Yeehaw!

A week ago today, I was lucky enough to participate in one of the biggest events of the year in Angosturra (our sister town) - a Cabelgata.  This is basically a horse show, field party, and cross country riding event mashed into one big celebration. There are many, many more people around than horses here, so I was pretty priveleged to get to ride that day.  Before I could go, though, I needed a serious makeover.  I couldn´t very well be riding around on a Chinchilla horse looking like a dirty gringa farmhand - I needed to be done up right!  Luz, my host mom, took me gently under her snazzy cowgirl wing, lent me clothing from top to bottom, and sent me on my way.

In full get up.  My "little sister" looks on in excitement in the corner.

I arrived at the Cabelgata and registered, pinning my number to my back.  I was almost as nervous this time as the last time I wore a number at the Ten Miler in C-ville!  My host brother and I led the horses out of the coffee grove where we´d hidden them and mounted up.  We were off!

The course set up for the riders was a gorgeous cross section of the surround land.  We rode through sugar cane, coffee, and yuca fields, each full and healthy. I surprised myself by knowing what each was without a thought.  We plodded through moist forests, out again onto hard clay roads.  In the middle of one of these forest pathways, we stopped for a snack and a beer.  As Costa Ricans all around me laughed, drank, ate and danced, I marveled at the forest of horses that surrounded us.

 

 It was like they were sprouting everywhere I looked!

After quenching and munching, it was past the coffee processing plant, and onto the main drag through town.  There, we overtook the cars with ease and trotted back toward the party. My horse, bless him, was perky but calm the whole ride.  I was disappointed to be done with the ride when we arrived, but ready to begin the second half of the day - fiesta time!  The whole town and more stuck around to dance, eat, and drink the night away.  It was a great time away from the farm, and I was proud and happy to know so many of the people that surrounded me.  The community here is very close knit, and I feel priveleged to have spent time with them.