Every
first Sunday in June, at the tourist village of San Leonardo
de Siete Fuentes, the Regional Horse Fair is held.
This is a
date marked in red on the calendars of horse breeders. Buying,
selling or just looking at horses and asking their prices, but
also spending a day with friends and acquaintances: it is for
this that breeders from all over Sardinia meet at San Leonardo
on this occasion.
At the San Leonardo horse fair, the most important
in the Island, horses of all breeds, all colors and for all uses
can be found: bays, chestnuts and roans, grays and blacks, saddle
horses, work horses, race horses and horses for the butcher;
broken and unbroken.
Although it is held at the same time as
the religious festival in honor of the Saint who gave his name
to the village, the horse fair is a separate event, not religious
but only commercial.
What matters is the horse, showing it to
the best in order to sell it at a good price, or merely to have
it admired by the expert, attentive eyes of the breeders attending
the fair. At the San Leonardo fair, you must not only know how
to look, but also how to buy; know how to choose among so many
offers, how to seize a good occasion without jumping at the first
bargain that crops up.
The horse must be well trained, have strong
legs and a beautiful coat, and must respond promptly to the commands
of its rider.
Prospective buyers first observe carefully from
the ground, and then test the horses' response to commands in
a trial ride.
The prospective buyer and the horse trader negotiate
with all the arts at their command.
In the end the affair is
finally concluded, or the story is repeated with other horses
and other breeders until sunset marks the end of the day. While
bargaining continues in the "Palza
de sos caddos" (horse square),
from various points in the surrounding woods plumes of smoke
begin to rise: fires to roast the suckling pigs or lambs that
will be ready by dinner time. |
Carro a buoi per la tradizionale Processione a San Leonardo
Fiera del Cavallo
Artigianato in mostra - La selleria Spanu
Santu Lussurgiu
[ Entra ]
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