Il Cavallo, la Brughiera’ is set to go

Il Cavallo, la Brughiera’ of 2009 will commence on Friday, April 24. The weekend will host the endurance events, including the 160 kilometres, the course which is a candidate for the 2011 European Championships. Also, high on the agenda is the entertainment for the public at large both at Casorate Sempione and Somma Lombardo.   The countdown has almost run down, the await all but over. With the opening ceremony planned for 18:30, Friday, April 24, the 2009 ‘Il Cavallo, la Brughiera’, an event which is organised by a committee supported by the San Giorgio, San Gallo, La Capinera, Riding Club-Geb and Raynold’s stables. The initiative has the double aim of freshening up the equestrian tradition of Casorate Sempione and re-launching the Basso Varesotto, an area inside the Parco della Valle del Ticino, as a tourist destination. For this reason, the event is being supported by initiatives aimed at the general public and capable of attracting people outwith the horse sector.There are 142 riders, from the north and central Italy but also from France and Hungary, who have already entered the endurance events scheduled for the opening weekend, which concludes May 3. Ilaria Dettoni, the president of the organising committee, confirmed: “I hope this second edition can consolidate the event, in the hope that any success and the beauty of the endurance course can be help us win the bid for the 2011 European Championships.“We hope that Casorate [Sempione] can receive a boost thanks to the event, showing the quality of life in a town on the heath surrounded by greenery but still near an international airport like Malpensa, infrastructure that renders our woodland easily reachable.”    The programme for Friday, April 24 sees the opening ceremony at 18:30 inside the council buildings of Casorate Sempione. At the end of the inauguration, which will be concluded by an flag waving exhibition by the Gruppo Sbandieratori di Besnate accompanied by music from ‘La Casoratese’ band, a briefing dedicated the participants of the weekend’s endurance events will be held. Drinks will then be served at the restaurant ‘La Pista’. In the evening at 21:00, the show of wooden carrousels sculpted by Goffredo Colombani, ‘Cavalli giocosi’, will have its inauguration.