I woke on Tuesday with a rapping on my door, and the hostel owner M telling me I had 1 hour before Me came to pick me up and take me riding on the beach with her horses. Nothing like a bit of movitation to get me moving in the morning! I was up and at'em in no time, and before I knew it I was rustling down a dirt road with the beach rising before me.
Me, from Holland, has been living in Uruguay for about 12 years and has 2 horses of the same Criollo breed as M at El Galope. She hardly ever gets a chance to ride with people and so the horses aren´t out as a couple often. So she was more than happy, after a glowing review from M, to let me come along on her spritely little mare Luna. Same general look and temperament, except a little fatter, than M´s horses and I was again on the goey one. Man, did she want to run!!
We wound down a little beach path to the water - distinctly Australian might I add, it could have been Pearl Beach for all I knew! - and before long the sand expanded out in front of us to a flat ocean (well, technically a river but whose checking??) and a low tide, affording us some pretty decent areas to gallop across.
Me was on the slower of the 2, slightly sore in the leg and also less competitive, so I charged on ahead - again - and was waiting for her to catch up most of the time. But what a feeling... one arm on the reins, one arm out feeling the wind rush through, sun blazing above and the horse going like the clappers underneath me with no encouragement needed at all. Which is good, since I was using all my strength to actually grip the saddle, a tiny thing that provided absolutely no support for a girl on a racing steed. Especially when she decided to shy at tiny bits of seaweed underneath her. That was a special little treat.
It has been so long since I rode on a beach, and it certainly did not disappoint. I was extremely grateful for Me for giving me the time to ride, it was an unforgettable experience. Especially with 3 dogs running around me and into the water. And to M for organising it on my behalf... and to the horse for not throwing me. Everyone - BIG HUGS!!!!
After that, I cooked a late lunch for myself and M back at the hostel before gathering my things, and copying some of the pics M took of me riding onto my Facebook. Yay, photos!! Then we raced to the bus stop and arrived about 20 seconds before the bus - phew! And onto Montevideo for me... ahh, sleep time...
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