Open Season

Sshhhh!

Don't tell my husband because he'll get the wrong idea, but I've formally declared open season on Starbuck.  It's not that I want to wear her out, but if I want to take her on all day trail rides at some point (and hopefully half day trail rides pretty soon), it's not fair to her if the only conditioning she gets beforehand is a pretty light hour-long lesson with me five days a week and a couple of longeing or roundpen sessions.  I've also noticed that Marina's lesson horses are MUCH more robust than the privately owned horses - of course part of that is that private owners tend to notice changes in the status quo quicker and be a lot more paranoid than the folks who take lessons on a different horse each week, and we do freak out and call the vet for things which perhaps don't merit much more than neosporin or at the most stallrest.  But the lesson veterans don't have nearly as many colds, lameness episodes or other issues as the private horses do, even though a lot of them are nearing retirement age.  And I think most of this is simply that they get more exercise and less coddling than the private horses, so I want her to start getting at least two hours of exercise a few days a week.  Finally, if I only ride Starbuck and she's only ridden by me, we'll likely only end up finding "workarounds" to conceal our our bad habits (like using too much leg, slouching to the right and letting my shoulders hunch forward, or like keeping her head in the air, letting her hind legs trail behind her and spooking) instead of actually being motivated to identify and fix them.

So by now, coinciding with the day my CSA veggie basket has to be picked up in town and Saturday afternoon which is my siesta time, Lola's been riding her most Thursdays and Saturdays for months, which in my opinion is really positive - Lola has a much better seat than I do and is pretty much fearless not to mention probably 20 pounds lighter so at least Starbuck's been getting a different experience twice a week from her chubby, unbalanced and neurotic owner who tenses up with every gust of wind.  Here are some recent videos of Lola and Starbuck:

But then my CSA delivery changed from Thursday to Wednesday, so I could go to the stable on Thursday but not on Wednesday, when Lola's not there.  So I asked Alberto, Alex and Marina (not my teacher, just has the same name) three of the more experienced kids whose horses are pretty much on the same crazy level with Starbuck if they wanted to take turns riding her on Wednesdays and they said absolutely.  So on Thursday both Lola and I will ride Starbuck, and Wednesdays are covered too.  And finally, there's a guy named Boris who recently started riding but is a total natural and has been on nearly all the horses at the stable - he just bought two young horses and is trying to get as much riding experience as possible, riding 3 and 4 times on the days he's there (he's a pilot so he has one of those weird work-five-days-get-five-days-off schedules).  Since I like the way he rides as well, the other day I just mentioned to him that if he wanted to ride Starbuck any old morning he was welcome to and he said yes, so I've got him on the roster as well.  Here they are, getting to know each other:

Anyhow I know that there are all kinds of horror stories about people's horses being "ruined" by having them ridden by other people but I honestly think that all of these folks have something to teach Starbuck and I can always turn selfish again and "take her back" if I see it's going badly.  Having seen all of them ride out-of-control horses at one point or another, I'm confident she won't be abused or mistreated by any of them, and I think that her getting a few more hours a week of exercise and experience can only be a good thing.

Trashumancia II

NB: The first half of this series is here if you missed it.

Sunday - After a long night of too-hot-too-cold sheet wrestling, I woke up ready to get back in the saddle. We had a lovely breakfast at the hotel with freshly baked madaleines and home-grown cherries (Gredos is a cherry-harvest hotspot) and then walked over to saddle up our horses who were calm and refreshed after their night of rest - not so much jigging this morning.  We hand-walked them into the middle of town to give them a drink at the fountain and to give them a little warmup before mounting up and starting our route back to La Parra.  On the way out of town we rode through some poplar trees, which I'm highly allergic to when they're snowing down that fluffy shit so my allergies started acting up and didn't stop until I got back to Mallorca two days later.

I went through four packs of kleenex and in the end had to resort to furtive sleeve wiping and donated wet wipes to blow my nose into.  By the end of the day I was pretty miserable and starting to wish people would stop talking to me, and even now the skin on my nose is chapped from blowing it so often.  What with the sinus blockage, the dust, dehydration, the endless slight hangover and the sun poisoning from the day before, I got a horrific headache at lunch and thought about giving up and asking for a (car) ride down the mountain until the ibuprophen kicked in.  After a few hours my knees were aching, since I had shortened my stirrups for more security over the more rugged terrain I knew was to come.  And I had to wrap the shirt I wore the day before around my neck like a pakistani prayer shawl to cover my poor burned cleavage.  Even so, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Just on the other side of Barajas we went back through the same forest as the day before where we overtook cows grazing along a stream and passed areas marked for wild mushroom gathering, then started our slow ascent to the Puerto del Arenal mountain pass (the day before we had crossed the Puerto del Pico mountain pass) over moor-like cow and horse pastures.  The terrain was completely different from the day before, much more loamy and nearly swampy in some areas, littered with holes and streams which spread out in different tiny tributaries and meandered across fields and down hillsides.  Then we headed up a rocky hillside lined with broom bushes and rosemary till we reached more meadows, littered here and there with broom bushes and boulders.  We let our horses drink at a crystal clear stream, then tied them up to rest while we enjoyed a mid-morning snack of serrano ham, manchego cheese, homemade morcilla (cured blood sausage) and more wine from the wineskin.

On the other side of the stream we noticed a herd of horses running together way on the other side of the meadow from us and steered clear of them so as not to get in the middle of a stampede.  We picked our way through a rocky and treacherous streambed, slowly climbing higher and higher, until we came up on another meadow with horses grazing, and a few at the far end running and playing.  Some of the braver members of our group which also happened to have their own horses with them rode up to the herd to see them up close, but the rest of us stayed at a distance.  This is the one regret I have (aside from getting sunburned) - that I didn't ride up to this herd of horses.  It was a magical moment and I watched from afar with envy and admiration.

We noticed the vegetation getting sparser and the boulders getting more frequent and then suddenly saw the whole Tietar river valley spread out before us as we reached the top of the mountain pass.  And suddenly, right against the horizon, we saw an ibex run from one group of boulders to the next.  As we were lamenting the fact that none of us had our cameras out, another one followed him.  And another, and another... they just kept coming!  There must have been 30 or so of them - at any rate it was enough time to dig my camera out of my saddlebags and take a video (sorry for the shaky hands) of them.  Gaby's quip: "Most of what you pay for these rides goes to bribes for this kind of thing".

We were reminded of the fact that this was goat territory when we saw the path we'd be using to go down the mountain.  Less than a yard wide, steep, stony, in some spots downright invisible and with lots of switchbacks, it was a little menacing (not to mention the fact that two of the folks who had ridden with us the day before had gotten someone else to ride their horses on the second day in order to avoid this descent).  Gaby's son Álvaro saw the look on my face and said to me "just let Dali have his head and you'll be fine" and I listened to him.  Apart from a few checks on the rein when we got to an easy bit to keep him from ending up on top of the mare in front of us, I pretty much just tried to relax my seat, kept a loose hold on the reins and put my life in his hands (hooves).  And Álvaro was right - Dali's a pro.  He picked his way downhill with the agility and balance of a mustang, regaining his foothold easily when a loose stone slipped and even hopping over a very dangerously placed stream with grace and confidence.  When we got to a decent resting place where we could all dismount (which happened to be a state-run refuge for hikers and cattle and goat herders with a smallish cattle pen made of huge boulders pushed together) and give our horses a few minutes rest, I gave him a big rub and told him repeatedly what a fantastic horse he was.

Then down the hill to a pine wood where Gaby's wife had prepared a fabulous picnic lunch - more "thrashed potatos", a cold cream of zucchini soup, a tuna and veggie terrine, braised turkey cutlets and her fabulous lemon mousse for dessert.  My horse had thrown a shoe on the way down, so while I held him and metabolized the ibuprophen Gaby shoed him.  The way down was beautiful but tiring - we were now far enough down the mountain for it to be hot, and as we were back on the south face the terrain was much dryer and with 15 horses, a lot of dust was kicked up.  But the views were amazing - it was great to see the mountain pass we had come over, and the little towns way down in the valley with their white wall, red tile roof houses and stone churches and even a castle or two.  Down and down we went along dusty roads, with a few more hair-raising descents (steeper, but not so rocky or vertiginous) before we finally walked through a fairy tale-like fern grove before entering the forest that Gaby's ranch is just on the other side of.  The land has obviously been recently parcelled off and sold, because there were a fair number of newly built cabins and some still under construction.  Then we arrived to the olive groves interspersed with vinyards and fruit (quince, fig, pomegranate, almond and cherry) trees which mark the entrance to Gaby's ranch, and with a mix of regret at having ended our adventure and relief at being able to rest dismounted, unsaddled the horses and returned them to their paddocks for their well-deserved dinner and rest.

We ended the day with crusty loaves of bread, more home-cured chorizo and salchichón along with fresh local cheeses eaten with homemade quince jelly on top, a selection of locally made herb and fruit liqueurs with homegrown cherries for dessert.  Another, short-lived singalong accompanied the inevitable hugs and kisses as we said goodbye until the next time.  Hopefully it'll be soon.

Once again, if this sounds like something you'd be interested in doing, please look up Gredos Ecuestre and tell Gaby I sent you, or drop me a line and I can give you more details.  He organizes very reasonably priced routes from 1 1/2 hours to 7 days long over a range of different terrains and parts of Spain (Gredos, Castilla Leon, Andalucía and Galicia so far with more to come) with some of the best horses (they've got spirit and initiative but are very well behaved and not phased by anything) I've ever ridden.  Oh yeah and the food is fabulous ;)

Trashumancia I

Well, I was trying to go for short on this one but I didn't want to leave too much out, so I've decided to split it into two chapters - one for the first day and another for the second one - and try to "stick to the facts" rather than going into my feelings.  Anyhow here's the intro - last weekend I flew to the Peninsula to go on a two-day trail ride with Gredos Ecuestre.  I've been on several long routes like this with Gaby (Gredos Ecuestre owner/operator) before and enjoyed them all thoroughly, and since it'd been a couple of years since I was last able to come along, I'd been looking forward to this one for months.  So here's the first half, I'll try to write and publish the second in a couple of days and if you want to see more photos you can check them out here.

Friday - After catching up in Madrid with some friends from previous routes who weren't able to make it to this one, we arrived in La Parra in time for a Ribera del Duero-feuled flamenco singalong.  Ill-advised gin and tonics in the town plaza before heading off to bed.

Saturday - Saddled up and rode off bright and early.  I was a little uneasy about them giving me a new horse, Dali, which I'd never ridden before (and who came with the caveat "he does fine as long as you know how to ride pretty well") but decided that at the worst, it would be a learning experience and a challenge.  Gaby's horses are always eager to get going so there was a little jigging at first, but a few checks of the rein to show him I was serious about walking, not trotting, as well as me relaxing my seat had us going smooth as silk in no time.  I recognized the first part of the ride as one I've ridden several times before, by a few farmhouses through a lovely pine forest and down a broom-bush covered mountainside.  But soon we were meandering along a mountain stream which was new to me and shortly thereafter we started to find the first tell-tale signs of the "Trashumancia" in the form of cow patties and cloven hoof prints.

Wikipedia defines transhumance as "the seasonal movement of people with their livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures", and that definition pretty much works for me.  In the Sierra de Gredos, which still had a few snow-covered peaks in late June, shepherds and goatherds and cowmen move their herds from the southern side of of the mountains in early summer using the 1st century AD roman road which is still in excellent repair, to take advantage of the lusher pastures and more abundant streams and watering holes on the north face.

Around mid-morning we came up behind our first herd of about 60 cows, a mixed group of all ages, sexes and colors which hardly batted an eye as we rode past in single file so as to not spook them or inadvertently drive them in a different direction.  The cow herders were on foot and horseback, and there was a saddled but not bridled paint horse completely untied to anything at all, being herded along with the cows.  A while afterwards we got to a charming little village which we rode straight through, clip-clopping down the main street which was lined with charming little whitewashed houses, each with a wooden second story balcony and most adorned with roses and geraniums, and waving at little old ladies, children and housewives hanging out their laundry as we passed by.

On the way out of the village we took our first recognizable steps on the roman road (we had apparently been on it earlier but hadn't noticed) and stopped at a fountain for a snack (chorizo and salchichón mixed and cured by Gaby's wife washed down with wine we squirted into our mouths from a wineskin) while the horses took a drink and a well deserved breather.  The cows caught up with us here and we admired how well behaved they were - no straying away from the group, no visible piques between rival bovine factions and only the calves showing any tendency to playfulness.  Then back up the roman road, and up, and up... we passed a few more cattle herds on the way up, helped shoo a disoriented calf who had gotten left behind back to her mother, and had to stop for a few thrown horseshoes (Gaby is a licensed farrier and always carries extra shoes and nails so no problem), but mostly it was just climbing the mountain and admiring the views for the next couple of hours.  Then finally we got to the top, where a pretty sizeable crowd had gathered to witness and cheer on the Transhumancia, along with all the cows who were grazing in the meadow at the top of the mountain while their herders took a break.

Unsaddled the horses in a nearby wood and had lunch at the restaurant which is conveniently located on top of the mountain - "thrashed potatos" which are potatos mashed with garlic and paprika and garnished with fried pork skins, scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms, cream-and-spinach filled fried crepes and salad followed by a nice bloody steak from the cousins of the cows we could see grazing in the pasture.  After a long, relaxing "sobremesa" where we chatted and sipped at coffee and herb liqueurs we saddled our horses up and walked them to another fountain.  While the horses were drinking, a huge vulture (pretty sure it was a Griffon Vulture) landed just about 250 yards away from us.  Of course, I just had to see how close I could get, which wasn't much before it majestically spread its wings and flew off into the valley below.  Then we headed down the other, greener side of the mountain through lush meadows and mixed deciduous and pine forests to Barajas, the village we spent the night in.

Now if I had to choose a tiny little town smack in the middle of nowhere, Barajas is the one I'd choose.  The roman road runs through it, there's a lovely romanesque looking church as well as lots of more recent but still charming stone buildings, its mountain backdrop is stunning and best of all?  It's literally surrounded by horse pastures.  There are even pastures owned by the town hall which are subsidized so even if you don't have much money, you have somewhere to keep your horse.  And of course with the amount of lush green grass growing, you don't have to worry much about feed.  We separated the horses (there were 15 of them after all) into three different pastures - one for Gaby's horses, another for the horses owned by other people who live in Gaby's stable and the last one for two mares who had come with their owners from Alicante to do this route - and walked around the corner to our hotel, where each room instead of having a number had the name of a horse.  Ours was Faraón (Pharoah), a flashy white Iberian.

While showering, I realized that I had gotten pretty badly sunburned on my chest - I very cleverly brought a light cotton long-sleeved shirt to protect my arms and back form the sun but forgot that it was a little low-cut :S  Not sure if it was sun poisoning, dehydration, a slight hangover or a combination of the three, but I barely made it through the excellent dinner (Iberian ham, local aged sheep cheese, veggie terrine and fresh cod with a tomato sauce) before I had to turn in for the night.

Well, I think that's enough for the first chapter.  More another day :)  Needless to say it was fabulous, and I got along so well with my horse that riding him just came naturally.  No drama at all, which I think says a lot about my own personal development.

Oh, and if you're interested in going on an amazing trail ride like this one (anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 7 days, very reasonable rates) with Gaby's fabulous horses through some of the most beautiful and authentic countryside in Spain, check out his website.

Inspiration

After a solid ride on Saturday where Starbuck ended up so relaxed her muscles were like jello (first time ever, I was so very pleased!!!), on Sunday she was just absolutely crazy and spooky and by the time we did a enough groundwork to get her listening to me she was pretty tuckered out so I decided to do a lesson on Rodrigo, one of Marina's lesson geldings - it was fun fun fun!!!  Cantering around the arena without a care in the world, letting go of the reins and stirrups to do some Centered Riding exercises, even trotting over some low jumps... I think a little vacation from "filly-seat" was just what I needed, and I'll get more this weekend at a two day ride in Gredos.

But it's also got me fired up about working more and more with Starbuck, since what I really want is to be able to do all of this with her!  So I've found some videos which really inspire me in some of my (so far) chosen disciplines, which will give the rest of you an idea of what I eventually want to achieve with her and keep me focussed on what I need to be working on to get there.

Groundwork / Natural Horsemanship:

Cross country jumping:

Dressage:

Trail Riding / Agility:

Just Plain Fun:

¡Viva Gredos!

So the San Pedro de Alcántara route with Gredos Ecuestre was marvelous!!!  I feel like I really learned a lot and really had to call on all of my riding skills, from simply finding the muscles to ride about 70 km in two days to negotiating steep ascents and descents on rocky mountain faces to keeping my horse under control when he was nearly run over by a runaway burro cart!  And of course the company, landscapes and food were amazing as always, so I had a really wonderful weekend all in all.  For anyone who is looking to do a horseback route in Spain (from an hour and a half to five days), I highly recommend Gredos Ecuestre: the horses are feisty yet extremely well behaved and experienced, the countryside is incredibly varied (I've now ridden about 6 full days in that area and haven't done the same route twice) and the people are amazing.

Here are some photos of the trip, enjoy!

If the Energizer Bunny were a horse he would be Lince.

Ricardo shows us a lovely sidepass with Rif

Riding through landscapes like these I feel like I'm in a watercolour painting.

That's the donkey cart that ran me over!!!!

Gaby enjoying a little solitude and a chance for a nice relaxed gallop up the hill

Refeuling at the town fountain in Hontanares

And of course this is Spain so the route included siesta time!

Crossing the dehesa...

Gaby and Viana in all their glory!

 What a group!!!!

Enjoying a relaxing and delicious picnic lunch on the banks of the river Tietar!

Longeing Video

Here's a video of us longeing today (thanks to barn buddy Selina), Starbuck did really well! Although we need to work on her listening to all of my cues the first time (she does well with "trot" but "walk" and "stop" take some repetitions and heavy duty body language), I can really see how much she's progressed in the more or less two months we've been working together (check out our first video if you don't believe me!).  She's also responding really well to my new stricter leading policy (no grazing unless I say so and if she comes forward past my shoulder she has to take 2 steps back), so I feel really encouraged about possibly being able to ride her soon, although I think we still have a lot of work to do first.

I'll be taking a few days off from Starbuck and the blog to do a horseback excursion in the Gredos Mountains with the fabulous horses and people of Gredos Ecuestre for a few days.  These are the same folks I did the Camino de Santiago on horseback with and one of my long-term goals for Starbuck is to be able to trailer her over to the Península and either do the Camino again or do a five-day trip around the Gredos Mountains with them.  Maybe in a year or two....