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The horse village
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Italian
horse-racing was born on the banks of the Arno.
The fact
that this sport is a characteristic of Pisa cannot be ignored.
The heart
of the San Rossore estate holds a major training centre for
thoroughbred horses and a race-course that has been in use
for the last 150 years.
Traditionally,
San Rossore opens the spring season of Italian horse-racing.
In April,
when the Apuan Alps in the background still bear traces of
snow, and the salty tang of the sea blows inland driven by
the south-west wind known as libeccio, the racing season ends
in San Rossore, heralding the start of national races and
major European turf events.
The race
that marks this passage is the Pisa prize, a classic of international
horse-racing that has been won by several champions - one
name will suffice by way of example: Ribot.
Behind the
race-course, an entire village, called Barbaricina, sustains this activity. Every morning, 900 resident horses set off
for the nearby training centre of
San Rossore
from the stables
in Barbaricina, and in the course of its century and a half
of history the village has been the birthplace of great jockeys
and of craftsmen carrying on all the trades connected with
horse-racing: grooms, saddlers, tailors for horse-riding wear,
farriers or blacksmiths.
As a result,
Barbaricina is widely known as “the horse village”.
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