Written by Barock Pinto Italy.
The famous Milanese breeder and driver kept us in suspense after her accident last May: but now she has returned to her beloved horses and talks about the latest successes achieved by the Barock Pinto made in Italy
Biella, 15 August 2019 – Paola Pedrazzini is back, yes: after the serious accident she was victim of last May while training one of her horses with the carriage, she has now been discharged from the hospital, and is able to join her family at Cascina Casone di Cavaglià.
A family composed of a husband, many dogs and many horses: among them also the Barock Pinto, fascinating with their spotted coat, selected in the Netherlands since the 1960s, combining the well known sweetness of Frisian horses with warm blood of sports subjects, characterized by the two-tone livery.
We take advantage of the happy conclusion of an adventure that could have been much more painful and of the tempered steel character of Paola, whose voice is now ringing and cheerful as always: for us it is a joy to know her again in shape, and as always a pleasure talk to her about horses.
How was La Cascina Casone born?
Since I was a child I have always had a great passion for all animals, especially horses and dogs. My dream has always been to be able to live with my animals in a farmhouse and to be able to treat them and love them at the best. We had the idea of opening the farm with a breeding stable in 2008, but it was only in 2012 that I decided to move to live with my family in Cavaglià, in the province of Biella: we restructured a farmhouse and built the stables, and a bit for fun and a little for passion, the idea of raising horses started, thus finally starting to fulfill what was my dream.
What horses did you start with?
At the beginning I had several PRE (pura raca espagnola), but then I discovered that magnificent breed, the Barock Pinto. From my first Friesian mare, Femke, and from the Kwpn stallion approved for the Barock Pinto Ceasar Ter Linden, in 2015 Florian, our first Barockpinto foal, was born. In 2017 two other foals were born from the same stallion, Hermann and Hanne del Casone, sons of Femke and Zephyra respectively: they are the founders of our Barock Pinto breeding program, followed by five other foals up to now.
And Florian, meanwhile? …
In the meantime our Florian has grown, in 2018 he was presented in the official selection of breed in Austria and obtained the right of breeding, so according to the rules of the stud-book is classified as Ster.
But in the meantime the number of Italian fans of colored Dutch has also grown …
Certainly, so much that following these successes and in agreement with other horse owners of this breed, Silvia Ravanelli (who is the president of the Barock Pinto Italy association) and I, as vice president, decided to organize the first keuring ever dedicated to barockPinto in Italy, with an official Dutch jury, at my stable.
When was this keuring held, and how did it go?
Unfortunately, last June 22nd, when I was still in the hospital for therapies, but friends and colleagues worked well and success exceeded all expectations. There were 18 horses participating and, according to the Dutch judges, worthy subjects; and it was a huge satisfaction for my breeding stable that brought home two first prizes, a second prize, a new qualified Ster mare and proclaimed the best subject of the day and for our stallion Florian, the passing of the IBOP Test.
Ibop test? …
Ibop is a test to understand the potential of the reproducing subject, to evaluate its movements and capacity in work; usually with a ridden horse, rarely with long reins: but Florian is so well behaving with the carriage that we have chosen this mode. This type of evaluation is the second step on the road to final approval of the stallion, which is divided into three stages: the next one will be the analysis of the qualities of its products, if there are foals with excellent prizes he will definitely become BP. He is now qualified as Ster, in fact on the documents he is identified as Florian Ster 63. Another important test for these horses is the test for hydrocephalus: Florian is not carrier of this gene which could have very serious desease for the new born foals and comes from the Frisian component.
We remember well Florian at the last Fieracavalli in Verona: very alive, as exuberant as a stallion of nearly 4 years in that situation but also serious and concentrated once he was busy in work or in the ring. Is he a representative sample of the barock pinto family?
Florian, who turned 4 years old this year, carries 50% of Frisian blood and 50% of Kwpn blood, and is really a good example of the qualities of the Barock Pinto: sweet like the Frisian, but with a little warmer blood that comes from the Kwpn.
What will its future be?
In practice his future will be ours: from 2020 the foals that will bear in my farm will all be his sons, we are a public mating station and we have Florian’s semen available for those wishing to inseminate their mares.
How difficult was for you to be far on that blessed day in June?
A lot, a lot: we had been working for years to reach this result. But the important thing is that everything went in the best way. And I would like to conclude by thanking many people: first and foremost the judges Gerrit Stelwagen and Rinze Van Teijen, who did a great job and made many compliments to my horses, declaring my breeding of great quality and my home a great location. I also dedicate special thanks to those who have made every effort to make this historical event possible: Danilo Ignazzi, Silvia Ravanelli, Giovanni Santi, Manuel Marquez Medina, Bruna Ballerio and Sergio Ghisi. If I did not escape from the hospital in the grip of anxiety it was only because I had the utmost confidence in their abilities.
And it’s not hard to believe it: because Paola Pedrazzini is very, very difficult to stop!