The Palio

I recently saw a documentary about The Palio which takes place in Siena, Italy.





Felt a lot like this famous horse race :)





The differing city factions (which have fabulous names like Unicorn, She-wolf, Goose...) duke it out bareback on polo ponies around the town square for bragging rights.  Imagine the craziest sports fanatics, but with ~800 years of local district grudges to bring it to a whole new level: Intrigue, bribery, and corruption are all an expected part of the spectacle.

Race Horses in cathedrals to be Blessed on Race Day

Jockeys bareback and in 1500's regalia "wherefore art thou, Romeo?"

Horses can win races with no jockey (apparently the only horse race which allows this!)

On purpose hairpin turns - and rawhide sticks to beat your opponents with 

I gotta say, the jockeys are sticky riders - they train with bareback pads too! (and usually no helmets...cringe). The footage of the races are white knucklers - I don't know how more jockeys and horses didn't get seriously injured (apparently more modern safety measures have been adopted).

Totes worth a watch for a behind the scenes look at the oldest horse race still in existence.