My first 12 days in Argentina were not quite as…thrilling,
as I had hoped. I had been living on a
breeding/boarding/training farm outside of San Juan for 12 days,
spending my time riding horses, doing barn work, and wandering the backroads.
Prior to my arrival, I was informed that this farm trains
jumping and endurance horses and was full of hot-blooded thoroughbreds. Admittedly, I was a little intimidated at
first as I have zero experience with jumping or endurance – unless you count
wrangling in the morning at Spotted Horse Ranch where I occasionally jump some
logs and ditches, and rounding up the horses can take a few hours. Despite my lack of experience, I was eager to
work with a different breed of horses and acquire some new skills! So, with visions of soaring over jumps on a
sleek, strong, tall thoroughbred in my mind, I eagerly awaited the sunrise to
see where I was and begin my temporary work.
(I had been picked up at the San Juan airport on January 17th at about
9:00pm by the most charismatic woman, the owner of the farm. Claudia is an amazing lady and instantly made
me feel welcomed as she drove me to the farm and explained her lifestyle along
the way.)
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| the screeching of the burrowing owls accompanied my walks |
When I woke up and could finally see my surroundings, I was
not disappointed. The farm was situated
in the flatlands at the base of the mountains.
While walking down the shaded lanes towards the stables, I was staring
at the mountains in the distance, anticipating the rides that I would get to go
on out there; I had been told that I could take a horse and ride in the
afternoons!
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| Rodolfo with his pack |
Like a lost dog, I wandered around looking for a friendly
face, someone who could give me instructions and tell me what I was supposed to
be doing. This person came in the form
of Rodolfo, a man with seemingly only a single prized tooth, whose Spanish was
unintelligible to me (at first), is probably around 65 years old, and is
constantly engulfed by a pack of playful dogs.
With minimal words and much gesturing, he told me that I could help by
filling the water troughs and tossing hay to the horses. This took all of about
45 minutes, then I was bothering him again for another task. Instead of additional work, he busted out a
mate set and we shared a few cups of the traditional tea. The entire time, dogs were swarming around
our chairs and begging for attention.
One little dog, named Pikachu, captured my heart and became my faithful
companion for the duration of my stay.
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| Spotty and Pikachu, my two favorites |
Post mate, Rodolfo and I gathered a few horses and led them
to the tack room to be brushed and saddled.
Then we sat and waited. He kept
mumbling something about “…Mercedes….” and I had no idea what a Mercedes had to
do with anything. Welp, it turns out
that that is the name of the owner’s daughter and we were waiting on her and
her friends to ride. Eventually they
showed up and we all hoisted ourselves onto the tall horses. As I was getting on my horse, it was
explained to me that he had run away with the previous volunteer and that she
had fallen off, so I should hold the reins tight and be ready as soon as I got
on. Noted. Braced for a battle, I swung up
anddd…..nothing. Dear Maximo took a
single step forward, a far cry from running away with me. Despite the anti-climatic mount, I remained
on guard, ready for him to try anything.
Still nothing, Honestly, I was a little bit let down, and also maybe a
little relieved, I didn’t want to embarrass myself on the first day.
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| Gloria and the foals |
We all rode over onto a grassy lawn where the other girls
began riding their horses around the perimeter, walking at first, then squeezing
their horses into a trot, then gentle canter.
I followed suit, thinking that we were just warming up for the
ride. An hour later, I realized that this was the ride. We would not be riding out into the mountains
as I had envisioned, or flying over jumps.
We were simply exercising the horses.
The next day followed the same routine: water, feed, ride, hose them
off, put them In their respective pens, then retire to the house until about
4:00pm, at which time we would do nightly feeding and watering, sometimes
riding.
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| the vineyard right outside my house, with Spotty on guard duty |
After three days of this repetitive routine, I contacted the
woman who had arranged for my stay here to ask if it was possible to go for a
ride in the mountains. Long story short,
this never came to fruition. I am all about routine, and actually enjoyed the
barn chores, but the riding had quickly grown monotonous. I had been spoiled
over the past few years: riding in the mountains of Wyoming and hills of
Cordoba. Riding circles on the patchy
lawn and meandering up and down the dirt driveways had grown tiresome. For the first time, I found myself not really
wanting to ride; I was happy to just do the barn chores, then go back to the
house or linger by the stables to play with the dogs. When I was told to ride Princessa, a young horse
that still needed some work, I was excited.
I thought it would be a challenge and that I could have a project! As we were saddling Princessa, I thought that
she would definitely provide the stimulation that I needed. She could not stand still as we put on her
tack, was rearing back, and seemed opposed to having anything or anyone on her
back. However, after a few minutes of
lunging, she was infinitely more docile and allowed me on her back. One little hop and that was it. Following a few circuits on the lawn, I took
her off down the lane. Nothing. Totally fine.
The only real work to be done was her steering and responses to leg pressure.
Once again, I was just a bit let down.
These horses, while lovely, were not very much different than the calm
quarter horses back home. I had been hoping for something different, to learn
about a different breed of horses, and to improve my riding skills.
So, instead of riding, the highlights of my day were walking
along the gravel lane in the early morning, and watching the sky change colors;
playing with Pikachu and Spotty (my two favorite dogs) and watching their
shadows as they tumbled along behind me; saying hello to Gloria the donkey
every morning as I scratched behind her overly large ears. The things that I enjoyed the most while
living in San Juan were the simple things.
The morning walks, all the animals, and finally getting to town to buy a
notebook so that I could better practice my Spanish. In addition to these things, the wonderful
people that I met there made my stay so enjoyable. Every single person that I encountered was
exceptionally patient and forgiving of my terrible Spanish; they were so
willing to help me in any way that they could; and oozed kindness and
generosity.
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| Easy A |
Although these first couple weeks were different than I had
hoped, they provided a gentle easing into Argentine culture, Spanish, and my
travels on this continent. But now I have
said “Adios” to San Juan and am focusing on the next phase of my travels. I am spending a few days in Cordoba city –
hopefully buying a saddle! – then heading to Estancia Los Potreros, the estancia
that I worked at last year. I am leaving
one herd of horses and pack of dogs for another, and I cannot wait to get there! :)
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| Spotty |
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| Simba |
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| Simba and Harry: hay barons |
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| it's as if they knew I was leaving :( |
My first 12 days in Argentina were not quite as…thrilling,
as I had hoped. I had been living on a
breeding/boarding/training farm outside of San Juan for 12 days,
spending my time riding horses, doing barn work, and wandering the backroads. 
So, instead of riding, the highlights of my day were walking
along the gravel lane in the early morning, and watching the sky change colors;
playing with Pikachu and Spotty (my two favorite dogs) and watching their
shadows as they tumbled along behind me; saying hello to Gloria the donkey
every morning as I scratched behind her overly large ears. The things that I enjoyed the most while
living in San Juan were the simple things.
The morning walks, all the animals, and finally getting to town to buy a
notebook so that I could better practice my Spanish. In addition to these things, the wonderful
people that I met there made my stay so enjoyable. Every single person that I encountered was
exceptionally patient and forgiving of my terrible Spanish; they were so
willing to help me in any way that they could; and oozed kindness and
generosity. 
