The talented bull rider will tackle the best cowboys in the land as he targets victory in the largest rodeo in the southern hemisphere.

 The 30-year-old from Milan is so passionate about bull riding success his arm is tattooed with “8 second di gloria” – translating to “8 seconds of glory” – the bone-crunching time bull riders need to stay on the bull for a qualifying ride. 

Pietro will ride in the Isa Rodeo 2nd Division bull ride, on the path to breaking Open. 

 He and his  girlfriend Cristina Maccani said they had the good fortune to meet renowned stock contractor Garry McPhee in Cloncurry recently and have travelled with the McPhee camp to Mount Isa.

McPhee will supply the bucking broncs for this weekend’s rodeo.

The couple featured in a news story filmed by Tourism and Events Queensland earlier this week which will be distributed globally via the Thomson Reuters news agency in London.

 It was Cristina’s encouragement that led them to Australia to chase success in the international bull riding scene.

 Although the couple initially met in 2011 and kept in touch through letters and eventually Skype, things happened quickly when they met up again in person two years later. 

“We met in November 2013 and decided to come to Australia in December to follow his dream,” said Cristina. 

Adds Pietro: “Thank you to my girlfriend, it was your idea.”

 The couple share a passion for horses, with Cristina working as a race horse trainer based in Pisa before joining Pietro in nearby Milan, where he worked with horses in various capacities including as a track rider, steeple chase jockey and horse breaker.

 “He likes riding difficult horses that buck a lot,” Cristina said. 

“He’s a natural. When the animal makes some signs, he can understand, his instinct is very good.”

 After seeing a newspaper story on bull riding in Italy, Pietro decided to give it a go, and he was named the Italian Rodeo Cowboy Association Champion 2012 Rookie of the Year shortly after. There are 12 bull rides in Italy per year.

 “When his first teacher asked him why he wanted to try bull riding, he said I want to win the professional bull riding title in Australia,” Christina said.

 After Pietro competes this weekend, the couple will travel back to Victoria with the McPhees, where he will concentrate on honing his bull and bronc riding skills.

 “He really wants to ride on the professional rodeo circuit,” Cristina said. 

“If he wins an Australian title, he has said in front of other people ‘I will marry you’.’’