FOCUS ON TROT: JESSICA POMPA, HORSERACING IS FEMALE

It is a connection between the power of the horse and the sensitivity of the soul. If you have respect for this animal he gives you 100 per cent and the whip adds nothing to his performance. It's a method from the Middle Ages'.

This in a nutshell is the trotting concept of Jessica Pompa, an engineer from the Marche region of Italy, beautiful as the sun, madly in love with horses. Winner of a Star Championship and over forty gentlemen's races.

Jessica, you have been living in Dubai for over two years. Why did you leave Italy?

For professional experience, but I dream of returning home very soon. I miss my horses that I entrusted to the precious hands of my family. Sooner or later I want to take care of them completely. Right now I own four of them.

What are horses to you?

They are my life. They are oxygen. Their thoughts are the catalyst for my day. By now they are part of me. Once a week, so as not to suffer from nostalgia, I go to the Meydan racecourse to see the races even if they are galloping. I admire them and reconnect with the world.

In Arab countries, do trotting races not even know they exist?

Sometimes I tell my ‘locals’ friends about the sport I practised for a few years in Italy, but I have to show them the races from my mobile phone otherwise they don't realise. Here there is only endurance, galloping and obstacle racing. Twenty years ago they did an experiment in Abu Dhabi but it was not successful.

You are an intelligent girl with great sensitivity: what does horse racing in Italy need to capture the attention of young people and new investors?

Horse racing needs to evolve by modernising a mentality that has become obsolete. The world of horses is part of our history, it is the cultural symbol of the country that needs to change its skin to capture the attention of new investors, open up and transfer the ethical meaning of this ancient sport to schools and to young people. The meaning of the horse's wellbeing must be taught first and foremost.

What do you mean by wellbeing?

The non-use of the whip for example. I think I was the first in Italy to race without using that instrument that adds nothing to the horse's performance. The horse already knows what it has to do. In this regard, on 22 February I will be in Padua at 99% to take part in the initiative promoted by Pino Stefanelli and his family, endorsed by Director Remo Chiodi of Masaf, Dr. Germano Di Corinto, and subscribed to by the insiders. It will be a racing convention where the whip will not be used, an experiment that could already be a first sign that things are changing. It is a fact of civilisation and social evolution.

About Director Chiodi: did you meet him?

Yes, I met him at the conference that was organised on the weekend of the European Championship. He was an intelligent and determined person. He seemed very proactive and understood the potential of horse racing. The important thing is that he is not left alone.

You are the Joan of Arc of horse racing, how do you see your future?

I would like to dedicate myself completely to the world of horses, be a breeder and offer my active contribution to relaunch horse racing, in the name of horse welfare. Being here for me is a sacrifice. This country is beautiful to experience on holiday but to live in it is full of contradictions. Everything is organised perfectly, offering good services is their priority, but I don't really fit in with their mentality.

And to think that for many people living in Dubai is the ideal dream.

Yes I know, but I love authentic places. Luxury and appearance don't interest me.