The words of English novelist and sportsman Robert Smith Surtees (“There is no such intimate secrecy as that between a rider and his horse”) truly convey the cardinal principle of horse riding: a deep understanding between the rider and his horse. During a race, all the athlete’s physical and technical skills are put to the …

“As we know, the horser is the most important part of the rider”. These fateful words by French playwright Jean Giraudoux express the commitment that every jockey must put into taking care of his horse. Indeed, unlike other sports completely focused on competitions and training, horse riding is a daily practice made of constancy, order …

Italian rider Alessandro Alvisi, born in Vicenza in 1887 and winner of two bronze medals in horse riding at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp as he rid horse Raggio di Sole, must have been very well-aware of the fear taking any jockey by storm before races, if at any certain point in time he …

A sentence by British writer and painter John Ruskin, who lived two centuries ago, reads: “Quality is never accidental; it is always the result of an intelligent effort”. The concept according to which excellence is the result of commitment and dedication applies to every area of life, including sports. Particularly, horse riding aficionados know all …

Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American philosopher who lived in the 1800s, wrote that “Nothing can begin without ambition. Without work, nothing can be done. No prize will ever be given to you. You have to conquer it”. Now more than ever, these words remind us that in personal life, work and sport alike, it is …

In the fourth century b.C., Greek philosopher Aristotle affirmed the intimate link between content and form:  “The soul never thinks without an image ”. This concept, still extremely popular today, is at the very base of the aesthetic tastes of most people. We can find “beauty” in art, literature, nature, but also in sports. An …