Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

The next day, Saturday, was the open competition - still FEI, but 40, 80,
120km distances. And a zillion horses! There were several buyers there
(Qatar and UAE) and I think that every Arabian horse in the country was
there to show it's stuff. Top riders and breeders, and any other Argentine
rider that could find a way to get to the event. A wonderful mix of
endurance and country -  saddles and outfits, horses and rigs, lots of
hopeful riders.

When John and I went to the Fiesta de Tropillas in Loberia (southern BA
province - almost 6 weeks earlier) we took tons of pictures. One of our
favorite scenes was of a red-haired freckled gaucho. Sitting at a long table
with all the other (dark haired) gauchos, eating his chori-pan with his big
gaucho knife, wearing his dark boyna (beret) and looking so very
interesting. (Irish immigrants came to S. America too). Well, he was here
riding too! I had seen him a couple days before, walking the horses down the
road. He had brought his own Arabian to do the 80. I never learned his name,
and don't know how he did - but I wished him luck.

I (sort of) crewed for Pablo on Saturday. He was riding the 80km, along with
Maiko (Miguels son), Hugo, Hugito, Ana Lia, Eladio (Orlando's son), and a
few others from Miguel's ranch. I was a little tired and spacy, but did try
to help. These guys ride and crew for each other all the time, and have a
good, fast, system.

I checked in on Team Estanar from time to time too. Sheikha Madiya's ride
had not been as successful, she made it two loops but her mare was having
problems. Maybe a slight tie-up early on that left her travelling a little
funny, maybe saddle fit issues, maybe maybe. But two loops was it. Madiya
was cheerful and positive as always, but I could tell she was dissapointed.
She and her brother Sheikh Mana had flown over from Dubai 10 days earlier -
they spent time with Mercedes and Eduardo, and took a visit to Claudia's
farm. She was riding one of Claudia's horses and got full VIP treatment - a
fun way to experience Argentina! And a nice followup to the adventures in
Dubai - where Madiya, Grace, Claudia and I were road crew for Mercedes and
Kasal. Several months, several thousand miles away. Madiya and Mana had a
good time in Pinamar I think. I have this wonderful picture of Mana on the
last day, with his white robes, and under the robes his new carpincia boots
(special Argentine leather)and over the robes his new Argentine carpincia
vest - very cute!

Grace and Jan had flown over from the US to crew. Jan had been hoping to
ride the PAC, but her leased horse fell through at the last minute. She and
Madiya were out riding today, the 80km ride on two more of Claudia's horses.
Relaxed ride, they were having fun I think. Both finished, close to tail
end - tired but content.

That night was the dinner and awards ceremony, starting at 9:30 pm,
Argentine style. After the ride we all went back to our hotels to rest a
little. Kathy Brunjes and I drank wine in the jacuzzi while Steve and Dinah
did a massage... pretty content.

The awards evening was a blast! I had always thought that the Brazilians
were the biggest, loudest, partyingest group in the world, until I saw the
Uruguayans! They had taken individual and team Gold at the PAC, individual
Gold in the young riders 120km, and some top honors on Saturday too. Maybe
it was all the matte.... but they were pumped. All dressed in blue Uruguay
colors, and truly pumped.

We had traditional barbeque - asado - for dinner. As we walked into the
dining hall we walked past rows of racks of ribs, sidemeat, chorizo, all
sizzling over the fire, attended by several older men. There's a real art to
the asado - the racks have to be just the right distance from the fire,
coals placed carefully under the grills of chorizo. These guys were good.

And my phone came back!! I had lost it on a training ride several days
earlier, no hope of finding it - we had ridden along the beach, through the
woods, 3 hours worth of trail - so I said adios to my first and favorite
phone. And then Eladio (son of Orlando - Miguel's groom) saw it on the beach
during the Saturday ride and picked it up. (unlikely!) Then he took it back
and gave it to the boss (Miguel and Celina) - Celina recognized the phone as
mine because she had seen me using it in Dubai - very unlikely, the whole
thing - but I was very very happy to see it again :)

The dinner progressed nicely, bottles of wine, plates of hot sizzling meats,
good company. We ate and drank for a long time... it was a lot like an
Argentine wedding, food food food, and then dance, and then more food. Well
into the morning hours. As the meal was winding down, the spirits were
winding up. All of the Uruguayans had assembled to one side, and arranged
themselves from floor to ceiling along the stadium seats. Holding a huge
Uruguay flag up, all in blue, they began cheering and chanting "Ur-u-guay!
Ur-u-guay!" on and on. Finally that settled down, some rumbling and
discussing, and they came back with "Ar-gen-tina! Ar-gen-tina!" and then
"Bel-l-gium! (this was a little more difficult to chant)" and they went
through every country "Ja-a-pan!" was a little difficult too. Great spirit
though, finally "U-A-E!" - it was very special.

The Brazilians eventually got into the spirit (they had won team Gold for
the Young Riders) - and tried to keep up with Uruguay (no way). At midnight
the Organizing Committee and FEI Officials presented awards - every finisher
was called out and came up for a ribbon and medalion, the top medal winners
Uruguay, Argentina, Argentina - and finally top medal teams - Uruguay, USA,
Chile - lots of cheering and congratulations, and then the music started!
Great fun, dancing below, dancing on the stage up above (finally Brazil
found their stride - nobody could dance like the Brazilians).  It was a
great way to end the event - this S. American celebration is fantastic! At
times it felt more like a soccer group than an endurance group, but what the
heck - good spirit. The 2007 PAC is scheduled for Brazil - wow.

We danced till almost 3am. (others lasted longer). Before we left I wandered
outside for some fresh air. The asado fire was still going, a few racks
still had some sizzling things, and one of the oldtimers, dressed in white
chef clothing, was standing there staring into the fire. We struck up a
conversation (my rather poor Spanish) - he asked me where I was from, talked
a little about growing up in Argentina (he was a little dreamy and slurry, a
bit of chef's wine I think) - at one point he quoted some poetry, and broke
into fluent French but I didn't catch the details. He was obviously a very
well educated man. I gave him an Argentine kiss on the cheek after his poem,
it was quite special, even if I didn't understand most of it... "You should
come to the US sometime" I said - "you'd love Idaho" (a little rider's wine
too). "yes, I'd love to, but you know in Argentina we are very poor".

Yes, and that's the story of Argentina. There are a few who have a lot, a
few that have good jobs and prospects for a comfortable retirement,
education for their children. And then there is the rest of Argentina. Poor.
A rollercoaster of political and economic lows and lowers, has pretty much
depleted the middle class. The last collapse, in 2000, dropped the value of
the peso to nothing, factories closed, jobs were lost, only those with
substantial holdings or jobs that they could hold on to survived it. The
rest became poorer. Today there are maids and service workers with advanced
degrees unable to find jobs that reflect their education, school teachers
hitch hiking to work because they can't afford a car. Most of the cars and
trucks on the highway are barely held together with wire and hope.

But despite the poverty, the Argentines are proud and relatively happy
people. A very strong Catholic faith holds the families together, and the
latin blood keeps the spark in the eye. I felt a strong affinity for
Argentina, loved the people, loved the horse culture that is so strong
there. The gaucho culture - much like the cowboy culture in the US - the
tough, strong, freedom loving people of the old days. Regressaremos!

Steph


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=