Pre-Christmas Ride Down South

Waaaaay South!

Lurin, Peru to be exact, a coastal desert city just outside of Lima.

I had a regional team meeting in Lima for work last week and since the only arriving flights from the US usually come in around 1am I got there a day early and took advantage of the free time to ride a Peruvian Paso Horse.

I’ve only ridden a gaited horse once before and for just a few minutes so I was excited to get a chance to see what all the fuss is about. The ranch is just under an hour outside of Lima and I asked the company I rode with to contract the taxi service for me as well since your driver must wait the duration of your ride and then bring you back to Lima.

I had two guides but it was just me riding and I chose a two hour ride through the Lurin River Valley and along the beach. Since I was already hauling a giant bag of presents down to Peru for all of my Latin American coworkers (stuff they purchased and had sent to my apartment since everything is sooo much cheaper in the US) I decided that I’d feel more comfortable dragging my helmet along as well.

We pulled in to the ranch and I was greeted by the friendly wet nose of the owner’s doberman, Argos. I read and signed a waiver; popped my helmet on; and met my mount for the day. A relatively tall bay with two hind socks named Alambique. It was fitting because he did have a lovely red bay color just like a copper still (alambique in spanish).

 

 

The ride was alright, like many trail rides are, we had to pass some rough areas to get out to the beach. The gait was very enjoyable to ride and so smooth. I generally had a good time crossing the river and even had a little canter on Mamacona beach.

 

 

 

 

 

Just a little early Christmas present to myself 🙂

 

I hope you all have a very happy holiday!

 

 

 

swl