Motta Medieval: Pale at the Palio

I don't really care for animals in shows. I like seeing animals in their natural environment, enjoying life with their own kind! But many have raved about the Italian Palio (medieval horse games) so I decided to put my muzzle on and go see the show!



There were a variety of games that day...and the object of this game is to punch the Arab's bullseye with your medieval lance while riding a horse at high speeds.

The black-faced Arab thing so would not fly in the US. You'd have the ACLU, NAACP and whatever else down your throat for racism. But somehow that still works in Sicily.



So as I was trying to drown out the noise of an injured horse in the background....this happened. A man with his falcon walked out..I guess to perform something...only to be upstaged by another animal.

A starving, salivating, emaciated feral dog in the field charged the falcon and it circled the field and then took off.



The owner/handler blew his whistle, waved his signal to desperately try to get the bird to come back. That falcon was gone! And two men were running all over the field trying to shoo this hungry dog off the field.



I...uh...think that was my first and last Palio. And probably the falcon's too.