Italy -- Out "Ovest" in Italia

An Italian cowboy at a ranch near Rome. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

A friend of mine told me the other day about how much he enjoyed a few days' stay this summer at a dude ranch in Italy -- Silver Creek Ranch not far from Parma.

I took a look at the web site -- and I think I may have to go try it out myself....I find that I already missed some interesting looking events in Italy.

Not to mention various other ranches and "wild western spaces" -- all seemingly linked to the horse-riding and competition community.

Italian Cowboys in the Wild West imaginario... Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

There's Seventeen Ranch, for example, which hosts a Ranch Academy -- this is run by Andrea (Drew) Mischianti, an Italian Cowboy whom I met some years ago when he worked at  the ranchlike Tenuta Santa Barbara ranch near Rome and was involved in organizing "western games" there -- these  included rodeo-style riding competitions as well as a variety of exhibitions, stands, etc. I was always planning to go there to see the working ranch -- on my cellphone I still have a text message from him announcing that there would be branding that I could visit. (It doesn't seem as if these games still go on.)

"Drew" Mischianti some years ago. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

He has spent much time out west in the U.S., and for awhile wrote a column for an Italian Western magazine called Western Side (which doesn't seem to exist any more). Now he edits his own cowboy magazine (in Italian) called Cowboy Journal, which runs everything from recipes to adventure tales.

Cowboyland -- Italian Wild West Theme Park

OK -- Here's the link to Cowboyland, billed as the only wild west theme park in Italy. I can't wait to go, and I'll try to do so soon, if possible. It seems to be open every weekend in October.

It is located outside Voghera, and seems to be associated with the Cowboy Guest Ranch, also near Voghera, which hosts a variety of activities -- including a big rodeos -- the next in Oct. 12-13. The western scene in Italy is centered on horses and western riding. Country music (and trucks....) play only a marginal role.

There is (or was) a magazine called WesternSide that chronicled the scene (the web site is somewhat out of date) and I've attended several editions of "western games" at the ranchlike Tenuta Santa Barbara near Lake Bracciano near Rome, which included rodeo-style riding competitions as well as a variety of exhibitions, stands, etc. It's not clear from the web site if these are still going on.....