At Jumping Verona, the inaugural meeting of the Jumping Owners Club took place, gathering in Verona to discuss initiatives to promote and improve the sport, with horse welfare as the top priority. Research was presented in collaboration with the University of Turin and the University of Parma, supported by Scuderia 1918, emphasizing the importance of analyzing athletic performance while always prioritizing the well-being of the sport horse.
The key figures in equestrian sports are undoubtedly the athletes—riders and horses—who push their limits on the course. Yet, behind every successful duo lies not only performance but also the vision of dedicated individuals with deep industry knowledge who support their growth and careers: the horse owners.
These owners were in the spotlight at the first Jumping Owners Club Summit, promoted by Scuderia 1918 and Fieracavalli. Both organizations share the same vision: owners are not merely businesspeople but true custodians of the sport, with a vital role in safeguarding and enhancing horses.
At this event, which included Club President Robin Cleary Parsky and 80 national and international horse owners, research supported by Scuderia 1918 and developed with the University of Turin and the University of Parma was also shared. This research adopts a One Health approach, linking environmental sustainability, rider and horse welfare as inseparable.
One such project is CHAMP (Combining Horse Athletic Measurements with Precision Genomics) launched in September 2024 and set to run for two years. This initiative aims to revolutionize breeding, training, management, and selection of horses, paving the way for a future of greater precision and genetic advancement in equestrian sports. By utilizing advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence alongside innovative scientific research in genomics, it promises to transform how equine performance is measured and analyzed.
“We are here to promote the sport and encourage others to join, explaining everything that goes into acquiring a sport horse. And what better place than Fieracavalli, which, for twenty-three years, has hosted the only Italian leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup? Here, we not only have the world’s top riders but also an incredible audience of enthusiasts,”
Robin Cleary Parsky
To emphasize further the bond between horse, rider, and owner, Fieracavalli selected a piece by Daniele Basso as an award for the owner of the winning horse at the Italian leg of the Longines FEI World Cup, which took place on Sunday, November 10, 2024.
In the World Cup final, 26-year-old German rider Sophie Hinners made history as the first woman to win the Italian leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup in its 23-year history.
On this occasion, Fieracavalli chose the artwork VLINT by Daniele Basso—an artist honored as a Knight of the Italian Republic in 2022—as the award for the owner of Iron Dames my Prins, today’s winning horse, underlining once more the importance of these individuals in the development and careers of the world’s top horse-rider pairs.
“This work celebrates primordial human ingenuity—the instinct that transformed a stone into a shard and the shard into a tool, symbolizing humanity’s unique ability to relate to nature. Today, this ability must be directed toward respecting life and the environment,”
DANIELE BASSO
Daniele Basso – Bio
He has participated in three editions of the Venice Biennale of Art, showcasing his work in various parts of the world, including Carrousel du Louvre (Paris), Seraphicum University (Vatican), GNAM (Rome), Expo 2015 (Milan), World of Coca-Cola (Atlanta), Officine della Scrittura (Turin), Museo del Parco (Portofino), the Shoah Memorial (Milan), and in galleries across New York, Dubai, St. Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Monte Carlo, Lugano, Milan, Turin, and Bologna.
In 2015, he created Coke Its Me for The Coca-Cola Company and Gigant for SWC Alta Badia at the UNESCO Park Dolomites. In 2017, he crafted Il Cavallino for Ferrari’s 70th Anniversary, as well as awards for the 67th Sanremo Music Festival, Star Team Monaco (under H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco), and Inter FC. In 2019, he was the Main Artist at Andrea Bocelli’s Teatro del Silenzio, directed by Luca Tommassini (Courtesy of Laseryacht).
In 2020, he was a speaker at 24ORE Business School. In 2021, he created Pinocchio for Costa Cruises, VrummBangBull for Tecnomar for Lamborghini63, and Cristo Ritorto for the altar of the Madonna of Oropa, and he spoke at TEDx. In 2023, he crafted the Quintino monument for the 150th anniversary of CAI Biella, now part of the Art Collection of Banca Patrimoni Sella. In 2024, he received the 13th SaloneSatellite Award (25th Anniversary) and created Enrosadira for the 50th Anniversary of Dolomiti Superski.