Author: Isaac Gritz
MONTEVERDE – Day 5 of trip and after a brief breakfast at
the the cozy eco-friendly hotel we took a van along a rough, bumpy road to our
main activity for the day – horse-back riding. Personally, I have been
horse-back riding in the US before, but today’s journal would be unlike any other
horseback riding experience I’ve been to. As we got out of the van, we were
immediately greeted in Spanish by a rough-and-tumble but friendly Tico man who
introduced himself as Martin. He spoke little English, instead relying on our
group members to translate all but the few words he knew.
We approached the man and noticed 11
horses, some slightly larger than others and different colors, all lined up and
a long field and beautiful landscape surrounding us. We were given a brief
introduction and overview of the course in Spanish, followed by an offering to
store our bags. After a bit of back and forth regarding the payment between
Stuart, Sharon, and Martin, we were immediately handed helmets and Martin
helped us to put on the helmets and matched each student and staff to a horse.
As we each mounted a horse, we were
given its name and brief instructions on how to steer, stop, and accelerate the
horse in broken English. In a surprisingly harsh tone, Martin handed me a long
twig and instructed me on how to hit the horse with the twig or kick it if it
was not moving fast enough. I was surprised by the seriousness of his tone, but
nonetheless moved along. My horse’s name was Texas. He was a beautiful brown horse,
healthy and strong with a smooth brown main and a long tail. Yet, he was clearly
an impatient one; not having much interest in standing lined up, moving his
head left and right to sniff my shoes.
And, we were off. Sharon was
leading the pack on her horse, followed by the rest of the group with myself,
Daniel, and Stuart, on his small white horse bringing up the rear. We were led through
beautiful fields, and alongside gorgeous mountainsides with views that really
showed off the vast and bio diverse nature in Costa Rica. The path was
primarily a dirt path that narrowed in parts and became much wider than others.
It was anything but flat and smooth. There were roots, trees, rocks, and steep
upward and downward inclines throughout the course. We wove in and out of the
woods and in deep muddy trails. Texas often struggled to keep up with the horse
in front and I often had to “instruct” him to speed up, although I can hear him
panting. As a looked back, poor Stuart and his little white stallion were
falling behind, while Martin, the guide was much further ahead and I could barely
see him along the trail.
It was a long and adventurous
trail, exceeding all of my expectations with all of the scenery and the challenging
terrain of the course. It wasn’t the most pleasant ride by any means, and I
certainly questioned whether I will be able to have kids after a few spots, but
nonetheless there was not a dull moment. There was a point where we were told
we would be changing the route because there were “bees” along our normal
route. They weren’t bees but there was certainly an infestation of flying
insects along that route so I was glad with the change. Along the route we took
a few stops to take pictures and we stopped halfway before we went back, giving
us just enough time to recover from the minor pelvic and thigh injuries.
We took a slightly different route
back, and then we were arrived back at the start, Martin came around to help us
dismount and thanked us for our patronage. Overall, it was a very enjoyable
experience and beat the already high expectations for our tour attractions that
already included a bull fight and an unbelievable natural hot spring experience.
We experienced nature in its most natural state and were given a much more
authentic and scenic horse ride than any of the heavily commercialized experiences
I’ve had in the States.
However, that doesn’t mean it was
perfect. I was certainly thrown off by the serious tone of our guide. At one
point one of our group members rode too close to another horse and that horse
kicked his, at which point Martin showed visible anger before recovering and
resuming the tour. It was also difficult to understand with the lack of English
and I didn’t really know what I was getting into without clear instructions. For
this horseback riding experience, especially for all of the international
travelers, it is important to focus on safety and clarity to make sure all
riders are safety and understand what they are signing up for to avoid any
misunderstandings. In addition, to make it a more enjoyable experience, creating
smoother paths with clear markings will further help to improve the experience
and avoid any confusion. Overall, it was certainly an excellent and enjoyable
experience but additional considerations would make this a truly exceptional
experience for international travelers.
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