cabalgata continued!

this was the group I went with. all grey horses. we had loads of fun. and the scenery was so incredibly beautiful. though there was always some crazy person racing themselves or someone else creating such a racket up the road. none of the horses seemed to care, or when cars or scooters would fly past within inches, honking, flags waving out windows for the election happening today (sunday)... for which the first woman might win, she's ahead in the polls. 

this guy was the auctioneer. they were raising money for the town's nursing home. this young cow, bacca, was for auction. part of his umbilical cord was still crustily attached.

the little guy was super cute and quite skittish, i would have been too i suppose. they also auctioned off animal feed and other food things, i think. it wa hard to tell, what with the auctioneer speaking a zillion miles and hour.

after we waited...
and waited
and ate some food, i ate some before i remembered to take a picture (yuca with ensalada of lettuce salsa and fresh lemons (the green things) and chicharones (pork) which i did not eat, and waited some more and drank some beer

this was my favorite. So they tied four horses together. The paint that is sideways was trying despritly to get some of this tall grass off to my left, so he would try to reach it, realize it was fruitless, go nudge the back hores, then nudge the far grey, then the near one, trying to get them to move closer, then he would try to reach this particular bit of grass again, not beable to, and go through the whole ordeal again. it was hysterical. the other three horses clearly didn't feel it was neccessary to move in the heat, and wouldn't. but they were super cute.

after a while, we struck out again, making a loop, taking this beautiful route with the most impressive expanses of land. it was fun watching all the folks on horses.... many kids riding in the saddle in front of their fathers, and then some riding double!

this horse was the one the father was riding. i'd never seen an albino horse before. he looked fake. but beautiful. apparently the owner calls him the barbie horse because when he sweats he turns pink. which he did by the end of the ride. beautiful and creepy.

this is the truck we took the horses in. you can see how high off the ground they are. there are better shocks in trucks than trailers, and since the roads are so bad, it works better for the horses. and the trucks are easier to maneuver. however, it means that they have to find a bank to back the truck up to in order to load or unload the horses. inconvenient. but hey, they are airy, and protect the horses from the sun.

there are so many things that are done differently here that are considered normal, that we would never ever do in the states because it's dangerous or ignorant or whatever. but mostly i think here, it stems from necessity. you do what you gotta do and cn afford, and life is just different. They have a different climate to deal with not to mention  security and roads and just the simple act of living. So many people have horses it's so much cheaper to keep them. but it's also a matter of survival, and horses are kept everywhere, it's not unusual to find them in back yards, farms in the middle of the city, and you see people riding everywhere pretty much.

You would never find two hundred horses tied to barbed wire fences while their owners drink and eat and carry on in the states. but i've seen so many folks in the states fall doing nothing, and here, like yesterday, there were trucks everywhere honking, people yelling, and the horses were high stung, but not spooky. and i don't think anyone fell, or got hurt, and this happens every weekend in this country. it just is so different. you want to look good, you want to have a nice horse, but that doen't mean everything you have is a million dollars, and that doesn't mean you forgo the act of learning how to stay mounted. people rode in 4 inch heals and belly shirts, no one wore helmets, and no one got hurt. no coggins needed, free drink and food, can you imagine how disastrous something like that would be in the states? everyone was on their porches, outside at their gates, on the side of the road, hooting and hollering, yipping and screaming, and none of the horses cared, and if they started prancing, all the better, it showed off how good a horseman you were and how fancy your horse was.

i found it so refreshing. everyone was nice, smiling, making sure everyone else was ok. showing off and having fun, but all around horses. i mean, it probably isn't so good to race your horses on the road, and they all needed baths and liniment when they got home, and i'm sure most didn't get either.... but they are hearty beasts, and i think sometimes we treat them too much like babies... incapable to surviving, trying to protect them from everything scary, and as a result turn into frightened crazy animals that can more dangerous than not.

anyway. i had alot of fun. apparently there is another next weekend. everyone was talking about it. saying "it's better". what better mean i have no idea. but maybe i'll go?