22-year-old Andrea Galuppi (Italy) is an experienced jockey and acrobat who decided to turn his passion for horses into a record-breaking career.
He did that by setting not one, but two world records on our Italian TV show Lo Show dei Record.
He is now the proud holder of two record titles; one is for the most jumps cleared by a miniature horse in one minute, which he achieved with an impressive 31 jumps, and the other is for the most blindfolded backward dismounts and mounts on a moving horse in one minute, with the jaw-dropping number of 17.
Despite his young age, Andrea is an experienced horse rider who grew up with a love for horses instilled in him by his father.
He attempted the first record title with his beloved miniature horse named Calimero.
Calimero is a five-year-old adult mini horse; his best friends are a dog - who funnily enough is about the same size as him - and of course Andrea!
As soon as Calimero took the stage, the audience was charmed by his adorably small stature and timid character. A few minutes later, it was time to begin the attempt.
In order to set a record for the most jumps cleared by a miniature horse in one minute, he needed to achieve the minimum set number of 10 jumps.
And even though he threw down a few hurdles, he achieved a total of 31 successful jumps, far exceeding the minimum required of him.
Compared to Calimero’s record, the second record title that Andrea attempted is quite more challenging. Achieving the most blindfolded backward dismounts and mounts on a moving horse in one minute requires the right chemistry and complete trust between the horse and horse rider.
The horse in question, Aragon, is a beautiful 13-year-old white stallion with whom Andrea has a strong bond, evident in the way he kissed his muzzle before mounting him to start the attempt.
In order for the record to be valid, Andrea’s feet need to touch the ground every time he dismounts Aragon, and he needs to be blindfolded the entire time.
Andrea kept a steady rhythm throughout the entire minute, dismounting and mounting Aragon every few seconds. In the end, all of his dismounts were counted towards the record apart from the very last one, which was considered incomplete.
Despite that, Andrea achieved an extraordinary 17 dismounts and mounts!
As he commented, “in order for this all to be possible and safe, we had to work really hard, both me and Aragon. We have a very close relationship and I was encouraging him the entire time”.
You can see the two attempts here:
We’re looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Andrea’s career in record breaking.
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