On Thursday, September 22, the first day of Spring here in Brazil, I said goodbye to Life and Doll.
I awoke to a beautiful sunny day, but it felt like a tempestuous storm was nearing. I tried to eat breakfast but I wasn’t hungry. I had known this day would arrive for weeks, but I didn’t want to face it.
When I arrived at the pasture to feed my girls, it hit me hard. This was our last morning together. They glowed under the morning sun. Looking so stunning, so healthy. Both with a gorgeous coat. After having walked more than 2 000 kilometres they were muscular and fit.
This is what killed me the most. I worried so much about my girls, took care of them so well, they were in perfect shape to finish this journey. Had it not been for this imaginary line stopping us, we would have arrived together at the end of the world.
After they finished their breakfast I loaded them onto Mario Luna’s truck and hauled them to my new friend’s ranch.
“Don’t worry Filipe they will be taken care of really well until they return to Sao Paulo,” Mario said trying to comfort me.
When we arrived at his gorgeous property, we unloaded Life and Doll and I walked them to their new pasture. It was the greatest place a horse could ever wish for. Green grass went on as far as the eye could see with a little stream cutting the entire pasture in half. I walked the girls through the gate and thanked them for a few minutes.
It took less than 10 seconds for the tears to start rolling.
“I’m so proud of you girls, thank you so much for helping me with this journey,” I said scratching their pretty little faces.
When I took their halters off, they stood starring at me not understanding what was going on. But after a while went down to the pasture to fill their bellies. Leaving, I felt sad but happy that they were going to stay in such a wonderful place until they returned to their ranches in Sao Paulo in a month.
As faith would have it, on this first day of Spring, I would start working with my new mares Andariega and Cautiva. Nicolas Lanfranco, the Uruguayan Quarter Horse breeder who lent them to me, arrived that afternoon in Rivera with the two mares.
“A friend of mine has a farm just outside of town and he has offered to host the mares for you,” he told me over the phone.
From Mario’s ranch I drove straight over there to start work with my Uruguayan girls. As always the first thing I did was blow into both of their nostrils – a polite way to introduce yourself to a horse and insure it never forgets you.
Daughters from the same stud, the mares look like identical sisters. They even have almost the same stripe running down their faces! And to top it off, when they are out in the pasture they stand right next to each other almost touching their bodies. It’s too funny.
The mares had been living out with the herd so they were fit but a little skinny. So the first thing I did was start them on feed. Slowly so they wouldn’t colic, but I needed to beef them up. After they finished their grain, I put the saddle on Cautiva and ponied Andariega. I went onto the road and rode them for an hour or so.
For the next few days I worked with the girls on the art of Long Riding – packing, ponying and staying calm near busy roads, we worked on it all. While getting them in shape for the ride to Montevideo.
