America in Reggio Emilia
The Salone del Cavallo Americano (American Horse Show) is back, from May 19 to 22 at the Fiere di Reggio Emilia

One of Europe’s greatest forays into the horse fair world has proven its staying power – in fact, it’s thriving and evolving into a new and even more popular dimension. The Salone del Cavallo Americano (American Horse Show) in Reggio Emilia joins the German biennial of Americana as the only fairs to have focused all of their energies on the Western horse and the multi-faceted sporting and cultural world that surrounds it. The horse show is opening its gates in the late spring as usual, the third weekend of May – from May 19 to 22, to be exact.

More for a general public
After the intense specialization of recent years (in which, you’ll remember, this show and this town were the stage for some of the most prestigious FEI Reining contests), the Fair is back to being mainly for the public at large, and focusing on hosting specializations and shows that can interest and satisfy everyone who loves the magnificent Quarter, Coloured Appaloosa and Paint horses, more for their beauty and versatility than their extreme competitive abilities. Special attention has been paid to children and events for the whole family that have high technical quality plus much to offer in terms of healthy fun, without the very high costs of other specializations, which have become accessible only to the privileged few.

Everyone on horseback
People say that riding is a sport for the élite. That’s not always true. There are ways to ride and compete without breaking the bank. The Salone del Cavallo Americano 2005 (American Horse Show) is taking up the challenge of proving so in response to the general strains caused by the recession.
The programme of the large Horse Show is making space for more affordable, yet no less fascinating, Western disciplines. Indeed, the versatility of less specialized horses (the famous “all around” experts in many specializations that we can see in Reggio Emilia in three planned large breeding shows) or in the dynamic energy of a team penner, or a barrel racer, can sometimes better capture the attention of the audience with their greater appeal than the ultra specialized performances of other disciplines.

A herd in the arena
Order please! First of all, this year the Show is offering a large selection of sports that brings the herd on the competition field. These are the sports that are most directly connected to the cowboy’s work, which spawned the entire Western sport, making them of particular fascination to the public. An Italian competition stage and derby for the two most internationally widespread “cow-disciplines”: cutting and the thrilling working cow horse. First is the AICH show and the second is the European ERCHA competition, including all ages classes; then there’s the Italian Championship for the big-time fun of team penning. The Associazione Italiana Cutting Horse will introduce a youth category, which will be held on Sunday with the novice riders category so that kids and beginners can participate without missing days of school or work.

News from the “cowpokes”
A special evening will be dedicated to the even more exciting version of team penning called ranch sorting, which has only recently been introduced in Italy from the U.S. The usual team, consisting of a trio of horses and riders, must not only herd three herd leaders marked by the same number in the pen (after which the specialty is named); to up the stakes, they must “round up” 10, which will bear the numbers from 0 to 9 and – what’s more – in the right order! Another new addition is ranch roping, which simulates and recreates the ritual of branding in the arena. The discipline is regulated by the specialized association, IRRA (Italian Ranch Roping Association), and has only recently become popular and hosted on Italian fair stages (it was welcomed in Reggio Emilia for the first time last year with a demonstration at another important event).

Europe’s fastest
The much-attended European Championship of Barrel Racing and Pole Bending is also back, abounding in competitors and ever more popular for the speed of the competitions and the ease of understanding its rules. What counts is the minimum time and the barrel (or pole), up or down. This competition, which is always given a high-energy commentary and draws roars from the crowd, has become one of the best-loved classics in Italy.

All breeds and all specializations
The 2005 Show will host the Italian Championship in a single stage for all three official American breeds: Quarter, Coloured Appaloosa, and Paint horses. This means that we can see the top Western specialists in all performance disciplines (including English ones) and halter competitions, with an enormous variety of all of the shapes, colours, agilities and talents that can be imagined within the horse world. This show will produce the 2005 champions for each breed and discipline – best horses and riders in the country. An event absolutely not to be missed.

Make way for the beauties
For the third year in a row, the Horse Show in Reggio Emilia is repeating an event that first saw light in 2003. With its great success and growth over the years, it can fairly be called the top Italian Western halter competition. The All American Breeds Contest will face off, divided by age and sex, the most beautiful Quarter, Appaloosa and Paint horses of Italy, leading up to the exciting election of the Best in Show, which draws a huge crowd to the stands.

VIP on board
We’ve heard a lot about them recently. Two well-known television personalities have become such fans of the American horse world that they have dived in headfirst. The entertainer Natalia Estrada and erstwhile show-stealer of Big Brother, Pietro Taricone. She’s in Milan; he’s in Rome. She’s more interested in competition while he prefers horseback riding in nature. They both regularly ride, have become owners of some of the most beautiful Western horses, and are now presidents of the two most recently-founded Western Associations: the Italian Western Academy for Natalia and the Professional Trail Riders for Pietro. We’ll see them both at Salone del Cavallo Americano (American Horse Show) hard at work promoting their associations as their professions would have it: by entertaining and surprising.

The children
Natalia Estrada’s Italian Western Academy, which works with riding schools, will organize a first-horse riding at the show. The association’s highly specialized instructors will be available for children who want to experience the joy of climbing in the saddle, of course following all of the safety rules that are this group’s Sacred Text. The young riders might even have a chance of being led along the trail by the beautiful, energetic Natalia (if she’s not busy in other promotional work) who has already proven that she is ready to work hard for more than just her “baby”, IWA.

Deals at the Show
The Salone del Horse American (American Horse Show) is also a chance to find good deals. As always, the market area will be full of stands selling everything: technical equipment, gifts, knick-knacks and clothing related to country living. This year will also bring some interesting new features related to the sale and purchase of horses: a special area reserved for the American horse market set up with areas for exhibiting the animals on sale, where breeders can display their horses and negotiate with the crowds of potential customers that such a show always draws.

The nights of Reggio Emilia
Those who know this fair will certainly not be new to staying late at the Show and enjoying a great Tex Mex meal and a refreshing beer. Once again, there will be country restaurants, music and dances for fun all evening. Also not to be missed are the regular gatherings for lunch and dinner among Western fans from all of Europe socializing at the saloon tables. We’ll be waiting for you!

Scheduled competitions
AIQH ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP (QUARTER)
AIA ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP (APPALOOSA)
OFFICIAL PHCI SHOW (PAINT)
EUROPEAN BARREL RACING & POLE BENDING CHAMPIONSHIP
STAGE OF ITALIAN ANTP CHAMPIONSHIP (TEAM PENNING)
FUTURITY TEAM PENNING
RANCH SORTING
ERCHA DERBY (WORKING COW HORSE)
STAGE OF ITALIAN AICH CHAMPIONSHIP (CUTTING)
ALL AMERICAN HORSES CONTEST
SHOW RANCH ROPING

Salone del Cavallo Americano
19/22 May 2005 – Fiere di Reggio Emilia
Via Filangieri, 15 – Reggio Emilia
Tel: +39 0522/503511; e-mail: info@fierereggioemilia.it
Web site: www.salonedelcavallo.com
Schedule: Thursday 19 May from 9 AM to 7:00 PM; Friday 20 and Saturday 21 from 9 AM to 11 PM; Sunday 22 May from 9 AM to 7 PM. Entertainment, live music, restaurants and entertainment until late night.