Casa Sagrada - riding in Mexico

So, here are a few pictures from our riding weekend (July 16 - 18) at Casa Sagrada. It was Stef (the bio teacher) and her friend Sonja (not a teacher in the NEH group, but she came along for Spanish lessons) and me for the weekend. The owner Mary Jane keeps a lovely place, the food is great, and she has a variety of horses. I rode an Anglo-Arab mare named Tory both days. We rode 6 hours Saturday, 4.5 hours Sunday at the walk, trot and canter. Needless to say, I was abit sore afterwards, but on the mend by Tuesday. Enjoy the pics.

Casa Sagrada

View from my room.

Hay is scarce here (you can get alfalfa, however), so for forage when not at grass 

(and there's very little of that anyhow), the horses eat the leftover green part of corn 

after the ears have been harvested.

Proof that they eat the corn greens (even when they have yellowed). 

Mary Jane says all the horses love it and they don't have 

to be taught to eat it (it is apparently alittle sweet).

Aside: they can get Purina grain (Omolene and the like here, but it is VERY expensive), so if grain is needed the horses get steamed, rolled oats and sometimes a bran mash.

Me and Tory, Saturday AM (she doesn't like to stand, hence the tight rein). 

I lost a stirrup that day (Sat.), as the stitching came undone on the leather, while at a canter and I was in two-point! I did, however, stay on (yeah! for having ridden for so many years and still having very good balance), and Mary Jane gave me her stirrups and she jerry-rigged a stirrup leather out of a leadrope (it was impressive - sadly no pics of her ingenuity) until her partner Bobby (he's originally from San Antonio) was able to meet us with a new set of leathers.

Sunday.

Stef on Spirit (L) and Sonja on Zeb (R).

BIG bougainvillea bushes! (though I saw several that were downright trees!)

My sleeping partner Friday night. I don't remember her name, but SUPER sweet and with only 3 legs (she had 3/4 of a front leg removed due to a tumor).

A sadly skinny mare and foal we saw Sunday. This was taken from horseback (one that doesn't stand well) from quite a distance, so it's abit blurry. We at first thought momma's white was salt from sweating or dried mud, but if you look closer, it seems to be a form of roaning (see it on her back legs and topline too).  Any one good at color genetics?