09/07/2026

On 3 July, during the Palio di Provenzano, the horse Entu de Petra Ulpu fell heavily at the San Martino bend. Taken to the Il Ceppo clinic, he reportedly sustained no fractures or lesions according to the City Council of Siena, but only a "lacerated contused wound" to the right foreleg; his condition, the official statement reads, is said to be "good".

Watching the footage of the fall, the gap between what can be seen and what has been communicated is wide: we requested information from the City Council of Siena and received none, and we are considering filing a formal complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office.

One fact remains: over the years the Palio has produced a documented number of horses injured, put down, or killed as a result of falls and fractures sustained on the track. This is the outcome of a risk inherent in the very nature of the race. The track in Piazza del Campo features two exceptionally sharp bends — San Martino and Il Casato — which the horses take at full gallop, at speeds estimated to exceed 50 km/h: conditions that, as is well known, considerably increase the likelihood of serious accidents.

IHP's position is well known and consistent: for the Palio, as for any other event that uses horses for entertainment, the only solution is to rethink the tradition without the use of animals. Safeguarding a cultural event cannot entail exposing to risk those who have no part in the choice.

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