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Brazil on Horseback

admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:28:00 GMT

Brazil on Horseback by Ariane Janér - EcoBrasil

When travelling through Brazil, you see horses everywhere. According to the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute there are nearly 6 million horses in the country, which means Brazil has the fourth largest herd in the world.
Many of these horses are of mixed origin and often used in cattle-ranching. But Brazilians also breed and enjoy riding quality horses in disciplines that range from classical dressage to horseback archery.
Apart from popular imported breeds such as Quarterhorses and Arabs, Brazil also values its national breeds: the Mangalarga Marchador, the Mangalarga Paulista, the Campolino, the Crioulo and the Brazilian Sports Horse (BH).
The Mangalarga Marchador (MM) is seen as Brazil’s national horse: more than 350.000 have been registered. The MMs descend from Iberian horses and have been bred since the early 19th century. They are known for their versatility, friendly temperament and hardiness. As gaited horses they give you a very smooth ride and they are of course ideal for trail riding and cattle drives. But they can also be easily trained for dressage, show jumping and other disciplines. The Crioulo or Criollo of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay is the horse of the “gauchos” and famed for its stamina and hardiness. Crioulos are small, squarely built and agile horses with good acceleration, which is why they are used for polo (today often cross-bred with thoroughbreds for even greater speeds).
Two Argentinean Criollo horses, Mancha e Gato, became world famous, when they rode with Swiss adventurer Aimé Tschiffely from Buenos Aires to Washington. This epic trip of more than 20.000 km took them over the Andes, through rainforests and deserts, just living off the land. When they left in 1925, Tschiffely was ridiculed for starting out on an impossible adventure on two small and middle-aged horses, but when they arrived in 1928 in the US, they were honored for an incredible feat with a parade on New York’s Fifth Avenue and a reception at the White House by Calvin Coolidge. Mancha and Gato were in great condition when they finished the trip and both lived to a ripe old age.
And then there are the wild naturalized breeds. These are the descendents of Iberian horses, who escaped in colonial times and adapted to life in remote regions. The “pantaneiro” horse can be found on the floodplains of the Pantanal. In the savannas between the Amazon Delta and the Tepuis, in the state of Roraima, the “lavradeiro” horse roams.
On the Ilha de Marajó island, an island the size size of Switzerland) in the mouth of the Amazon, there are two small breeds the “marajoara” and the “puruca” (which is of part Shetland parentage).
In a land full of horses, you should be able to do great rides, don't you think?
For those who love trail riding, there are certainly lots of options all over Brazil.
You can get close to the Pantanal wildlife on horseback, ride on the beach, go dude ranching, follow the centuries old Estrada Real between colonial gems Paraty, Ouro Preto and Diamantina, venture into the semi-arid interior of Brazil`s northeast, or explore the canyons and highlands or do the Missions Trail in southern Brazil.
But of course there is more to do on horseback than just riding on trails. There are several excellent stud farms and schools for clinics in dressage and show jumping, you can take polo lessons, find out about working equitation or even learn horseback archery, a skill that goes back to the original centaurs of the Asian steppes.
One place that joins many of these options is one and a half hour from Rio de Janeiro in the rain forested foothills of the Serra do Mar: the Desempenho Equestrian Center in Cachoeiras de Macacu . Desempenho has been breeding Mangalarga Marchador horses since 1983 and combines this with a riding school and, an institute for equestrian and environmental studies. The owners of Desempenho, Bjarke and Mara Rink are totally dedicated to equitation and the study of horses and nature. Their herd of more than 60 horses roams in their large property, which combines lowland pasture with secondary Atlantic Rainforest, which they are restoring. Bjarke is also a writer who explores how the symbiotic relationship of man and horse, the centaur, changed the course of history. Apart from lessons in horsemanship, jumping, dressage and cross, Desempenho also offers horseback archery and has developed a marvelous seven days trail ride, called Darwin´s trail, which will take you through the Atlantic Rainforest and mountains and includes stopovers at charming pousadas and REGUA, a private nature reserve with a lodge and scientific centre. Hidden Trails is currently exploring this trip and if it meets their standard, will offer the trail shortly.

For horseback riding tours in Brazil - check out the Hidden Trails website at http://hiddentrails.com/country/brazil.aspx .
Hidden Trails specializes in equestrian vacations in South America and worldwide.

Riding in Montana with the ghosts of General Custer the Seventh Cavalry - Lonesome Spur

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:58:00 GMT

There's an eerie silence as our horses traipse through the lemon-coloured sweet clover. The only sound is the wind sweeping gently through the tall grass. In bright sunshine, the sagebrush takes on a silvery hue and its menthol-like aroma is a refreshing respite from the stifling heat.
Around us, white stones mark where scouts and soldiers of General Custer's Seventh Cavalry fell in June 1876. We are riding across the Little Bighorn battlefield, in the hoof steps of Custer's last ride. The sense of history here is overpowering. It's peaceful and tranquil now but one can only imagine the horrors that unfolded that day.
We've joined a handful of other tourists on a three hour horse ride over the battlefield, guests of the Crow Tribe in Montana. With the help of our young guide, Hamley, we cross the fast-flowing, swollen Little Bighorn river and then the grasslands of Native American reservation land. We ride through the heart of the Custer Battlefield, undulating terrain that most tourists get to see only from the road.

Battle time: Soldiers ride across grasslands at a re-enactment of the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Afterwards, I collapse inside our teepee on a camp bed. It's been a long, hot day in the saddle and my thighs feel like lead. I think I've got heatstroke, but all I need is a siesta. Later, we enjoy a barbecue with charismatic community elder Henry Realbird, his family and other members of the Crow Tribe.
Darkness soon descends, followed by a torrential downpour. We help Henry dismantle the barbecue tent but when the wind sends chairs flying around our heads, we take cover in our teepee. Like many things, storms are bred tough in Montana.
This Native American reservation is usually off-limits to tourists. We are able to ride over this Indian land thanks to Lonnie Schwend, owner of the 400-acre Lonesome Spur Ranch where we are staying. He is friends with the Crow Tribe and a fifth-generation descendant of German homesteaders who settled in Montana at the turn of the century.
The ranch nestles between the snowy peaks of the Beartooth and Pryor mountains at the end of a gravel track called Schwend Road, near the town of Bridger, an hour west of Billings. Straw bales like giant Shredded Wheat stud the surrounding fields. 'You only get a road named after you around here if you were a homesteader,' says Lonnie.
He's the real deal, a proper old cowboy with a huge hangdog moustache who spent 35 years as a rodeo rider until he retired six years ago. What he doesn't know about horses isn't worth knowing.
Lonnie turned his place into a working guest ranch 15 years ago, inspired by the movie City Slickers. He runs the ranch with his wife Elaine, who is originally from the Scottish Borders. She first visited the Lonesome Spur 13 years ago after reading The Horse Whisperer - the book's author, Nicholas Evans, stayed at the ranch to research his bestselling novel. She fell in love --first with Montana, and later with Lonnie.
'We're definitely not a dude ranch,' she says. 'This is a working ranch, so if you stand around you'll soon be given a job to do.'
A holiday on a working cattle ranch is all about mucking in and experiencing an authentic flavor of life in the American West. For a few days, you become a volunteer ranch-hand. In between herding cattle, mending fences or feeding the 50-odd horses, there's plenty of time to act out childhood fantasies.

Last stand: A Sixties artist's impression of Custer's final moments at the Battle of Little Bighorn

Stetson hats and suede chaps are provided but you'll have to bring your own Clint Eastwood-style poncho. This is a hands-on holiday. Those wanting to sleep late, or lie by a pool, should look elsewhere.
Life on the ranch can sometimes appear chaotic - not that guests mind. Be prepared to go with the flow as plans change, often at the last minute. Guests seem pleased to have escaped big-city toxins and welcome the chance to help out.
Our accommodation is a comfy log cabin full of pine furniture, with mains electricity and a flushing toilet. There are three meals each day at fixed times and everyone eats together, giving guests the chance to get to know each other. Long days begin with breakfast at 8am, after which we prepare our horses for riding.
Fortunately ranch-hand Brandon Murray is around to check that our saddles are not going to slide off. Most of the horses have gentle names such as Pella and Honey Bear. I've made a mental note to steer clear of a horse called Macho.
Brandon is wiry and toothless, with a droopy Yosemite Sam moustache. In his less quiet moments he tells us tales about his rodeo career and how the famous bull Bodacious took out his front teeth. And how, more recently, he was escorted from his cousin's Mormon wedding after he spiked the punch with whisky.
'I don't talk much but I know about horses,' he drawls. 'If guests leave the ranch with more of a passion for horses, then I'm happy.'

On the hoof: Max Wooldridge saddles up in Montana

Later we meet Jeff Taber - another wrangler with a healthy moustache. We help him load our horses on to a transporter truck and drive to Grove Creek, about an hour away. In a spectacular valley surrounded by jagged mountains, we ride the open range and herd cattle from the lower grasslands to higher pastures where the feed is more nutritional.
'The secret to moving cows is you have to yell at them,' Jeff calls out. And the ranching education does not stop there. The Lonesome Spur hosts a series of colt clinics, where you can learn about natural horsemanship. One sticky afternoon, we gather around the pen to watch Mark Dixon, a visiting horse-trainer from Alabama, break in a two-year-old colt that has never been haltered or ridden. In just 90 minutes he is standing on the horse's saddle.
Next day we're back at the Custer Battlefield for the annual re-enactment of Custer's Last Stand. There is a lot of noise - the firing of rifles, the high-pitched yells of warriors - and the air is full of dust and gun smoke. Young Crow Tribe males paint their faces and grab mock weapons, or jump on to unsaddled horses.
Meanwhile, other locals dressed in US Army period uniforms sound bugles and assemble on horseback. A lone horseman stands atop a hill holding an ensign flag. Suddenly it's late June 1876 again and General George Custer, who boasted that his men could 'whip all the Indians on the plains', is about to meet his demise. He is heavily outnumbered by Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors, who have formed a tightening noose around him and most of his Seventh Cavalry troops.
Fortunately, the crowd is spared the more gruesome aspects of the battle; Custer and his poorly trained soldiers - many had hardly fired a rifle before - were stripped naked, scalped and mutilated. Five companies, more than 250 men, were annihilated.
Later we drive back to the Lonesome Spur. Montana is Big Sky country - miles of long, straight roads where a bend is an event. It is one of the least populated states in America and cattle outnumber humans 12 to one.
Back at the ranch we sit around a campfire with other guests and watch a salmon-pink sunset over the Beartooth Mountains before retiring to our log cabin and the nocturnal noises of the American West - the distant sounds of mile-long coal and freight trains, a chorus of chirruping crickets and dogs barking.
One evening, we visit the Cody Stampede rodeo, an hour away, just over the border in Wyoming. The town was made famous by 'Buffalo' Bill Cody and today everyone cashes in on his memory. We eat at the Irma Hotel, which Bill founded in 1902. Two women in period costume and a General Custer 'lookalike' wander the restaurant posing for photos. Too bad he looks more like a mid-Seventies Rick Wakeman in a cowboy suit.

On the ranch: Max Wooldridge joins wrangler Jeff Taber

Our tickets are collected by a woman who is almost as fierce as the bulls trying to hurl riders to the ground. Rodeo seems to be the national sport, reflecting the toughness of Montana's landscape and its people. Jana Breding, who helps ferry guests from the ranch to Billings airport, is married to the rodeo. Her husband-Scott, is a former professional-who once won the Calgary Stampede. And despite the risks her teenage son, Parker, hopes to continue the tradition.
'Four friends have died in the rodeo and one's in a wheelchair,' she says. 'Then, a few years ago, we lost another. A bull hit him in the head and he never woke up.'
This brought matters into sharp relief. As a soft urbanite, I can barely lift a saddle without risking a hernia.
Our last day, and one final horse ride takes us through fields bristling with more sweet clover. Later, as I dismount, I accidentally smack another horse in the jaw with my heel as I slide my foot out of a stirrup. I worry I may have hurt him but he doesn't even flinch, and just carries on chewing nonchalantly.
In Montana the horses are as tough as their cowboy mounts.

Travel facts
For more information on Lonesome Spur Ranch, go to the website: Lonesome Spur, Montana
Or call the Hidden Trails office toll free at 1-888-9-TRAILS or Skype:hiddentrails

Story by Mail Online

Ecuador's Hacienda Zuleta Welcomes You

admin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:22:00 GMT

By Meg Weaver on March 18, 2009

Hacienda Zuleta is alluring not merely for its idyllic 5,218 acres that guests can explore on horseback and its picturesque colonial buildings dating back to 1691. Hacienda Zuleta, home to former Ecuadorian president Galo Plaza Lasso, provides guests a home-away-from home among the volcanoes, and it funds the Galo Plaza Lasso Foundation.
The foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization formed in 1995, seeks to empower and educate the local, primarily indigenous, people of Zuleta and the surrounding Ibarra region. The foundation also aims to protect the environment and culture of the area.
It works toward these goals through two major projects: the Embroidery Project and the Condor Huasi Rehabilitation Project. The Embroidery Project began with Doña Rosario, wife of the former president, who was inspired by her travels to Spain and Italy in the 1940s and the embroidery she saw women doing there on their doorsteps. She thought of the intricate brocades, tapestries, and gauze work the Andean women of Zuleta had been doing since pre-Columbian times. Upon her return from Europe, Doña Rosario established a workshop for the local women as well as a shop, El Taller, at the hacienda where they could sell their wares to supplement their families' primarily agrarian income. Zuleta embroidery is now part of the region's cultural heritage and the sale of the product and perpetuation of the art form clearly benefit from increased tourism to the hacienda and the region in general.
Another of the foundation's projects is the Condor Huasi Rehabilitation Project that houses wild condors that have suffered from human aggression and seeks to reintroduce them to the wild. The on-site project seeks to educate visitors on the importance of protecting wildlife, and provides food to the dwindling and endangered wild condor population.
In addition the foundation's great work, Hacienda Zuleta is Smart Voyager certified and scored a 92 percent on the 2009 re-evaluation of its program's best practices. The Smart Voyager Certification program is a joint venture of Ecuadorian NGO Conservación y Desarrollo (Conservation and Development) and U.S.-based Rainforest Alliance that seeks to help tourism operators reduce the impact of their business on the environment while supporting local communities and their employees. UNESCO has acknowledged the program as an example of how to increase the efficiency and profitability of companies while protecting a region's natural heritage and historic and cultural sites.

Horseback riding trips at Hacienda Zuleta can be booked via Hidden Trails - an organizer of some of the best equestrian vacations worldwide. To reas more details about these riding vacations, go to:
http://hiddentrails.com/tour/ecuador_zuleta.aspx

At a canter but not hands down Endurance riding in Namibia

admin — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:28:00 GMT

Read a travel story by Steve Moger about their experience in Namibia on the Sambulenni Endurance Ride.

………….. We arrived at Okapuka Ranch, a large, well-stocked private game reserve a short drive north of Windhoek, the following morning, relatively calm and relaxed once more. This offers a combination of game viewing and active trail riding on the savannah plains and in the mountains. The horses are mainly pure Arabs and are therefore also ideally suited to endurance riding in this hot, dry and dusty country. Ingeborg, who runs the horse operation, is a keen, competitive and successful endurance rider and is only too happy to offer fit, competent riders the chance to train and take part with her. We had never tried or even thought of trying endurance before Okapuka was suggested to us, and it was largely because of this new dimension that, along with the precocious and loquacious Zoë, we became the first guests from the UK to take advantage of the opportunity.

Ingeborg welcomed us and showed us around the luxurious stables, introducing us to our horses - two each for the week, one for safari riding and the other for endurance - and acquainting us with the tack. Later that afternoon, after a lunch of springbok salad, we reported for a familiarization ride on our endurance horses. It was fairly uneventful; my horse only kicked out at one other and only bucked once. This inevitably led to the conclusion that she was called Sultaanah because she was a bit of a fruitcake (sorry, couldn’t resist), but no, within a day or so, we had arrived at an excellent understanding: I didn’t interfere in her business, and she didn’t in mine. The irrepressible and voluble Zoë had an injured wrist and incipient lumbago, but this holiday was a birthday present, and there was no way she was going to forgo it or be stood down. So, just in case, she was paired with the more experienced horse that had been earmarked for Pin, and Pin was switched onto the lively young Ameer. It was decided that the regime would consist of endurance training bright and early before breakfast followed by safari riding later in the day, although we did take the endurance horses for a long safari ride one day, the highlight of which was cantering alongside a string of oryx, and we missed training another day when we went for a long picnic ride up into the Otjihavera mountains and back through Leopard Valley, the highlight of which was … we should have been so lucky; this meant a double helping of training the next day. Training was essentially trotting and cantering.

And we also had to practice superfast untacking, sponging down to reduce the horses’ heart rates and trotting up on a longish lead rope for the veterinary inspections. By Friday, the day before the big day, Ingeborg was confident, certainly more confident than we were anyway, that we could manage the first two legs, which would be around 60 km. She stressed that the most important thing was for us all to finish. Places would be a bonus. We loaded the horses and set off on the long drive north through Okahandja to Otjiwarongo. At the riding club there, we unloaded, registered, collected our numbers, weighed in and presented the horses for the preliminary vet check. Fiendishly cleverly, we were all entered in different classes - Ingeborg 100 km senior, Nina (the older daughter of Fritz and Monika, the owners of Okapuka Ranch) 100 km junior, the chatterbox Zoë 66 km junior, Pin 66 km senior and myself 66 km heavyweight (scraped in by a couple of ounces!) - so would not be competing against each other and would ride as a group. In the late afternoon, we took the horses on a short circuit to stretch their legs and then went for the race briefing. This was all in Afrikaans, so it was agreed we would just do as we were told by the boss.

That evening, over a nightcap at our hotel C’est Si Bon, Ingeborg gave Pin and me a detailed mathematical explanation of exactly how many times we would have to rise over a distance of 60 km, so we went off for our early night in the comforting belief that we would cover the distance in a measured combination of trot and canter. The next morning we were up at 4 and grooming and tacking up at 5 and we set off at 6, just as the sun came up. It wasn’t very long at all before the scales fell from our eyes and we realized that, with the exception of areas of rough ground where we would have to trot and watering points where we would obviously have to stop, we were going to canter. And canter. And canter some more. Crikey, we thought, we still hadn’t made our wills! After 10 km of long, sandy tracks and dust, Pin was vermilion and looked as if she might explode. Ameer was full of beans but settled when he went on a little in front. The 5 km markers followed one another at what seemed to be distances of at least twice that. Ingeborg reminded us that she would not take any prisoners and that no whining was allowed. Not even from Pin. Canter, canter, canter …

After 36.2 km of long, sandy tracks, dust and virtuous patience, the first leg was finished. We hopped off to enter our grooming area and prepare for the vet check and discovered that our legs were finished too. I was numb from waist to toe, the slightly less garrulous Zoë tumbled over in a tangle of limbs, and Pin had to sit very quietly and breathe very deeply for the duration of this brief period of respite. Ingeborg’s niece Sasha trotted Ameer up for Pin, but the vet was clearly more concerned about Pin than her horse. Not wishing not to be taken prisoner, and with her heart rate back down to close to normal, Pin rallied. After all, the second leg would be only 30 km, so we were more than halfway there! All the horses were passed fit, and off we went again, fully aware now of what lay ahead. And of course, apart from aches and cramps straining every muscle in our bodies, except the ones used for smiling, the second leg proved slightly easier than the first. Or maybe we were simply dehydrated and delirious. The 5 km markers followed one another at what seemed to be distances of only 8 or 9 km. Mind over matter. We kept quiet about the oasis we were sure we could see up ahead in the distance. Canter, canter, canter …

After 30 km of long, sandy tracks, dust and saintly patience, we dismounted, more elegantly this time. The horses and Pin passed the vet again, so, after a little under 4 hours, it was suddenly all over, for us anyway. Ingeborg and Nina had to go again for their last legs (we were already on ours!). Zoë was lost for words and went for a kip in the Land Rover. We could even have got a few in edgeways but were quite happy to sit in the shade like zombies and drink the cool boxes dry. In the evening, washed and brushed up, we returned to the club for prize giving. 47 riders had taken part altogether. The big question: how had we done? It was all Afrikaans to us, but to our surprise, although perhaps not Ingeborg’s, the result was a clean sweep. We had all won our classes, with average speeds of around 17.5 km/h, and each beaten off at least 3 other competitors. All except Ingeborg, that is, who had not realized but had been racing only herself. We think she might have done OK anyway. The icing on the cake had a cherry on it: Ingeborg’s and Nina’s horses won “best conditioned” titles as well! Fortunately, the locals were friendly and didn’t seem to mind 3 British holidaymakers appearing out of the blue and muscling in on their event. And we were over the moon with our Okanjande Uithourit Klub certificates (who would ever believe us without them?). The team had a celebration dinner at C’est Si Bon and continued in the same vein back at Okapuka the next day with a few bottles of South African bubbly and some rather delicious smoked zebra, a special end to what had been a very special experience and achievement.

For more information on riding in Namibia, check out the Hidden Trails website at
http://www.hiddentrails.com/africa/namibia/sambulenni.htm .

Chose from a riding safari “The Sambulenni Safari” or join Ingeborg on one of the endurance rides scheduled for this year !!