Horseback riding - Argentinian style! - Day 33

We headed off into town early to where we were to meet Adrian who was picking us up and then headed off to his Ranch.  He is really lovely and very chatty and speaks great English, drove like a maniac though!

As soon as we got into the Ranch we could see our horses saddled up and ready to go but we headed into the kitchen to have Mate tea which was a weird drink - didn't taste anything like tea as we know it but it had a very interesting flavour - Mark described it as smokey and I can understand why he said that but it really is a strange flavour to describe. Adrian makes the Mate in a little cup with a metal straw and passes it to the right (always the right he said) and once Miriam, who was taking us out riding, had finished her Mate she passed it to Adrian who put more sugar and hot water in the concoction and passed it to me and then when I was done I passed it back and Adrian refilled and then passed to Mark.  We did a few rounds of that, Mark having more of it that me.  It was good to have taken part in a good Argentinian tradition with Adrian and Miriam - they are such lovely people.

We then got our hats and our chaps on ready for a few hours of riding - here is Butch Cassidy ready to go...

We headed off with Miriam having to constantly correct Mark's riding position which is fair enough, this was the first time EVER he had been on a horse so hadn't got a clue but he did really well as within half an hour he was trotting and within an hour or so he was cantering.

I loved the cantering, it really helped my confidence as it was in Canter that I fell off 10 years ago and that stopped me riding for the last 10 years, a big knock to my confidence.  But I was back cantering almost straight away and was handsfree for loads of canter - IT WAS AMAZING!!!

Here I am cantering and riding Argentinian style, one handed, with the hand facing up which was strange to get used to - I didn't have to have much instruction from Miriam except to turn my hand up, my riding position is good and I had good communications with Isobel my lovely horse.  She was a very happy horse and loved cantering too.

and here I am cantering handsfree...

I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF THIS!!!

I was so happy riding today, it really was a fantastic place to ride.  Miriam let me just head off into the open field sometimes to canter on my own while she gave Mark some instruction and also let us both go cantering off together once Mark had mastered cantering.

I wish in my first lesson when I was 12 years old I had been allowed to just head off and canter like Mark was - I think I spent a year at least riding round and round in a circle with 9 other people in the class before I was allowed to canter.  Miriam was a brilliant teacher and was very relaxed about everything.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ride again....

After lots of cantering we then got off to adjust the saddles as they are different from English style riding and the saddle loosens over the ride and needs to be pulled forward and re-tightened to make sure the girth doesn't rub too much on the horse otherwise they will end up with sore areas.

Then we did a bit of cantering on the way back.  The park we were in is massive and we didn't really see very many people at all whilst riding which was amazing considering it was such a beautiful day.

Isobel had earned her carrots!  Isn't she a really beautiful horse?!  she had one blue eye and one brown eye, just stunning.

I had such a brilliant day as did Mark who was cantering at every opportunity once he had mastered it and he loved it.  He had such a great horse too who was very patient with him.  I have a video of us cantering handsfree side by side and once I have figured out how to upload it I will post it on the blog.  UPDATE - here is the link www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZPOsvT_h1M - you might have to cut and paste the link

Miriam had organise a take away deliver of Empenadas for us which was a really lovely thing to do as good and drink aren't included in the day and then she brought out a big Argentinian beer for us to share - absolute heaven.

After Adrian had given all the horses a cold shower he came in and joined us for a drink and some empenadas before he drove us down the road to meet our driver who would return us to the city.

It was a really fantastic day, I loved the horses and also the lovely people, Miriam and Adrian are really nice people who just love their horses and want to share their love of horses with other people which is right up my street.

Here is the link to the place we were riding today www.caballos-alapar.com - it was fantastic.

Can't wait for my polo lesson on Tuesday now!

Tomorrow we head off to learn how to cook Argentinian style Empenadas with Teresita which should be good fun.

suzxxx