Horse riding

Equestrian centre in Tuscany, in the earth of "Chianti Classico"

With more than 30 years of history as an equestrian centre and with more than 40 years of riding experience of the owners, Il Paretaio is one of the most renowned equestrian centres concerning the high quality of teaching. In our classical horse riding and equestrian vacation centre in Tuscany we have approximately 30 horses, among which Lusitano, Anglo-Arab, Sella Italiano, Holsteiner, Arab, Kwpn, Maremmano, Merens and Pony breeds.

We have been recommended by the English T.T.T. (Training the Teachers of Tomorrow) association. We have been mentioned in horse riding magazines with the greatest world-wide distribution such as Horse&Rider UK, Your Horse UK, Dressage Today USA, Horse&Hound UK, Pferd&Reiter, Cavallo Magazine and Il Mio Cavallo. Our center is located in the midst of the spectacular Chianti region with its breath-taking landscapes, forming the ideal backdrop for dressage and horse riding lessons for all levels and ages.

Giovanni De Marchi

Giovanni De Marchi started horse riding at the age of 10 at the Garbagnate Sporting Club. His teacher was Nicola Fouqué, who, seeing strong passion for the sport in the young rider, accompanied him to the riding yard so that he could take lessons. After many years’ horse riding around the stables, Giovanni discovered traditional horse riding. Later, alongside his wife Cristina, he would go through the most important phases of his training: the pair first met Luis Valenca and then Pedro Batista de Almeida at the Portuguese National Stud. Since then, he has participated in many apprenticeships, particularly in England at Training the Teachers of Tomorrow.

Cristina Libardi

As a child, Cristina Libardi would train (or at least try to!) any animal that crossed her path: cats, dogs, hamsters, even grasshoppers (making jumping competitions for them), and she inherited her great passion for horses from her grandmother. Alongside Giovanni, she decided to move to Tuscany in the Chianti region, to devote herself to their shared passion of traditional horse riding. Following on from her experiences with Giovanni in both Portugal and England, Cristina further deepened her knowledge of body awareness and everything that can improve the rider-horse relationship, both physically and mentally. She organizes courses on Centered Riding, T. Team and Yoga, among other things. She is currently working alongside her son Pietro on the use of the principles of traditional horse riding in jumping activities.
Organize yoga/tai chi classes.

Pietro De Marchi

Following the family tradition Pietro started riding as a child and at the age of 19 he had already obtained the titles of Instructor both with FISE and with the British Horse Society, through which he became an "accredited Professional Coach".

At the same time he carried on his competitive activity, first in Dressage, then in show jumping making use of the teachings of some of the best Italian and foreign riders. Among the main results obtained as a very young man, two times Silver at the Italian Show Jumping Championships, Gold at the Regional Dressage Championships, numerous placements and victories in national and international competitions.

After several years in England, in 2020 he decided together with his partner Natalie to return to Italy to take care of the development of the family equestrian center.

During the period abroad, he deepened his knowledge in the three disciplines, specializing in eventing, reporting excellent results. Pietro expresses his greatest quality with young horses, with which he can boast of having participated in the finals in Burghley (B.Y.E.H.) and having finished in the top 20. Furthermore, in the 2019 competition year, he qualified other horses for Badminton and Blenheim.

During his time in England he had the opportunity to have training with the world dressage guru Richard Davison (4 times at the Olympics) and a close collaboration with the international eventing champion Andrew Downes.

Although Pietro has had an excellent competitive career, his true passions are coaching and training. Always interested in respectful training of the animal, with extensive knowledge in dressage, jumping, eventing and relationship with the horse, it can be said that Pietro is a complete trainer, or as many have defined him, "a true horseman".

According to all his pupils, Pietro's strength lies in explaining in an extremely logical way the training, and not just the how. A calm and open approach make him an appreciated coach both by top level riders (Pietro has also taught Grand Prix riders s.o. E 4* complete) and by those who do not yet have much experience but want to increase their knowledge.