The weekend had already started off great with slack-lining and relaxing with friends at the Botanical Gardens this past Friday. We then went to have dinner with our friends from Mexico who made us a classical Mexican breakfast (which is nothing like you would expect).
After all that fun, a horseback ride on Saturday was going to be the icing on the cake for the weekend! We took a bus to Ritoque, and the crew picked us up and drove us to the ranch.
They then assigned us each a horse, and we got started. From the beginning my horse had a spunky attitude, and was a little bit stubborn. I've had some experience riding horses (minimal) at my Grandpa's in Nebraska, so I can somewhat handle myself on a horse. No big deal, I just won't let him get away with anything... or so I thought.
Isn't he pretty! His name was Aponco.
Initially we headed down to the beach, and the guides said we were free to run on the beach with the horses until the next check-point. This was so cool because this would NEVER happen in the States. So about half the group takes off, and it was a blast! The beach was gorgeous, and the horses were fast! Of course it was also entertaining to watch a bunch of gringos riding a horse for the first time and flopping around because they don't know how to sit in a saddle. Everyone ended up being fine, but there were a couple of scares initially.
We had to cross a river over a railroad bridge!
At this point we are about to head into the forest in Ritoque, but the horses wanted to eat first. I didn't let my horse eat much, because he was starting to get cocky and thought he could do what he wanted. He really didn't like that I was being strict, but the guides told me to keep on him. Others were not so strict on their horses, and the horses start to just do what they want. Again, my horse had an attitude... so I wasn't giving him any rein.
Now we've hit the sand dunes! They were HUGE! They made the sand dunes in Con Con look like sandboxes. The horses loved running in them. Aponco started to get a little bit competitive and would chase other horses. Oh my gosh dude, CHILL OUT!
Why is it that they can be friends when they eat? But not when riding.
Now up until the point where we got back on the beach, the ride had been perfect. Yeah Aponco had a bit of an attitude, but nothing too bad. If anything it was entertaining. But once we got back to the beach, two riders from the same company joined us to get back to the ranch. For some reason my horse was going bonkers! He only wanted to be near those horses, and I was not having it. So a group takes off running down the beach, and so do Aponco and I. Once we caught up to the group, Aponco runs straight to this other horse, and he does not care how hard I am pulling back on the reins. I thought the other horse was a male, and that Aponco wanted to pick a fight...
I WISH! No the horse was a mare, and Aponco wanted to do the exact opposite of fight her! Aponco proceeds to MOUNT the mare while I was still on him!!!!!! The rider of the mare had hopped off as soon as she saw what was coming, and I had no choice but to hold on and not fall off. This is where the "Is this really happening?" question popped into my head, and when I looked at my friends' faces I could tell that indeed it really was happening. The guides quickly came over to get Aponco off, and were laughing the whole time through it. As were my friends and classmates. It was so funny and awkward all at the same time! I was so embarrassed for my horse, and the next thought that pops into my head is, "Well, at least it's a good story." And I'm sure you agree that it is.
Overall, it was the most fun horseback riding I have ever had. And the most strange. All of it made for a great weekend though :) I made today a little more low-key by waking up and going to mass at the Cathedral in Valpo, then we went to this market called "Pulgas". It's basically huge garage sale that extends for 10 blocks through Valpo. It was super cool, and we surprisingly found some great items!
Hope everyone else's weekend was just as fun ;) Ciao!
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