rolex Grand Slam The Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva is one of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping competitions. This concept unites four of the most prestigious and historic equestrian shows – the CHIO Aachen (GER), the Spruce Meadows “Masters” of Calgary (CAN), The Dutch Masters of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NED) and the CHI Geneva – brought together by their shared passion for the sport, for excellence and for respect for tradition. These events have been the riders’ firm favourites for years and are the Majors, constituting the Grand Slam of Show Jumping. A Grand Slam henceforth comprising four legs, just like those of tennis and golf. As of today, Scott Brash is the only rider to have won the Grand Slam, which he achieved between December 2014 and September 2015 with Hello Sanctos. The IJRC Rolex Top 10 Final The elite of international show jumping gathers for the nineteenth edition of the IJRC Top 10 Final, presented by Rolex and the International Jumping Riders Club (IJRC). It’s a unique competition that was created at the end of the nineties, when the International Jumping Riders Club, specifically IJRC Director Eleonora Ottaviani and the riders François Mathy Jr. and Rodrigo Pessoa, started working to improve the formula of the ranking list. “After going to Lisbon to watch the Tennis Masters Cup 2000, I really believed that show jumping needed a Top 10 final as well”, Rodrigo Pessoa said on the occasion. The result of this was the recognition and the annual celebration of the achievements of the best show jumpers in the world. Only the top ten riders in the global rankings

are invited to go head-to-head for this fast and elite competition. The original formula, still in place today, has two courses, allowing the riders to jump the first longer course with a Gran Prix horse, and the second speed course with a particularly fast horse. The inaugural competition took place in Geneva and was held in the city for seven years in a row, from 2001-2007. 2010 marks the 10th anniversary of the popular competition and it is set to return to Geneva, after being held in Brussels and Paris in 2008 and 2009 respectively. In 2013, Stockholm played host to the event, before it went back permanently to Geneva: “The Top 10 Final means a lot to me, as an organizer, as a journalist and as an equestrian fan, as the International Club and the Geneva CHI try together to find the best way to create a successful media event. After the big championships, the World Cup Final and the three Majors, I think it is one of the most prestigious events. It is a dream for a rider to win it or even to be on the podium”, said show director, Alban Poudret. “Geneva was where the first meetings between international riders were held. The show hosted important AGMs. We maintain common values and cultivate a shared philosophy of sport. It is therefore natural that Geneva has, among other things, hosted a large share of the 19th editions of the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final”, Eleonora Ottaviani added. Last year, Steve Guerdat was victorious with Alamo, second place went to Henrik von Eckerman and Castello and third to McLain Ward and Clinta. The International Jumping Riders Club The International Jumping Riders Club (IJRC) is the voice of show jumping riders from around the world. It is open, with voting rights, to all riders who have taken part in the Olympic Games, World or Continental Championships and at least five Nation Cups, and to riders ranked in the top 300. Membership is open, without voting rights, to supporters, fans and riders ranked in the top 3000. In April 1977, a group of 25 international riders, including David Broome, Raimondo D’Inzeo, Paul Schockomöhle and Nelson Pessoa, were asked to establish a club that would allow riders to form a group. On 24th June 1977, the International Jumping Riders Club (IJRC) was launched in Vienna. In February 1999, former president Franke Sloothaak and Secretary General Eric Waulters asked lawyer Gianrico Moor and Dr. Eleonora Ottaviani to prepare the club’s articles of association in a manner that would be more suitable to the times and would guarantee their practicality. In June 1999, the general meeting of the Riders’ Club approved the new articles of association in Aachen. The meeting elected a new president, Cayetano Martinez de Irujo. In August 2013, the IJRC appointed Christina Liebherr, the first woman to become President of the Club. At the end of 2017, Kevin Staut was elected new President of the Club. IJRC is recognized as the world’s premier riders’ association, representing the interests of all riders within FEI and sporting institutions across the globe.

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THE IJRC ROLEX TOP 10 FINAL PODIUM IN GENEVA, 2018: 1ST STEVE GUERDAT (SUI), 2ND HENRIK VON ECKERMANN (SWE) AND 3RD MCLAIN WARD (USA), WITH MRS ELEONORA OTTAVIANI AND MR RODRIGO PESSOA. PHOTO © IJRC/FABIO PETRONI

TOP 10 IJRC FINALISTS 2019 1. Steve Guerdat - Switzerland 2. Martin Fuchs - Switzerland 3. Daniel Deusser - Germany 4. Ben Maher - Great Britain 5. Peder Fredricson - Sweden 6. Pieter Devos - Belgium 7. Elisabeth Madden - Usa 8. Kenny Darragh - Irl 9. Christian Ahlmann - Germany 10. Kent Farrington - Usa

AUSTRALIAN DRIVER BOYD EXELL, WINNING WITH HIS FOUR-IN-HAND BAJNOK, BARNY, DEMI AND ROCKET 123 AT THE FEI WORLD CUP DRIVING IN GENEVA, 2018. PHOTO © CHI GENÈVE/WWW.SCOOPDYGA.COM

DRESSAGE GERMAN RIDER JESSICA VON BREDOW-WERNDL AND TSF DALERA BB, WINNERS OF THE GRAND PRIX FREESTYLE IN GENEVA, 2018. PHOTO © CHI GENÈVE/WWW.SCOOPDYGA.COM

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FROM 4-8 DECEMBER, THE EXHIBITION CENTRE IN VILLEPINTE IS PREPARED TO PLAY HOST TO GREAT SHOW JUMPING WITH THE PARIS LONGINES MASTERS, AS WELL AS PERFORMANCES, PONIES AND RACES IN FANCY DRESS by G i u l i a Pez zo l e s i

n all-encompassing journey into the equestrian world: from America to Saudi Arabia, from show jumping to dressage, with conferences, exhibition stands, activities, shopping and night-time parades. For 5 consecutive days, Paris becomes the city where anything is possible. From 4–8 December the “Salon du Cheval” will open its doors at the exhibition centre in Villepinte in the north of Paris. It is a long-running, unique, equestrian event attracting over 350 thousand visitors from all over the world every year. This year is the 48th edition with 450 exhibitors expected and more than 2500 horses from various continents showing their prowess in the most diverse disciplines. It begins with one of the most eagerly awaited events in show jumping: the “Longines Masters of Paris”, where today’s greatest horse riders will be competing against one another before going on to the stages in Hong Kong, New York and Lausanne. Last year, this breath-taking Grand Prix resulted in the triumph of the extraordinary Edwina Tops-Alexander riding California, followed by the Italian Alberto Zorzi and Denis Lynch from Ireland. A program showstopper is the thrilling six-bar competition, which always guarantees excitement and drama. New this year is the level of attention given to the well-being of the horse in the context of a sport born out of a passion for the animal. The French Veterinary Association will be organising conferences and practical demonstrations to completely understand and then better respond to the horses’ needs –from feed to behaviour. It will be possible to visit clinics managed by professional ethologists and to gain practical experience alongside professionals.

A large area will be dedicated to one of the purest breeds in the world, the Arabian horse, with the World Championship dedicated to these horses and their unique beauty and morphology in a parade of elegance and folklore featuring 140 horses. As well as the grace of the Arabian horse, there will also be entertainment with the ‘craziest’ competition of the show–the “Crazy Run”, a timed team jumping relay where top riders and their horses will be in fancy dress. Prizes will be awarded for the most eccentric and original costumes, whether they be of Native Americans covered in feathers, Hawaiians with necklaces of flowers or Scots in kilts... anything goes! The horse show offers a unique opportunity to take a broad and varied look at the equestrian world; to study, to have fun and then why not experience a magical and glamourous night: the “Nuit du Cheval”, a Saturday evening event blending sports and art in a non-stop sequence of performance and artistic shows. The “Devoucoux Derby Cross Indoor” will alternate with a special display of the “Régiment de Cavalerie de la Garde Républicaine” with horses dancing to the rhythm of music. And to finish there will

be a contest with twelve equestrian artists selected by the great Diego Cassaro of the Equestrian Theatre Wattrelos. With the “Salon du Cheval 2019”, France shines a spotlight on the multi-faceted world of equestrianism by opening its doors to the wider public. This is the reason that there are so many events dedicated to children in the program, events such as the pony parade, a special cross competition just for Shetlands, the unmissable ‘maiden ride’ for children and team games on horseback to teach the new generation the importance and power of teamwork and, above all, respect for these extraordinary animals. A journey into a universe of lights and magic where, even if just for a few days, adults and children can feel free to dream.

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THE INSIDER VIEW: DUCCIO BARTALUCCI THE ITALIAN CHEF D’ÉQUIPE DUCCIO BARTALUCCI WALKING THE COURSE AT THE LGCT IN ROME, 2019. PHOTO © BARBARA LEONI

THE CHEF D’ÉQUIPE OF THE NATIONAL TEAM SUMS UP ITALIAN SHOW JUMPING: THE OBJECTIVES REACHED AND STILL TO BE REACHED, BUT ALSO OFFERS SOME CRITICISM OF THE SPORTING SYSTEM by B a r b a ra Le o n i

Filippo Bologni, Emanuele Camilli, Antonio Alfonso and Antonio Garofalo. We have really strong young riders, the likes of Matias Alvaro and Filippo Codecasa, who are coming on but have yet to find the right horse and the right opportunity… What has certainly been understood with respect to the past, is the importance of going to other countries. Second only to France, Italy has taken part in the greatest number of international competitions, even ahead of Germany, which has a far higher number of card-carrying members, and this is very significant. How was your morale when you arrived at the European Championships and what happened?

n Italy back on form, a form not seen for decades. An Italy that has started to hold its head high and has, in the last two seasons, fully earned the right to its place amongst the best show jumping teams in the world. And yet, somewhere in all these opportunities: World Equestrian Games 2018, European Championships 2019 and the last chance to win a ticket to Tokyo 2020 in the final of The Nations Cup in Barcelona, last October, something went awry, and once again the Olympic dream has had to be postponed for a further four years. We hear from someone who experiences the highs and lows of this team sport, seen from the inside, someone who can fully explain the reasons for this and also that sometimes, there are no reasons, even though some observations and criticisms should be made, with the necessary objectivity. The Italian chef d’équipe, Duccio Bartalucci, talks to Equestrian Illustrated. How is Italian show jumping looking? We know that we have taken a great leap forward in the last two years, but we still have to consolidate this success… Today, we are aware that we have a strong team with an excellent season in The Nations Cup and two third placings and two second placings in the CSIO where we gained points. For as long as I can remember, in the last 50 years, Italy has never had a such a wide range of options: as well as the first team and its reserves, we have other riders coming up who I am keeping a close eye on. This year we have been the nation that in division one and also in the CSIO at Gjion, a five-star competition, successfully used (with results never falling below third place) the greatest number of riders. This is a significant statistic because when Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and even Ireland, so we’re talking about really strong countries, weren’t able to send out their best pairings, they were always behind us. We won our gamble with the four riders who competed in the Cup at Gjion:

We knew that it was going to be very difficult in Rotterdam. It is a Championship and not a single Nations Cup. We were a strong team, but we had to pit ourselves against adversaries who were just as strong. We were excellent, although maybe we lost a bit of ground in the speed competition against the clock, an old bugbear for us. Undoubtedly, our performance would have been enough two or three editions ago, but today the level has risen so much, that if you don’t complete one or two zero fault rounds, you’re out. The whole team has maintained a constant, uniform performance, something which has not been the case with nations ahead of us, who had an element of the team that wasn’t working at all, but which was compensated by other outstanding performances. I have had and have, a real squad with interchangeable elements always with excellent results. And I have two top riders in Lorenzo De Luca and Alberto Zorzi. I have an identical situation to that of England with Scott Brash and Ben Maher, and that of Switzerland with Martin Fuchs and Steve Guerdat… but there’s my regret: in Rotterdam it was that couple of phenomenal elements in the other teams that made all the difference. We didn’t have our two star riders with us in Rotterdam… Lorenzo due to a problem with his horse the evening before and Alberto because he doesn’t have a world class horse at the moment. Sometimes I would daydream, because I would have liked to have de Luca with the grey he rode at the World Cup last year and Zorzi with Cornetto… Maybe we would have had a different result. But there are no ifs and buts in sport and you must make a virtue of necessity. The final in Barcelona represented the last possibility for the team to qualify for Tokyo, after failed attempts at the Tryon World Championships 2018 and at the European Championships in Rotterdam. What did go wrong? We arrived in Barcelona with great potential and high expectations. For us it was a tie-break with Ireland, a really strong team, and we knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park. I gave us a 50/50 chance of succeeding. We have battled against them several times, with both of us winning in equal measure. The last time was in Dublin, where we had exactly the same squad as Barcelona where we beat them. But in Spain, notwithstanding that during the first day the situation was more or less balanced, Ireland made the final a competition of super-beings. We on the other hand, neither disgraced ourselves nor covered ourselves with glory; but that was the day to shine. At the end of the day, looking at the points ratings of the eighteen teams present, only two countries were ahead of us: Ireland, of course, and Belgium, universally considered to be the best team in the world, winning Barcelona in 2018 and the European gold medal in 2019. Our performance wasn’t too shabby, it was of an adequate level. The courses in Barcelona are nothing like those in the legs of the series we don’t compare them to the Olympics but they are pretty close, as is the competition format. And, had we been at the Olympics, considering the final rankings, Italy would have lost in a jump-off for the bronze medal. But there are always surprises and there is always someone better than you, and you have to accept that. We still have the possibility to qualify as individual riders. We have some pairings that are very well-placed in the ranking: Emanuele Gaudiano with Chalou, Emilio Bicocchi with Evita a Giulia Martinengo-Marquet with Elzas. We need to create a good strategy for the competitions up to 31st December.

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ITALIAN RIDER BRUNO CHIMIRRI, JUMPING WITH TOWER MOUCHE, AT THE LONGINES FEI JUMPING EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP IN ROTTERDAM, 2019. PHOTO © FISE/STEFANO SECCHI

From a regulatory standpoint, are there any aspects of international show jumping that you would change? Yes. Several things to do with sporting equity. There are, in fact, some rules governing the sport that are incomprehensible. When the FEI reduced the number of riders in the Olympic team to three, in order to increase the number of teams participating, and making space for a further five nations; what we were expecting was that at least three places would be destined for Europe, given the sporting weight the continent carries. This didn’t happen. They created sub rounds for Europe, so that a team such as Ukraine, who didn’t compete at Rotterdam and who perform absolutely below the level of other nations, have a place in Tokyo. Or Israel, who I understand was included for political reasons, but should have qualified by competing against France, Italy etc. This system is unacceptable and it is important that the Italian Olympic Committee does something about it. The global argument is all well and good, but Europe is a continent and all the European teams should have the same opportunities. Another thing I don’t like is the way Division One of the Nations Cup is organised: it is a championship constructed in a dishomogeneous way, with four competitions where you get points over eight legs and where you can be lucky enough or unlucky enough to meet, in all four legs, let’s say, Ireland four times and Germany only once, or vice-versa… and that’s not good. There are competitions in which countries from outside Europe are accepted, strong ones like the United States or Brasil, then there are others with Denmark or Norway, who are notoriously weaker.

THE ITALIAN SHOW JUMPING TEAM HOLDING THE SECOND POSITION IN THE IRISH LONGINES FEI NATIONS CUP LEG AT THE DUBLIN HORSE SHOW, 2019. PHOTO © RODRIGO PESSOA

It should be reduced to eight teams and eight legs, where each participating nation should organise a leg and everyone should compete in all of the legs. Then they could count the best four, but everyone should compete in the same way. Nowadays, all the European nations have a sufficiently ample number of pairings to be able to face eight cups and it shouldn’t be a problem for Germany if they can’t use Deusser or Alhmann. This year, Germany and Holland, two nations with extraordinary potential, finished eighth and ninth in Division One. Clearly, they haven’t established a policy for launching new prospects. However, sport evolves. For necessity’s sake and also by choice, we as a country, have done this. Lastly, there are another two aspects to do with access to the most prestigious five-star competitions, which have an ironclad access system that doesn’t allow for the positive evolution of the sport. With this system, places are guaranteed to the best thirty riders in the ranking, but it is in fact, a caste that protects its own, given that competitions where there are more points available to go up in the rankings are the reserve of the top thirty. Then there are the organising committees who have taken over the sport and who sell the remaining places at a high price to those who can afford it… We, as the federation, would like to see a system that guarantees to the federations of the countries invited, a quota of participation in all international competitions of a certain level. This will give an opportunity to try out the young pairings and to help them grow. It is clear that De Luca or Zorzi participate everywhere, but as chef d’équipe I need them [the competitions] to accept the upcoming riders and until now, this has been denied me.

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IT’S NO CHRISTMAS WITHOUT OLYMPIA THE CURTAIN HAS BEEN GOING UP ON THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW FOR OVER A CENTURY. 90,000 VISITORS ARE EXPECTED FOR A WEEK OF EQUESTRIANISM, PACKED WITH SURPRISES by G i u l i a Pez zo l e s i

MEMBERS OF THE LA GARDE RÉPUBLICAINE AND TEDDY THE SUPERSTAR SHETLAND PONY AT THE PHOTO CALL FOR OLYMPIA, THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW, 2018. PHOTO © OLYMPIA HORSE SHOW KIT HOUGHTON/HORSEPOWER

t is June 1907 in West London. Carriages, motor coaches and pedestrians, all heading toward the “Olympia Horse Show”, crowd Hammersmith Road and Kensington High Street. Outside the large exhibition venue there is a queue of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen waiting excitedly to go in. This was the first “International Horse Show” to be held in London. It was the age of the Belle Époque and visitors were overawed by magnificent floral decorations, displays of palms, potted hydrangeas and trees of every variety. Attended by King Edward VII accompanied by Queen Alexandra and by his heir, George, Duke of York, with his wife Princess Mary and their young children Mary and Henry, this was a unique event which fitted perfectly into the context of the growing urbanisation of society as a whole and the growing popularity of the ‘spectacular’. It was still the time of the horse, of the cavalry and of horse-riders, and jumping emerged as a sporting discipline alongside military training. At that time everyone was keen to enjoy the atmosphere of the jumping course ridden by French, English, Belgian and Russian Gentlemen Officers. After this came the puissance jump and the events of the day closed with a parade of outstanding horses. The next day the papers talked of nothing else. The Horse Show was closed down during both World Wars but after reopening, suffered from a sharp decline in attendance caused by the, by then, complete motorisation of the world and it was only with its resurrection in 1972, that Olympia returned to its original splendour. Perhaps today’s London Olympia can be said to reproduce the atmosphere of the ‘first time’: that of amazement and enchantment, spectacle and magnificence, aided by the Christmas atmosphere of the period in which the London competition takes place. It may also be said of this event that it has kept the patina of the Universal Exhibition, able to thrill the crowds who will flock to the equestrian show between 16 - 22 December. 90 thousand visitors are expected for the occasion, enjoying this year, just like every year, a program packed with surprises as guaranteed by Show Director, Simon Brooks-Ward: Horse riding at top-class level with three World Cup competitions in three disciplines – show jumping, dressage and driving - the Kennel Club Dog Agility, the Shetland pony Grand National, one of the best-loved competitions, the nostalgic and charming Musical Ride of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, the Race Night, a relay jumping competition involving some of the best jockeys in the world, including Hayley Turner or rather ‘Lady Ascot’, and finally, the great Jean-François Pignon with his freestyle horses. London will be the theatre for an event which is as unique as it is unmissable, fully respecting the animals and the environment and packed with thrills and drama. Besides, as the great Winston Churchill used to say: “No hour of life is lost that is spent in the saddle.”

SHOWS AT OLYMPIA 1908 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARENA WITH A LINE-UP OF HACKNEYS. PHOTO © OLYMPIA HORSE SHOW KIT HOUGHTON/HORSEPOWER

A DATE WITH STARS OF DRESSAGE AND CARRIAGE DRIVING Although London Olympia attracts show jumping’s leading names with the eighth leg of the Western European League of the World Cup 2019-2020 series, the arena will also be the venue for the other two five-star disciplines: dressage and driving, which will take place here for one of the most prestigious legs of the World Cup. The 18th of December last year will be forever burned into the memory of the German rider Fredric Wandres, when he took his place in the annals of the Olympia Horse Show by beating the undisputed queen of dressage, and award-winning Olympic Champion, Charlotte Dujardin, on her home turf. Oh yes, these names indicate the calibre of elite dressage in England. Last year’s breath-taking battle in the Grand Prix Freestyle made life difficult for the judges and ended with the decision to award higher artistic marks to the male dressage rider, a rising champion in what is a traditionally Germanic discipline. In the world of driving, Boyd Exell is certainly the unassailable star of London. The seven-times World Cup Driving Champion and four times World Champion thrills everyone, and not just connoisseurs of the discipline, in a sensational four-in-hand driving competition, launched at full gallop over the indoor arena course and cheered on by the crowd.

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AGENDA:

SHETLAND GRAND NATIONAL COMPETITION AT OLYMPIA, THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW, 2018. PHOTO © OLYMPIA HORSE SHOW KIT HOUGHTON/ HORSEPOWER

Monday 16th December 2:00pm Doors Open to Olympia Grand (Arena) and Olympia National (Shopping) Dressage Masterclass Shetland Pony Grand National Musical Ride of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment Jean-François Pignon The FEI Dressage World Cup (Grand Prix)

Tuesday 17th December Musical Ride of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment Shetland Pony Grand National Jean-François Pignon The FEI Dressage World Cup (freestyle to music)

WILLIAM WHITAKER, KING OF THE OLYMPIA, ON UTAMARO D ECAUSSINES, WINNING THE LONGINES FEI WORLD CUP LEG, AT THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW, 2018. PHOTO © OLYMPIA HORSE SHOW KIT HOUGHTON/HORSEPOWER

Wednesday 18th December Csi-W Welcome Stakes The Aztec Diamond Pony Club Mini-Major The Kennel Club ABC Jumping Grand Prix The Santa Stakes Presentation of The Raymond Brooks-Ward Memorial Trophy The Kennel Club ABC Agility Stakes Final Jean-François Pignon Shetland Pony Grand National Musical Ride of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment The Cayenne Puissance Christmas Finale

Thursday 19th December HOME FAVOURITE CHARLOTTE DUJARDIN ON HAWTINS DELICATO IN THE FEI DRESSAGE WORLD CUP GRAND PRIX, AT THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW, 2018. PHOTO © OLYMPIA HORSE SHOW KIT HOUGHTON/ HORSEPOWER

The Olympia Senior Showing Series Championships Extreme Driving The Kennel Club Medium Jumping Grand Prix The Snowflake Stakes Christmas Finale The Lemieux Six Bar The Kennel Club Medium Agility Stakes Finals Jean-François Pignon Shetland Pony Grand National Musical Ride of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment Presentation of BEF Medals of Honour The Champagne-Taittinger Ivy Stakes Christmas Finale

Friday 20th December The Kennel Club Novice Agility Semi Finals The Voltaire Design Under 25 Jumping The FEI Driving World Cup The Kennel Club Novice Jumping Grand Prix The Father Christmas Stakes Evening Performance Schedule Markel Jockeys Jumping in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund The Kennel Club Novice Agility Stakes Finals Jean-François Pignon Shetland Pony Grand National Musical Ride of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment The Longines Christmas Cracker Christmas Finale

AUSTRALIAN BOYD EXELL, SERIAL CHAMPION AT OLYMPIA, DRIVING HIS FOUR-IN-HAND CARRIAGE TO VICTORY IN THE FEI DRIVING WORLD CUP LEG AT THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW, 2018. PHOTO © OLYMPIA HORSE SHOW KIT HOUGHTON/ HORSEPOWER

Saturday 21th December The Kennel Club Large Agility Stakes Semi Finals The Voltaire Design Mince Pie Stakes The Kennel Club Large Jumping Grand Prix The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup FEI Driving World Cup The Kennel Club Large Agility Stakes Finals Jean-François Pignon Shetland Pony Grand National Musical Ride of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment The Martin Collins Enterprises Christmas Tree Stakes Christmas Finale

Sunday 22th December The Equine Rescue Services Mini Stakes The Kennel Club Small Jumping Grand Prix The Turkish Airlines Speed Stakes The Christmas Holly Stakes The Kennel Club Small Agility Stakes Finals Jean-François Pignon Shetland Pony Grand National Musical Ride of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment The Turkish Airlines Olympia Grand Prix Christmas Finale

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P O LO ST. M O R I TZ

LET’S PLAY ON SNOW, IT’S POLO TIME

SNOW POLO FIELD ON A STUNNING DAY AND WITH AN ENTHRALLED PUBLIC IN ST. MORITZ, 2018. PHOTO © SNOW POLO WORLD CUP ST. MORITZ

A high-altitude event for the World Cup meeting in St. Moritz from 24 - 26 January

by G i u l i a Pez zo l e s i here is a boundless expanse of snow cradled in the Engadin Valley in Switzerland, a frozen lake that for three days turns into the most prestigious polo field the world has to offer. We are talking about the event many consider to be the ‘Wimbledon of polo’: the Snow Polo World Cup, a tournament played entirely on snow in the exclusive setting of St. Moritz.

From 24 - 26 January 2020 the 36th edition will get underway. This is a historic sporting event as the world-wide trend of playing polo on snow began here, before spreading across the globe, from Aspen in the United States and Cortina in Italy to Tianjin in China. A game where concentration and adrenaline meet, held in St. Moritz for the first time towards the end of the nineteenth century, when the British Cavalry built the first polo field and began training amidst the Swiss valleys and mountains. The soul of polo in a tiny place such as St. Moritz owes its existence to Reto Gaudenzi who, whilst travelling in Andalusia, was impressed by this dynamic discipline that seemed be a lot of fun. When he went back to Switzerland, his enthusiasm for what he had experienced knew no bounds. Not long afterwards, he founded the Swiss polo team, hiring Hans Peter Danuser, long-standing Director of the St. Moritz tourist board, to be the trainer. Hans Peter had been looking for a new event for some time to attract tourism to the area, one with a link to the British people who had been residents of Switzerland for centuries. This gave him the idea of creating a snow polo tournament, exploiting the most beautiful season in the Swiss mountains. A discipline which unites elegance and energy, polo is one of the most ancient sports in the world. It would appear that the first, rudimental form of the sport was invented by the nomads of Central Asia, partly for fun but partly as training for war. However, it was between 600 B.C. and 100 A.D. that polo spread beyond the borders of ancient Persia to become popular around the world. With this growth, new forms of the game appeared, not only on the green, the famous green lawn, but also on the beach and, of course, on snow.

in January: team Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, team Maserati, team de Grisogono and team Azerbaijan Land of Fire. Even if equestrian sports such as jumping, dressage and cross country are not particularly popular in Asia, Azerbaijan plays a commanding role in the world of polo thanks also to the passion of General Elchin Guliyev, President of the Azerbaijan Equestrian Federation. In this territory between desert and modernity horse breeding has always been a great economic resource and its polo ponies are exported all over the world. It is a discipline that has grown over time, so much so, that four years ago, Azerbaijan became European Champion, winning against the favourites–Germany.

Today, the Snow Polo Word Cup event attracts increasing numbers of people, not only experts from the sector but also those who are simply fans of horses and glamour. Over the last few years, St. Moritz has drawn 18 thousand spectators and 200 journalists from all over Europe, ready to enjoy the spectacular victories of the Cartier team which raised the winner’s cup for the third consecutive year. Four teams are ready to go into battle

The Snow Polo World Cup is a unique sporting event on the world stage and is one which has gained a sizeable following in the last few years, captivating not just enthusiasts, but both young and old alike, paparazzi-seeking fashion victims, passing skiers and lovers of elegance and adrenaline. But, above all, it has hooked all those who have within them, and live every day, the unbridled passion that only horses are able to transmit.

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PASSAPORTO

PER L’AVVENTURA

National Geographic Expeditions è una filosofia di viaggio. In Italia, National Geographic ha scelto Kel 12, da 40 anni al fianco del viaggiatore curioso e consapevole che non si accontenta di un’esperienza qualunque. Luoghi, natura, culture e popoli: ogni cosa vissuta immergendosi nell’anima di un paese. Esplorazioni uniche e irripetibili, accompagnati dai nostri esperti, sempre rispettosi delle identità dei luoghi.

S C O P R I D I P I Ù S U n at i o n a l g e o g ra p h i c ex p e d i t i o n s . i t E N E L L E AG E N Z I E D I V I AG G I O S E L E Z I O N AT E © 2019 National Geographic Partners, LLC. Ogni viaggio National Geographic Expeditions contribuisce a finanziare la ricerca scientifica e l’esplorazione nel mondo.

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A SPARKLING STROLL THROUGH FRANCIACORTA A NOT-TO-BE-MISSED TOUR FOR LOVERS OF SPARKLING WINE TAKING IN WINE-CELLARS AND FARMHOUSES: AN AUTUMN WEEKEND BREAK BETWEEN BRESCIA AND LAGO D’ISEO by B a r b a ra G i g l i o l i

very proper celebration deserves to be enjoyed with bubbles. No matter the occasion; the important thing is to be holding a wine glass full of goodness, with an effervescent stream of bubbles rising up towards the rim of the glass. The bubbles reach the top and break the surface and, in that very moment, the beauty of the area is revealed. We are in Franciacorta, a hilly area between Brescia and the southernmost tip of Lago d’Iseo and a landscape dedicated to wine production using the Classic Method. Here, strolling amidst grapevines and trails there are wine-cellars, farmhouses and restaurants which have made hospitality their passion.

CANTINA BOSIO

Some places have a magical effect on you. Just going through the gates created by the great artist Pomodoro, gives you the feeling of entering ‘another dimension’. Perhaps for the works of art scattered around the property, perhaps for the perfume upon entering the wine cellar, but a visit to this company is certainly a must. The business started from a small ‘house in the woods’ purchased by its founder Anna Maria Clementi (the maison’s cuvée is dedicated to her) and from the intuition of her son Maurizio Zanella, who after a trip to Champagne, came back to Franciacorta to make something similar, blazing a trail for the area. Ca’ del Bosco, ingresso da via Lovera, via Albano Zanella, Erbusco, BS

Next to the Osteria Dispensa, but entirely with its own identity, is Natura. Here, the chef, Marco Acquaroli proposes a cuisine that starts in the Franciacorta area (he uses fish from the lake and vegetables from the restaurant’s kitchen garden) and looks to the future in a way that is natural and environmentally aware. Sustainability, use of local resources and memories of the past… The five tasting menus are indeed inspired by tradition, but they are also a constant stimulus for the memory of flavours from the past. In fact, with every mouthful you feel all the amazement of a child playing outdoors discovering the marvels of the surrounding world. Ristorante Natura, Via Principe Umberto 35, Adro, fraz. Torbiato BS

LA CASCINA DEI SAPORI

Love of the land, respect for the environment and the desire to innovate are the values that distinguish the Bosio wine-cellar. Cesare and Laura are the third generation of the family to manage the company and thanks to their extensive knowledge and the desire to grow the business, have made it modern and competitive. Thirty hectares of vineyards produce organic sparkling wine. The primary objective of the Bosio family is to respect the environment they have always loved. Cantina Bosio, via M.Gatti 4, Corte Franca, BS

RISTORANTE NATURA

A temple for lovers of gourmet pizza who wouldn’t say no to a glass of bubbly to go with it. What makes the pizza special is the light, very digestible pizza dough–the result of years of study–and the unexpected, stunningly balanced, flavour combinations. Antonio Pappalardo is a young pizza chef with creative flair, in charge of the oven, creating pizzas with toppings of squid, persimmon, liquorice and macadamia on bases of Blend of Einkorn (Triticum Monococcum flour and semi-whole flour) or pan brioche with raw prawns, burrata cheese and artichokes. La Cascina dei Sapori is an unmissable stop for lovers of traditional pizza and of its evolution. La cascina dei Sapori, Via Evaristo Almici, 1, 25086 Virle BS

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DISPENSA PANI E VINI This place instantly makes you feel at home. Here you can sit at the bar for a quick aperitif or choose to sit at one of the tables placed amidst the wine-racks. This restaurant is an inn, a wine bar and a wine cellar able to satisfy every demand: from a swift meal to a relaxing Saturday lunch in the company of friends. The kitchen uses raw ingredients from the area for its traditional dishes. Dispensa Pani e Vini, via Principe Umberto 23, Adro, fraz. Torbiato BS

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VERONA WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO SEE AND WHERE TO EAT DURING FIERACAVALLI, IN THE CITY OF ROMEO AND JULIET s e l e c t e d by C r i s t i n a P i o t t i

Where to sleep Sleep in Verona facing the balcony where it all started. Il Sogno di Giulietta is an exclusive Relais de Charme. On two sides of the guest house there are rooms with windows looking either directly onto the famous balcony or onto the elegant via Cappello in Verona’s historic town centre. That very courtyard, a destination for visitors from across the world, is closed to the public at night, but not to guests, who can immerse themselves in its Shakespearian atmosphere. Via Cappello 23, Verona www.sognodigiulietta.it 045 8009932

The Due Torri Hotel sits just a stone’s throw away from Juliet’s balcony. Known in the 14th century as Palazzo dell’Aquila, by 1674 it was already in use as an inn and in the middle of the 19th century, it was transformed into the Grand Hotel Imperiale. Music’s greatest names, both past and present, from Mozart to Placido Domingo, have been guests at the hotel; a testament to the connection with the nearby Arena, the venue for some of the most thrilling opera seasons in the world. Piazza Sant’Anastasia 4, Verona, www.duetorrihotels.com 045 595044

Where to Eat CASA PERBELLINI

Il Desco has been at the heart of Verona’s historic town centre for over 40 years. It was founded by Elia Rizzo and is managed today by his son Matteo, a hand-over that unites technique with refinement and an almost minimalist simplicity. As well as guaranteeing vegetarian, lactose and gluten free choices, Desco offers a tasting menu of “Tortelli di baccalà, black lime e aglio nero”, “Cervella croccante, consommé di crostacei tostati ed emulsione di vaniglia” and “Orzo, limone e cardamomo”. Via Dietro S. Sebastiano 5/7, Verona www.ristoranteildesco.it 045 595358

Casa Perbellini was opened in 2014 and is the kingdom of award-winning chef Giancarlo Perbellini who in just four years has reached the highest echelons of Italian restaurants, with two Michelin stars. An unspoiled place, with a revolutionary format and a cosmopolitan approach, Casa Perbellini has recently introduced a new open-style pastry kitchen and a vegetarian tasting menu. Piazza San Zeno 16, Verona www.casaperbellini.com 0458780860

Don’t miss

LIBERTY STABLES

The Rana family will be presenting Liberty Stables at the Fieracavalli in Verona. Liberty Stables is one of the first of very few equitation centres in Italy with qualified instructors applying the “Parelli Natural Horsemanship” method to the show jumping discipline. The philosophy behind the method aims to establish a relationship between horse and rider based on communication, respect and mutual trust, which is reflected positively in sporting performance. The Liberty Stables approach is suited to both those who have attained a good level of horsemanship and to those who are approaching the discipline for the first time. Created in 2019 from the passion for horses of Gian Luca Rana (CEO of Pastificio Rana) and his family, the equestrian centre is located just outside Verona in the midst of the verdant Vallese di Oppeano. Veronafiere, Viale del Lavoro 8, Padiglione 9 Fieracavalli

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GALA D’ORO FIERACAVALLI A true show of equestrian art animating the Verona evenings at the end of days dedicated to horses. On the 7th, 8th and 9th of November in Fieracavalli Verona the eagerly awaited Gala d’Oro returns, with carousels, dressage, doma-vaquera, the Maremma cowboy work mount combined with music, dance and equestrian theatre, transporting the audience into the world of Dreams, the show directed by Antonio Giarola. Magical atmospheres will come to the fore thanks to many guests of the calibre of Alex Giona, returning from an international tour, with his free rein horses and Santi Serra Camps. Acts include, for the first time in Verona, the comedy trio The Horseman and soloist Alizée Froment, with her new set Angelus and live performances by violinist Domenico Artale. Veronafiere, Viale del Lavoro 8, Verona Tickets: www.fieracavalli.it/it/ notti-di-fieracavalli

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Straight from the horseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mouth. A r t wo r k by E r n e s t o A n d e r l e

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