You
have to see the "parezas" competition held at Santu Lussurgiu
in "Sa Carrela 'e nanti" during the three days of Carnival
to know how proud a town can be of its horsemen's skill and
its own equestrian traditions.
With due recognition to the
Ardia di Sedilo and the now famous Sartiglia di Oristano,
it can be stated that the Sa Carrela 'e nanti of Santu Lussurgiu
has been for centuries and is still today one of the most
demanding, hazardous exhibitions of horsemanship held in
Sardinia.
The racetrack is always the same, an unpaved road
that winds along Via Rome with curves, narrow passages, little
open spaces, downhill runs, flatlands and a short steep rise
at the end, not to speak of lethal corners of houses sticking
out into the path of the horses.
The throng of spectators,
crammed together behind the barriers or in the doorways of
the houses that offer a providential refuge along the road,
seem to restrict even more the space in which horses and
riders dash past - two, three and even four, galloping side
by side at full tilt.
The spectators hold their breaths as
the racers flash past, and then pour onto the track afterward
to run after them, shouting comments on the riders' skill.
Sometimes the start is lightening fast, the horses leaping
forward all together; at other times it is dangerous and
nerve-wracking.
And in these circumstances, the spectators
too become leading participants in Sa Carrela `e nanti. Crowd-scattering
horses, irritable, capricious, their flanks streaming with
sweat, their muscles swollen and nerves taut, terrified by
the crowd overflowing the barriers, stubbornly refuse to
start in spite of spurs and even whips, shouts of incitement
and the most refined persuasive techniques known to riders,
breeders and the public at large.
At last they are off! Swift
as the wind, accompanied by the thrilled ovation of the crowd.
And now we can see how, at Santu Lussurgiu, in Sa Carrela
`e nanti, the myth of the winged horse Pegasus is still vitally
alive today.
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Santu Lussurgiu,
Sa Carrela 'e nanti,
parezas
to three
Equestrian evolutions
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Aforismi:
