Finally on Horseback Again

Today we had our first opportunity to go horseback riding again.  It's been two long years and we were really looking forward to it.  The beauty of it here is that they bring the horses right to our house!

Sometimes you hear of and see horses that are poorly fed with their ribs sticking out and it breaks your heart.  Sometimes they're fairly small and Alex is kind of a big guy so that doesn't work so well either.

Oldimar (left) was our guide today and he was excellent.  Very patient and that came in handy since he spoke no english and we spoke no spanish.  Funny how often we get into those predicaments down here huh?

We muddled our way through our communication issues and always seem to end up on track one way or the other.  Sometimes it's a lot of hand gestures (not the ones I use back home on the highway) and lots of repeating, trying different words.  It actually is good for us and is forcing us, one word at a time, to pick up a little better grasp of spanish.  If Oldimar spoke english there's no doubt that's all we'd speak the whole day.

These guys were well fed and clearly well taken care of.  It started out to be a slightly cooler, overcast day but then the clouds cleared and it warmed up to 80 degress pretty quickly.

The cooler weather would have been nice for the horses because the trails are quite steep and these beauties have to work pretty hard to carry us inept gringos up and down the hills.

It takes a while (for us) to get the feel of the horse's temperment and how sensitive they are to the reigns.  They can be a little stubborn at times and I am guessing they know when they've got inexperienced riders aboard.

We mount up and head down our driveway and get a little resistance right from the start.  It took some time (most of the trip) to figure out how to prod them along from a dead stop.

Oldimar used a little leather strap on their back sides when needed but we gringos didn't even realize we had them as well until we got back in our driveway at the end of the trip (duh)!

I so wish I could share pictures that captured the incredible beauty of the landscape here.  It is just amazing when you see the red clay, green fauna, blue skies and wispy white clouds all together.

Combine that with the depth of the valleys and the palms and the ocean breeze and it is almost too much for our sense to consume all at once.

As hard as I try, these pictures don't even come close to the beauty that surrounds us.  Every direction is another masterpiece and the air is fresh and clean.

We keep a fairly steady pace but part of me wants to stop, dismount and "smell the roses".  If only I had a 3D 360 degree Omnimax camera at my disposal.

We sometimes rode literally along a VERY narrow edge of the cliff.  The trail was well defined and it was hard to imagine the horse having the dexerity to maneuver one foot precisely in front of the other.  If that's not enough, to our immediate right was a deep, deep valley and one could only imagine the result of an untimely misstep.  I of course don't want to alarm anyone with mindless fear and an outburst of "watch out!" but I was picturing my wife and son, tumbling down the side of the hill, still hanging on to their horse.

We ended up at a point where we went through a gate and were planning to cross another valley off the beaten path but Oldimar spotted a couple of wild (or at least not fenced in) horses and turned us around in an effort to avoid having these guys get our horses all excited.

Sure enough, as Oldimar opened the gate to head back out, these two came galloping up from behind us and went nose to nose with our horses.  Oldimar quickly chased them away but they were clearly excited and seemingly happy to see the new kids in town (the horses not us).  After chasing them away a couple of times we managed to get through the gate and continue our journey.
One ledge after another we navigate the hillside.  After we got past the woods, Oldimar took us fairly near to the edge again so we could see the valley below.  Mom was quite nervous about this since it was our first ride so if you watch closely, you'll see her tendancy to lean right in an effort to encourage the horse NOT to go any further left.

Almost home, we stopped and set up the mini tripod for a group photo and then on to the last leg toward home.

At least this time I remembered to bring the tripod but we always have "shoe pod" when we need it.  For those that don't remember "shoe pod" from our 1st trip, it is basically my Nike tennis shoe on a stick which I then use to prop my camera on for these group shots.

It was a quick two hours for sure and Alex hung back slightly and just took it all in.  I think I had the old mare of the group because it panted like a dog after a long run.

I tried to let him pause once in a while to catch his breath but he did a good job and was easily managed.

Oldimar told us the names of the horses but they were longer spanish names and I was having enough trouble remembering "Oldimar".

Mom and Oldimar led the way back through our gate and up the driveway to end a beautiful day and a long awaited horse ride.

We love horses so much and it was wonderful to have this opportunity once again.

Many more rides to come and once Oldimar is convinced we know where we're going, we can pick the horses up (a short walk from home) and ride into the wilderness by ourselves.

Finally back home (our house at the top), in one piece and happy as larks.  It was still only early afternoon but a good start to a great day.

I think we all will make a concerted effort to pick up spanish now and will jot down a collection of well planned phrases so we can have more of a conversation with Oldimar, our caretaker Elvis, and the community at large next time we head into town.

Later....