EN Today: Bareback horse racing in Siena, Italy

“Siete tutti pazzi”… I think that translates to “Y’all are crazy,” a statement applicable to the jockeys in a video Visionaire posted this afternoon.

From Vis:

According to the Daily Traveler, the Palio is an annual bareback horse race held in Siena, Italy since 1644.  The races take place July 2 and August 16 (that’s soon, folks, better book your tickets now!).

This is how it works: A jockey and horse represents each contrada, or neighborhood; 10 of the 17 districts, chosen at random, compete in each Palio; and the winner earns bragging rights for the rest of the year. The actual race is short—the horses circle the Piazza del Campo three times, which usually takes less than 90 seconds. Even if the jockey falls off (which happens often enough that mattresses are piled against the wall next to the most dangerous turn) the horse could finish the race and win on its own.

This vaguely looks like something we did as kids in Pony Club when no adults were around.  Except no horses fell down and we didn’t have mattresses lining the walls…!

[via tubetvafter]