2004 Pinamar
Images by John & Steph
Schedule of Events || Venue || Riders || Starters
Results
Steph's Stories: Argentine Arabian Horse Society Endurance Ride || Life on the Pampas
Relaxed Anticipation || The Ride Part 1 || The Ride Part 2
Leonard's Story:
Argentina
Adventure
The Ride
The morning after... perfect sunny clear day. BC showing is this
morning, and the awards ceremony will be later at 11am. Like all
rides, the morning after is different for everybody! Some are grinning
from ear to ear, some are smiling on the outside, but inside there is
disappointment and worry. I still don´t have all the official
results, but hope to have a copy today, and can post them this evening
after we return to Buenos Aires.
Miguel´s group had a mixed day. Miguel and Luli were both
eliminated from the 160 after the first 35 km loop, great
disappointment. One of his friends (a vet) looked at all the horses
later in the afternoon to see if he could tell what was wrong. Mora
Austria was still a little off in the right front, but no heat or
swelling. Miguel will take her in for xrays and a complete exam this
week. Mora Numien (Luli´s horse) trotted sound, but the vet
thought she was a little short in the rear, maybe a cramp from all the
sand. Maiko´s horse (Mora Fogoza, the horse I rode last weekend)
was sound, but also a little stiff in the hind quarters. And my horse,
Mora Curativa trotted sound in the grass, but when the vet checked her
feet and legs noticed that she had lost a shoe, which explains why I
though she didn´t feel right when we left for the 2nd loop,
especially on the pavement. duh.
Some of the others had better days. Nadia Suarez (wife of Hugito) finished 6th in the 80km on a Criollo/Arabian cross. (I loved this horse!) and Hugo finished 9th. The placements for the 80km were awarded according to pulse, the same way we do our LD. Hugito and Ana Maria Novoa both finished the 120km, horses looked great. So... a good day for some, a disappointing day for others.
We had an interesting time on the first loop of the 80km. We were told
to go to the 2nd checkpoint on the beach at and then turn around,
around 7.5 km from where we entered the beach. Maiko and I had slowed
down before we got to the beach, and the most of the pack was out of
site. We had a glorious ride along the beach, galloping in and out of
the waves, wonderful! We passed the first checkpoint and rode on
towards the 2nd. It seemed like we kept going and going, farther than
expected. But is was so wonderful that it didn´t matter. Finally
we saw a few riders in the distance coming towards us, must be the
front runners returning. The we got closer and saw ALL of the riders,
a pack of 70 or so in a large bunch. The leaders had finally
determined that there was no 2nd checkpoint and decided to turn
around. They picked up all the other riders on the way back. It was
amazing, 70+ riders fanned out across the beach. It reminded me of one
of the battle scenes from Lord of the Rings as they were coming
towards us! So we turned around and joined the pack, what a sight, all
of those horses galloping down the beach. We backed off again and let
them get ahead, as our goal was to relax and complete the ride.
After we left the beach we rode through some lovely forested areas,
the morning air smelled so good. And to be riding a nice horse, with
nice company. It was good. We turned and rode along the highway for 5
km, and then back to camp. With all of the horses around (most of the
pack of the 80km arrived within 5 or 10 minutes because of the mixup!)
it was hectic and confusing, everybody crewing and hurriedly trying to
get the pulses down. We got through it (a little wetter) and then to
the vet area where there was a long line. (again because everybody
arrived at once). Both Fogoza and Curativa vetted through ok. A 30
minute hold, some water, potato chips, cookies and back out. Curativa
didn´t feel exactly right to me, and when we crossed the
pavement I could feel and hear her favoring the left front so I wished
Maiko luck and turned back to withdraw. Another great, but short, ride
:)
The rest of the day I spent watching the events and talking to folks. Claudia Caraballos was there (we had toured her estancia last week with the agricultural group), two of her horses were entered in the 160km, Ricard Rodriguez from Chile was riding Ras Kasal, the horse that Mercedes Tapia (rides and trains for Claudia) rode in the WEC in Jerez. In the words of Merecedes this was ´the greatest horse she´d ever ridden´. After Jerez Kasal had an accident and a very bad injury on his hind cannon. Mercede´s husband, Eduardo, is a veterinary surgeon and performed several operations over a 14 month period to try to restore the leg to normalcy, there was damage to the bone from the injury. This was Kasal´s first competition after Jerez, and after the injury, so there was much concern over his ability to compete again. (and he did complete the ride in 11:26!). Claudia´s other horse is Ras Almodavar, a gorgeous gray, being ridden by Mercedes. Almodavar also finished shortly after Kasal, so now both horses are qualified for the 2004 WEC.
It was an enjoyable day, good conversation with Claudia who has an
absolute passion for breeding top quality horses. There were a few
Televisions stations there filming the event and Claudia arranged an
interview - great fun, and now I´ll be on Argentine National TV!
There was also a local TV station that interviewed me about the ride,
and about Pinamar.
There were several buyers from UAE wandering around taking notes, looking for promising horses to take back to their stables. Argentina is still in an ecomonic depression from the collapse of their peso in 2001 (the peso went from 1:1 with the US$, to 3:1) so it´s a very big deal to be able to sell a horse, and for many, a relatively small amount such as $5000 is a fortune for them. Good bargains to be had in Argentina for foreign buyers. And honestly, these are the most beautiful horses, as a group, that I´ve seen. Exquisite horses with gaucho saddles, kids, local riders who´s lives are quite simple and relatively poor.
I have to say that I absolutely love Argentina, the people are
wonderful. The families here are very close knit, and the communities
are tight. It is a very religious country and I think this also helps
keep the family and community tight. And there is still an exotic
feeling here, the colorful guachos with their Criollo horses, their
thick leather belts with silver decorations, felt hats, thin neckties,
bombachas (the baggy pants) tucked into tall leather boots or socks
and cotton shoes. Dark skin, dark hair. But there is still a lot of
poverty, things are getting a little better after the crash, but still
a long way to go.
So now, I´ve been invited to go to Brazil for a ride in 2 weeks! If all is well back in Oreana for a few more weeks (thanks to Linda Black and Carol Brand!) I´ll check with the airline and see if it´s possible. John says, `of course, am I surprised?´ - so if possible, insha´allah, god willing, I´ll be riding in Brazil soon!
till then,
Steph