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Christmas Day. We're staying at Jackie Bumgardner's place in California for
now - John drove the trailer and 3 horses down 3 weeks ago. We had planned
on driving down together and I'd leave for Argentina from LA, but a nasty
early snow storm hit S. Idaho just before time to go, so I flew out of Boise
and John drove the horses down (2 days) alone. What a guy :) (I owe him).
Will head to Trona, for the Death Valley ride on Tuesday. Lots of other
folks here, snowbirds enjoying the milder climate. We'll head to Trona to
start the Death Valley ride tomorrow or Tuesday. Can't wait!

Just a quick final diary-wrap-up from the Argentina trip...

I spent the weekend at Miguel and Celina's place outside of Buenos Aires. We
had a nice 'drive' on Saturday - Miguel was a top driving competitor before
he took up Endurance, and his brother still drives and keeps his pair of
AngloArab horses at the country club stable where Miguel brings his
endurance Arabs from the farm for advanced training. Gorgeous horses, and
Miguel's skill at handling them was a delight. He had won the National
Driving competition with these horses a few weeks earlier, very light and
skillful. We went out of the country club, into the adjacent countryside -
hundreds of acres of native lowlands which are now being drained and
converted into housing developments, not much countryside left anymore.

Sunday they took me along to their annual Christmas family gathering at
Miguel's brother's place a few hours north of the city. Nice place! 30 years
ago his brother, Ignacio (an equine veterinarian by profession, a top
orthopedic surgeon in years past) and a partner (racing thoroughbred owner)
from Brazil had purchased a large piece of farmland to develop a
thoroughbred training center. Ignacio has his private stable adjacent to the
Brazilian's place, and they share the training facility - full length race
track, surgery rooms, breeding facilities, etc etc - gorgeous stable and
stalls. Lovely place, full of large trees and garden areas. Ignacio's two
sons also live there and train racing thoroughbreds - 'Pura Sangre'  - pure
blood. Ivan, his younger son spent quite a bit of time showing us around,
talking about his work, his philosophy, his passion for training. He is also
a veternarian by training, as well as top competitor (driving, dressage),
but decided that he would rather train the race horses than spend his career
as a veterinarian, trying to fix the ones that others break. He has a few
clients horses right now, just getting started in the business, and he is
also trying his skills on a horse that is the pride and hope of his father,
a Storm Cat son. (Storm Cat is currently the top racing sire in the
industry, standing in Kentucky).

Their stallion is 'Gato Grande' - Big Cat - a jaw dropping chestnut, full of
power, with an amazing eye - the 'look of eagles' . And he's also a little
'foofoo' as Ivan states it. He was unmanagable at the track as a colt in
Kentucky, shipped to Ireland, and also declared 'crazy' there. So here he is
now, in the best hands imaginable, with hopes that he can realize his
potential with the right management. Ivan is amazingly patient, he's willing
to spend whatever time it takes to tame this beast, and he has a touch that
the horses respond to. Gato Grande is now training like the rest of the
group, doing his daily workouts, relaxing, trusting Ivan (who does his own
riding - only hires a jocky to come out once a week). At this point the
horse has turned around. He's in quiet environment, non-stressful routine,
consistent skilled handling. As Ivan says, the true test will come when he's
put back into the chaos of the race track for competition, with the other
horses, noise, commotion and adrenaline. I certainly wish them luck, awesome
horse - and talented dedicated trainers.

I always enjoy my time with Miguel and Celina - their close family, with the
children and grandchildren, stories of life in Argentina, their history with
horses, and current driving passion with Endurance. Miguel shipped two of
his horses to Compiegne, France last summer for the World Endurance
Championship for Young Horses (ages 7,8) - Moro Tigre, his awesome stallion,
and Mora Afamada the equally awesome mare I rode at the 2005 Pan American
Championship. Pablo (son in law) rode Afamada in Compiegne. Both horses had
good performances, running easily up front all day, but were eliminated at
the last vetgate - Miguel's decision to change Tigre's shoes just before the
re-check (they were aluminum and had worn dangerously thin) turned out to be
a bad one - Tigre was uncomfortable, short strided, at the recheck. Later at
the vet hospital (all the horses that are pulled are required to go to the
vet hospital for evaluation before being released) he was moving perfectly
again. c'est la vie! Afamada was also pulled for lameness at the last
vetgate, but nothing serious. Muscle soreness from the hills of the
compiegne course, fine again the next day. Mora Afamada stayed in Europe
after the race, to stay in training with Leo (Leonard Leisens)in Belgium and
be ready for the 2006 WEC in Aachen. Miguel is hoping to compete there on
Tigre, maybe along with his gaucho hand Jugito Mendez on  Mora Quillen (the
pair won the National Endurance Championship in November) and Mora Afamada
will be there as backup for either of them, or possibly for Leo. Three of
his horses competing at the worlds would be quite a thrill.

After the weekend I headed back to Saladillo. I rode into Buenos Aires with
Miguel, where he took a short stop at the office of their friend Geraldo
Cerra (? I'm not exactly sure of the name and spelling) near San Isidro.
Three farms, Estancias, are collaborating on an Endurance event to be held
in Miramar (on the coast, south of Pinamar where the PAC was held). Miguel's
farm Haras San Andres Del Moro, Claudia Quentin's farm Haras Las Cortaderas
(Estanar Endurance) and Geraldo's farm (Haras Cal Ramon ... I believe) - all
breeders of top Arabian horses, with horses excelling in Endurance
competition. Geraldo is the current owner of the Arabian stallion Flaming
Tigre, previously owned by Sh. Mohamad bin Rashid al Maktoum, now the
stallion is back in Argentina with Geraldo. Flaming Tigre had been
introduced as a stud at Haras Cal Ramon in the late 90's with promotional
breeding available, then shipped to Florida. Miguel had bred a few mares to
him before he left - Moro Tigre is one of the offspring. Flaming Tigre's
offspring did well on the track (though Miguel said they always held back
just a little so were not consistent winners), but they seem to be excelling
at Endurance - (Kanavy's mare Flash Flame is out of Flaming Tigre).

So the three breeders are collaborating on a new Endurance event, scheduled
for the first weekend in February. Sh. Mohamed (Emirates Endurance) is
sponsoring the ride, a first for Argentina to have Emirates sponsorship, a
big deal, and they're pretty excited about it. Should be lovely too along
the coastal forests. That part of the Atlantic is rougher, and the beaches
are not as perfect for riding as Pinamar, so there won't be much of the
course right along the water, but nice pine forests and fields, and the cool
atlantic breeze should moderate the mid-summer heat. Wish I could be there!

So..., taking a taxi from Miguel's clinic in BA, to meet Mercedes and
Eduardo at the airport, drop Eduardo off (trip to Chile) and go pick up the
new hauling truck at the Mercedes-Benz dealer. We got there and took a look
at the truck, and oh-my-god it's big... some hesitation on Mercedes's part
... maybe too big? does she really want to drive it home today?? Some
discussion with the dealer, some second thoughts, and Mercedes decided to
leave it with the dealer and talk some more with Eduardo and Jorge and make
sure this is the rig they want. So - back to Saladillo together in the car.

Another nice day in the countryside, and that night we picked Eduardo up at
the airport (returning from the Chile trip) and went for dinner in BA with
Claudia - with a bit of rush hour city driving adventure on the way . There
is a very agressive segment of the BA population that makes their living on
the streets, literally, weaving in and out of the manic traffic - they do
drive crazy there - selling things, juggling for tips, and washing
windshields with the expectation of being paid for it. At one intersection
we were accosted by a particularly aggressive windshield cleaner, he started
smearing the windshield and pulling back the wipers within seconds of
stopping, on us like a swarm of soapy bees - very distressing, and he
spotted the gringo in the back seat (me) holding a 10peso note, and would
not stop. It was getting tense, traffic starting to move, the guy screaming,
Mercedes and Eduardo yelling for him to go away, finally Mercedes laid on
the horn (adding to the excitement of the moment :) and managed to break
away. Sort of hysterically... Of course it was just one more cultural
adventure for me, and I could easily have seen too much humor in the
situation, but it was definetly not funny for the Argentine natives. These
'street' people are truly a nuisance, and situations here can be dangerous,
with little or no police protection. So I wisely refrained from laughing.

Nice dinner with Claudia, long late drive back to Saladillo for the last
night. The next morning I packed for leaving, with the hot north wind
blowing steady (the 'wind that makes you crazy'), did some last minute
shopping with Flor, and back to BA for a long, but uneventful flight back to
the US. Good seats, easy flight, thousands of miles later, back in the
familiar Ford truck with John, and on to the next adventure with horses!

Steph

(Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays and/or Happy Hannukah to all!)






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