It was yet another windy day in Argentina, but at least the clouds kept the weather cool. We followed a dirt road the entire day, staying on track thanks to a map Javier drew before I left. There were a lot of lefts and rights snaking through 45 kms of trail.
All day I searched for a place to give the ponies water but there was nothing. We rode by dry creeks and locked gates left and right. With my luck, I have entered Argentina in the middle of a horrible drought. This area of the country has not seen any precipitation in more than 40 days. And with no support driver, I am unable to carry water for Picasso and Sapo. Making me stress out like the early days of Journey America part 1.
Luckily, in the early afternoon I found a pasture with an unlocked gate. I walked the horses in and found a water troff. Both Sapo and Picasso dropped their heads in and began gulping forcefully – they were thirsty. I accompanied them and drank my last water bottle dry. With this wind, your mouth gets dryer than the Sahara Desert quick.
That night I rested at a ranch that offers Equine Therapy for children and teens. Rotxo, a friend of Javier’s was waiting for me with 8 kids – they had just finished riding. When I arrived they began shooting off questions like an AK 47.
“Wait where did you come from… What are the horses names… What do you eat… Where do you sleep… How many countries did you cross..”
I tried to answer them with enthusiasm but I was dead tired. After untacking the horses and giving them a bath, I sat with the kids under the shade of a tall tree for about an hour. I could tell many had autism and other social hardships but they were interacting with me really well. After they left, Rotxo told me some of their stories.
“The boy in the red hat has autism and before he started riding here a few months ago, he was extremely anti-social. He never wanted to be around people or play with other children. Now he is a completely different person, and it’s all thanks to the horse,” Rotxo told me with a look of pride in his eyes.
For him, it’s seeing the kids transitions that makes this the “greatest job in the world.”
“I mean I get paid to help kids and I get to be outdoors with horses all day, It doesn’t get much better than this,” he said with a wide smile.
I have seen and heard about the benefits of Equine Therapy for many years, but riding into that ranch and meeting those kids had a big impact on me. As I laid in my stinky tent that night, hearing the horses eat their hay close by, I dreamt about having my own ranch one day and helping kids like Rotxo.
It’s a dream I hope to live one day.
