Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

It's been great riding so many different horses, different
temperaments, different gaits, different saddles.... and every horse
that I´ve ridden I have liked - all different, but all horses - I
don´t think I´ve ever met a horse that I didn´t like :)

Firebird felt good going out, the most eager he'd been all day, but it
was quite hot and there were some big hills to climb, and I was
worried about his downhill muscles, so once we left the flat shaded
road, I slowed him down and just relaxed into the rest of the ride,
plenty of time.

This loop really was tough, up and down, up and down, and then up and
up and up.  We climbed high into the hills, through logging areas,
pine and eucalyptus forests, cooler air and spectacular views! There
is really nothing in the US that resembles this part of Brazil. It is
hilly, but in the tropic zone, so the vegetation is lush and the sky
is very blue, green rolling fields and forests, and flowers trees and
plants everywhere!  It's beautiful, no wonder the Brazilian people are
so happy.

I got off and led him back down the mountain, it was warm and sunny
and I was quite happy to be walking with this big bay anglo-arab. We
wound down the mountain and I climbed back on. The last few miles were
through the village, dogs, children, bikes, stone houses with red tile
roofs, stone walls covered with flowering plants (they just grow
here... you don´t even have to try!). It felt very Brazilian... very
exotic.

My biggest challenge of the day was getting Firebird to the finish
line... we had to go through the stable area, where his buddies were,
and he just planted his feet and said. No.  No farther.

Ok, lots of urging clucking, turning, backing, begging, finally I got
him past and towards the finish. But one more turn-off before the
final 30 meters, the lane to the crewing area, where more buddies and
buckets of grain were calling. This time I could not get him to
move. Finally some folks that were standing by the road helped, and
laughing we finally got him (mostly backwards) over the finish
line. The crew was there to greet me, they grabbed Firebird, took off
his saddle and headed towards the crewing area. We vetted in fine, and
the ride was over. A very memorable ride!

Steph

(a little more later - the last days in Brazil)