With no horses or support driver to continue on, I did the only thing I know – cowboy up!
If there is one thing that growing up with a cowboy hat and spurs on has taught me, it’s that quitting is never an option. No matter how hard that bronc, bull or life pounds you into the ground, you pick up your hat, brush the dirt off your wrangler jeans and get back on.
And that’s exactly what I did.
Even though my heart was broken at the thought of leaving Life and Doll behind and my mind fluttered with questions of who would drive the support vehicle, I immediately got to work. I searched for a ranch where the mares could rest before they were hauled back to Sao Paulo and began looking for two Uruguayan ponies.
The first problem was solved quickly when Mario Luna offered his ranch to host the mares.
“When you arrived in Barretos in 2012, I was in the stands watching you finish your ride thinking, ‘man I would love to talk to that guy one day.’ Now you are in my home town, you have become my friend, it is an honour for me to tell my grandchildren one day that your mares rested on my property,” Mario said.
With this first weight off my shoulders I began to tackle the second problem – finding new mounts. Luckily, there are some pretty amazing horseman out there in the world. And the horse, as I have said many times prior, is a universal language.
After only two days talking to different people in Rivera, Uruguay about my problem, Nicolas Lanfranco, a rancher and Quarter Horse breeder, offered to lend me two mares.
“I love horses and it will be amazing for me to help you Filipe, we have been following you since you left Canada,” he said running his fingers through his bushy silver moustache.
I couldn’t thank Nicolas enough! At a visit to his ranch I met his beautiful family and learned that his son completed a Long Ride around Uruguay with one of his best friends. He showed me photos of their ride while we drank beers.
“My favourite part of the journey was seeing how nice the people that hosted us were,” Nico, a 26-year-old gaucho following in his fathers footsteps told me.
I agreed with him and we shared many similar stories from the road.
In the afternoon we drove around the Lanfranco ranch. The Uruguayan family has 350 horses, 1500 sheep and more than 3000 head of cattle. on their property.
“This ranch has been in our family for 4 generations, I love this world,” Nicolas told me as he drove his truck through a large pasture.
After seeing the ranch, I finally got to meet the two mares that will help me cross Uruguai. Cautiva and Andariega, two chestnut mares fathered by the same stallion, look like twins! They both have the same white stripe running down their reddish-brown faces. I immediately fell in love.
I can’t wait to get to know these two mares as we journey to Montevideo.
