2004 Braganca Paulista
Images by Cidinha Franzao
Schedule of Events || List of Starters || Venue
Results
Steph's Stories:
Arrivals and a Quiet Week-End || Touring the Countryside
Ride Day at Haras Endurance International || On to the Finish || Finish daze in Brazil
Touring the Countryside
Saturday (a week before the ride) evening Henrique and I returned to
the house, met Amarilis (Amy), packed some things and headed to the
beach. Amy's parents own property on a small private beach along the
Atlantic coast, south of Rio de Janeiro. The beach is nestled in
'Banana Cove' (my English translation), on the southern tip of a
peninsula in Ubatuba, a gorgeous area with mountainous islands, dozens
of beaches, and pristine native South Atlantic forest which is
preserved and maintained by the state. Their beach is very secluded,
accessible only by boat. And it is spectacular... a classic tropical
paradise.
We drove for around two hours, heading northwest of Sao Paulo, and spent the night at a small hotel. In the morning we drove to the public beach where the marina launched the boat 'The Amarilis' - a small, stable and sturdy inflatable boat with a very big motor. The safest boat around for skirting the islands and coastline. We headed out into the open sea, for the peninsula, and encountered some big (I thought) rolling swells, but Henrique said it was a relatively calm day, good for boating. Yikes.
Bright sunshine, blue waters, rugged coastline, a jumble of huge
granite slabs and boulders tumbling from the tropical forest onto the
shoreline, small sandy beaches... oh so pretty! There was one common
tree in the forest, tall with whitish bark and a broad fanning canopy,
and covered with purple blossoms - Henrique said it is the Ipe tree -
there are other varieties that bloom at different times of the year,
yellow and white.
We arrived at Amy's beach, and docked the boat on their pier. (Henrique had to do some diving to find the broken rope and re-attach it to the pier so we could pull ourselves in). Five years ago this area was wild coast line. The state offered a few lots for sale, and Amy's parents bought 4 of the 6 lots on this beach. They built the pier, and a winding stairway up the hillside where they built a small house and open patio/kitchen/barbeque overlooking the coast. All the material (lots of cement!) had to be carried here by boat, so it has been a long slow process, but what a treasure.
We spent the day hiking through the woods and down to a larger beach. Lots of banana trees, and jaca, and all sorts of edible things (wild tomatoes). The forest floor is covered with 'house plants'! We followed a little creek with sprays and falls down to the beach. Swimming, catching the waves, hiking along the beach. I'm wondering how all of this relates to Endurance Riding... but figure there must be some cosmic connection somewhere!
Back to the house and relaxing on the patio. Henrique did a Brazilian
style barbeque, beef, pork, chicken. Wonderful! A nap after eating,
with the sound of the waves and tropical forest birds lulling us to
sleep. When we awoke, the sky was getting darker, rainclouds forming
over the islands and mainland, and we packed up and headed back to the
marina. The sky was dark, but the air still warm and the water a deep
blue. We got back just before dark and headed back to Sao Paulo, very
relaxed.
Monday, Henrique had a full day scheduled with farm calls. I went along to see the country, always welcome for a chance to see more horses and ranches. He did a few lameness exams and then we headed to Sylvia Vaccari's ranch to meet the horse that I would ride at Braganca, and prepare his paperwork. - Firebird, a very nice 6yr Anglo-Arabian would be my horse for the ride. Sylvia had been planning on riding at Braganca but had other obligations, so he was offered to me, what luck! It would be his first ride of the season, and 80km his longest distance so far, so I will ride nice and easy. I rode him a little to check the tack, a very kind, comfortable horse - and well trained - I'm looking forward to spending the day with Firebird!
Sylvia is a veteran endurance rider and close friend of Henrique. I had previously met Sylvia (and Henrique) at the '99 PanAmerican Championships in Manitoba. Henrique was riding Lari Shea's ½ Orlov horse 'Nikita' and I was riding the Orlov brother 'Khruschev' - so of course we all had to meet.
After one more farm call, we headed west to a big Reining Horse
training ranch. The ranch is around 300 km west and north of Sao
Paulo. They are good clients of Henrique, and he goes there every
couple of weeks. He's been the vet for this ranch for several years,
and they took him to Jerez as the Reining team vet for the 2002 WEG
(the first time that Reining was a discipline at the World
Championship level.) The owner of the ranch was the 5th place
finisher in Jerez, and he hopes to have another horse ready for Achen
in 2006. It was fun to see the muscled quarterhorses and 40 lb
saddles... a little bit of Idaho.
Tuesday Henrique had a full day - farm calls, and shoeing at the Andalusian stable. I decided to stay, and went to his parent's house to work on the computer and access the Internet. I had lunch with his mother at the oldest (first) mall in S. America - a very grand upscale shopping center, with a wonderful Italian restaurant.
Henrique's family lives in Alphaville, a suburban community outside of Sao Paulo. They bought one of the first houses, in 'Alpha 1', 20 years ago. Very nice well established neighborhood, big houses, grand trees and gardens. Since then, Alpha 2, Alpha 3,4,5... and Alpha 12 were developed, with central shopping and service areas, all creating Alphaville. Henrique and Amy recently bought a small house in Tambore, another housing development created near Alphaville, in a similar vein. They live in Tambore 6 (there are 10 Tambore's). What a concept in modern suburban housing! All of the Alphas and Tombores are walled and gated, with 24 hour security, and nearby shopping and service (lots of McD's, Carrefours, Blockbusters, etc).
Safe and sound in Alphaville....
In the evening Theresa took me to her friend's salon for a haircut. In honor of her first American client, she played Credence Clearwater Revival while she worked, and I drifted back into the past to CCR and "rolling, rolling, rolling on a river" for my first Brazilian haircut.
Wednesday we came out to the ranch. Henrique and the guys working for
him spent the morning preparing the horses and gear for the
ride. Henrique's driver, Philipe, will leave with the horses (10 if
them!) very early in the morning (around 4 am) and take them to
Braganca. He drives during the night to avoid the heat. We will leave
a little later and meet the horses there. While Henrique and his crew
worked, he sent me out on a long training ride on his best endurance
horse J. I rode with a young boy that works for Henrique, who doesn't
speak of word of English, but handy with a smile, so we had fun!
Henrique's horse is a big strong gray, Polish bred Arabian, 11 yrs, fit and sound. A great ride, calm, steady, but tons of strength, and seemingly tireless. We did a long ride, lots of galloping. The horse, finished 3rd at the 2003 Brazilian National Championship and won Best Condition. He's Henrique's best shot at the Dubai WEC. A good horse with an effortless gallop, and fit and seasoned... nice horse, I wish him the best of luck!
While riding there is so much to see and hear. I wish I could capture
the sounds of the forest as well as the colors and images of the
countryside. Parrots and exotic birds, crickets/cicadas, lush green
grass, red dirt roads, and this is rolling hillside country, so lots
of nice views and breezes on the hilltops.
Henrique said that the farther west one travels in Brazil, the drier it gets. The far northwest is extremely dry and hot, sometimes passing several years with no rain. And then there's the Amazon river and rainforest even farther west. And the Pantanal, an area in the southwest. It is a great inland depression, at sea level, where all of the coastal rivers drain. Covered with water 6 months of the year, covered with cattle the other six months. Brazil's most abundant wildlife, home to pirhana, crocodile, anaconda, jaguar, and the Pantaneiros - the toughest people in the country.
Henrique travels to Pantanal every month for veterinary work. A ten hour drive, he usually stays a few days. The rancher who is his client has decided he wants to try his hand at Endurance, and sent a few Panteinero horses (just as tough as the people) to Henrique's ranch for training. A most unsual horse, one could almost imagine there is Arabian blood - the horses are grey, and fairly small and compact, but the huge rangy head makes you pause... and a strange way of moving, very deliberate in the hindquarters, w/o the spring that you find in most horses. The owner will be at Braganca this weekend for his first try, should be interesting!
Thursday - Henrique had some more work to do in the morning (dressage
horses) and I stayed at his family ranch house. He picked me up around
11 and we headed west toward the Braganca Paulista ride site, Leo
Steinbruch's farm. Henrique dropped me off to meet Elizabeth who would
take me to her ranch for the night, and then we'd head to the ride on
Friday. Elizabeth Van Schell is very dedicated to Endurance. She works
as many rides as possible in South America as an FEI official, and is
also the FEI point person for developing Endurance in South America. I
met her at Pinamar and she invited me to come to Brazil to this ride,
to see how the sport is here. Her father was a Dutch diplomat who fell
in love with Brazil when he came here in the 1950's. He and his wife
bought a coffee farm in the rolling hills of Minas Gerais, and never
returned to Holland...and that is now where Elizabeth lives. The farm
doesn't produce coffee any more, but has abundant pasture and E grazes
cattle here, mostly Nelore (similar to Brahma).
This may be one of the most beautiful places that I've seen so
far. Green, rolling hills, huge old trees, old eucalyptus groves,
flowering plants everywhere, bamboo, mature gardens, very rich and
enticing. And the house is over a century old. High (20ft) ceilings,
wood floors, huge wood framed window, doors that are large and heavy
and make the most wonderful sturdy sound when you close them. A solid
beautiful home, that feels like old Brazil. Stone drive and path,
shaded by trees, several stone buildings including the livestock barn,
an old silo, the original coffee processing house, and a long rambling
house where her foreman and family live. This is a very special place.
Elizabeth took me for a drive to see the lake and the capivaras (the carpincho of Argentina). Later we rode her horses (Arabians of course) around the property, through the forests, through the late summer pastures with grass higher than the horse's bellies. We rode until after the sun went down. This is the type of country that really moves me. I grew up on the ocean, and the coast has always been special, but I must have been a happy rancher in a past life, there is nothing like a ranch to make me feel complete. And I suppose it doesn't even matter which continent it's on.
Tomorrow we head to the ride site, and it begins.
Steph