San Thomas, Isabella, Galapagos - 22-Nov-03
I like horses. Not nearly as much as so many women in my life, but horses are fun!

Organized by Tony from the hotel in Pto. Viamill, I had the chance to ride a very nice one from the town of San Thomas, to the summit of the Sierra Negra volcano in southern Isabella. Neat.

How to prepare for such a trek? I have not that much experience, and I want to have a REAL experience, not a touristy one.

Mom?

My mom prepared the following instructions for learning how to ride in 30 seconds.

1. Remember, the horse is not a dirt bike
2. Stay centered.
3. Lean forward a little to help when he is climbing up
4. lean back a little to help on descents
5. they need to be reassured
6. you are the leader (or maybe the horse in front !!)
7. the stirrups should fit under your armpit when you stand at arms length from the horse.
8. remember to tighten the girth!
9. the main cause of horse riding accidents is gear that is improperly put on
10. check for stones in the horse's hooves frequently (pick each hoof up gently one by one, and look for stones they can go lame if you don't do this)
11. don't walk behind the horse
12. be gentle and calming near the horse
13. these are not big dogs, they are fundamentally animals of flight
14. Have fun!

Perfect, now I know enough so that when the guide asks our group of 4 who has experience riding, I can say yes!! Yippie, I get the EXPERIENCED horse. Lol… or… the young horse… hmm…

So the horses name is. Brown Horse. Weak eh? They don’t bother naming them, but when tourists ask, they say the Spanish color as the name. Cafי Cabiao. Great.

Regardless,
It all worked out very nicely, we had a lovely ride through MANY microclimates, first arid desert, then temperate, then jungle, then desert, then volcano! I loved it. Look for the pictures in the pictures section!