The Classic Villa Borghese Hosts a Classic Equestrian Event

New York Times

21-05-2025

When jumping a course, a horse and rider must always be looking ahead. But at the Piazza di Siena horse show in Rome, spectators are also invited to reflect on the past.
That is because the grounds where the event is held, from Wednesday to Sunday, have a history dating back centuries to one of Italy's most famous noble families: the Borghese.
The show takes place at the Piazza di Siena, an arena inside the Villa Borghese, a large public park in the heart of Rome just north of the Spanish Steps. The park was once the estate of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, who in the 17th century commissioned the expansive gardens and a villa to house his art collection. The piazza was added in the late 18th century and was inspired by the Piazza del Campo in Siena, the Borghese family's home city.
Since the 1920s, the arena has welcomed riders from around the world to compete at the highest levels of equestrian sport. Many ride on teams representing their countries in addition to competing as individuals.
'I think the event place and the atmosphere brings so much to the event itself,' said Karl Cook, an American rider who won the grand prix, the most challenging event of the show, at last year's competition. Having a stunning, historical backdrop 'just adds something different and something better to the whole experience, and that is on full display in Rome and at the Piazza di Siena,' he added.
The Italian government bought the park at the turn of the 20th century, eventually opening it to the public, and it wasn't long before equestrian sport took center stage. The first horse show was held there in 1922, and the Piazza di Siena event has been held there every year with a few exceptions. Over the years, it has become one of the top equestrian competitions and last year joined the new Rolex Series, a group of seven show-jumping events around Europe and the United States.
'With events like Piazza di Siena, the most important thing is the legacy between these sport events and Villa Borghese,' said Diego Nepi Molineris, the chief executive of Sport e Salute, the state-owned company responsible for the development of sports in Italy and the event director of the show. The combination of the historical location and the artistry of equestrian sport, he added, means 'everything that you see during these events is beauty.'
This year, the show will welcome around 600 horses and 470 riders, said Paolo Franci, head of communications for the Piazza di Siena show, and is free for anyone to attend. 'Every kind of person can go there,' Nepi Molineris said, 'and they can see the best show.'
The competition begins on Thursday, lasts four days and will include the Intesa Sanpaolo Nations Cup, in which 10 teams of four riders compete on behalf of their country. It will culminate with the Rolex grand prix event.
'I just think it's a great celebration of horses, as well, and what they're capable of and what they bring us,' said Cook, who this year will be returning to the event with the same horse, Caracole de la Roque, hoping the pair can recreate last year's magic. 'Bringing horses into the middle of a city kind of sounds like oil and water, in a way. But I think that sort of reconnection and that celebration of horses is, I think, always healthy for us.'
Since 2018, the park has been undergoing yet another transformation — to restore it to its former glory. Salut e Sport has been working to refurbish the park, leaning into a 'less is more' mentality, Nepi Molineris said. The goal is to make it look and feel as it might have years ago through landscaping and other projects, including restoring the arena's stands and replacing its sand footing with grass.
With these improvements, 'Villa Borghese lives not only for the horse riding and the competition, but also for sport all during the year,' Nepi Molineris said.
But equestrian competition will always be key to the identity of the Piazza di Siena. Comparing the event to Wimbledon, Nepi Molineris explained that there were 'some places in the world that you can see some things only there.'