cavallo
horse
For two days this summer — on July 2 and August 16 —
centuries slipped away, and all eyes in Italy again turned to il Campo (the
field), as the natives of Siena call
their piazza, for the running of the Palio (horse race). Just as they did in
the first Palio in 1656, race horses (cavalli)
and their bareback riders representing the city’s contrade (wards or neighborhoods) whipped madly around the edges
of the Piazza del Campo.
Each of the contrade has its own symbol: aquila (eagle), bruco (caterpillar), chiocciola
(snail), civetta (little owl), drago (dragon), giraffa (giraffe), istrice (crested porcupine), unicorno (unicorn), lupa (wolf), conchiglia (seashell),
oca (goose), onda (wave), pantera (panther), selva (forest),
tartaruga (tortoise), torre (tower) and Valdimontone (“Vale of the Ram”). However, the stars of the Palio
are i cavalli. The prize goes to
the first horse to cross the finish line with its head ornaments intact — with
or without its jockey. As the winning contrada celebrates raucously, those who backed i cavalli
perdenti (the losing horses) plan for next year’s race.
You don’t have to wait that long to encounter a cavallo
italiano — be it a cavallo da
sella (saddle horse), a cavallo
di razza (thoroughbred), a cavallo
da corsa (race horse), a cavallo
da tiro (draught horse), or a cavallo
da carrozza (carriage horse).
Where there are cavalli, you’ll
find finimenti di cavalli
(horse-trappings), ferri di cavallo
(horseshoes) — and mosche (horse
flies).
You also might run into a horse dealer (mediatore
di cavalli, cavallaio or cavallaro). A cavaliere is something
else entirely: a horseman, a rider, a cavalier, a knight and the Italian
press’s nickname for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. A cavaliere servente (ladies’ man) may never montare un cavallo (mount a horse) but may prefer to correre la
cavallina (run the young mare, or
sow wild oats).
“Siamo a cavallo!”
(“We are on the horse!”) Italians say when things are going well — or at least
heading in the right direction. But they also caution, “Campa cavallo
che l’erba cresce.” (As the horse is
resting in the field, the grass grows…) Things may be going well now, in other
words, but don’t trust any long-term promises And while you’re at it, remember this timeless advice: A caval
donato non si guarda in bocca. (Don’t look
a gift horse in the mouth!”)
Da bambina (as a child), I loved to ride a cavallo a dondolo (rocking horse), and I’d beg my father to play a cavalluccio (make like a little horse and carry me on his back). At the beach we’d watch the
huge breaiers sailors call cavallone
(big horses) and look for a cavalluccio marino (sea horse) in the sand. At the end of the day we
would andare con il cavallo di
San Francesco (go with St. Francis’s
horse — on foot, as St. Frances and his begging brothers did).
Words
and Expressions
tosse
cavallina — horse or whooping cough
a
cavallo del secolo — at
the horse (turn) of a century
cavalli
di battaglia — battlehorse, in the
sense of an old chestnut, a favorite song or show, a very strong quality in
someone
cavallo di troia —
Trojan horse
Click below to watch two-and-a-half minutes of last year’s
stirring race, won by la Nobil Contrada del Bruco, the noble contrada of
the caterpillar, whose horse was anything but slow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMiGht7mU94
