Casual
MATUS, VICTORINO
Casual THE HORSE I RODE IN ON The first leg of my trip to Costa Rica was exactly as I'd envisioned it: I ate a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, and gallo pinto (black beans and rice), followed by...
...Luckily, my horse was rather tame, though maybe too much so, for as we forded a river, he decided to lower his head and have a drink...
...Later, we came upon a cow who had just given birth...
...But my horse and I were undeterred...
...One of the things J.C...
...Sadly, the number of people who have never been on a horse is on the rise...
...Show him who's boss," advised J.C...
...You imagine you're the Marlboro Man rounding up the cattle, as breathtaking scenery unfolds around you...
...For dinner we feasted on grilled corvina (sea bass) and ceviche (raw fish cured in lime juice), and we ended the night playing blackjack (they call it "rummy") at the local casino...
...As he and his stallion led the way, my gentle, ruddy horse and I followed without incident...
...Still, I found myself gripping the saddle horn as if my life depended on it— even though we hadn't started moving yet...
...When the time came for me to mount, I had to picture Clint Eastwood in the movies, swinging one leg over the saddle...
...My friends and I then lunched poolside and returned to the links...
...But then what...
...We were actually approaching the stables before I confessed that I had no idea what I was getting myself into...
...That could have been the template for my entire week and I would have been perfectly content...
...After three days of this idyllic routine at the Los Suenos resort on the Pacific Coast, we headed inland to Chomes, a ranch that has been in Julie's family for almost a hundred years...
...Here, there was no air conditioning and no casino...
...VICTORINO MATUS...
...He sort of looks like a donkey," said our friend Pete...
...Never...
...Casual THE HORSE I RODE IN ON The first leg of my trip to Costa Rica was exactly as I'd envisioned it: I ate a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, and gallo pinto (black beans and rice), followed by nine holes of golf at one of the premier courses in Central America...
...Afterwards we headed to the 19th hole for "Michelada" Imperials—beer served in salted, frosty mugs with ice and a dash of lime...
...Sure, sounds like a great idea," I said, with a hint of reluctance in my voice...
...It was a hot day, and we both needed a break...
...I located the stirrups and the reins, and was told how to make the horse turn, accelerate, and stop with just a tug of the rope...
...and "Whoa, Nelly...
...It was about to get better...
...And to think I could've spent my whole vacation at the casino in Los Suenos drinking Micheladas and splitting aces...
...What was happening to my dream vacation...
...asked J.C., incredulous...
...That was easy enough...
...It's gotten to the point where I now know people from Texas and Oklahoma who have not once been on a horse...
...It was feisty, or, as they say, con brio...
...We were joined by a cowboy who took us on a more advanced trail—through rivers, mud pits, and pastures filled with grazing cattle...
...As more of us spend our lives in cities and suburbs, the notion of horseback riding becomes as novel as parasailing and bungee jumping...
...The sight took my breath away...
...But just to remind us we were in Costa Rica and not New Mexico, black monkeys were staring down at us from the trees...
...It turns out verbal commands such as "Heeyah...
...I suddenly felt myself towering over everyone, sitting atop a powerful beast that could, at any moment, get spooked and drag me to an untimely death...
...do not work...
...He was parched, and we sat there, my stirrups underwater, for a good five minutes...
...And I discovered there's something exhilarating about riding a horse...
...Meanwhile the local cowboys, known as sabaneros, were clearly amused at this gringo in a baseball cap and Skechers trying to show his horse who was boss...
...But my hosts, J.C...
...We rode through sugar cane fields as the sun set, throwing out movie lines from City Slickers...
...As we rode up, she was licking her calf, and in a few moments the baby was struggling to take its first wobbly steps...
...What I didn't want to admit was that, having grown up in Jersey and moved on to Washington, D.C., I had never been on a horse in my life (not counting the coin-operated ones outside K-Mart...
...It turned out the boss was J.C., who rode a white horse befitting Patton...
...insisted on our doing was riding horses...
...and his wife, Julie, had other plans...
...Outside it was arid, dusty, and a sweltering 90 degrees...
...A couple of days later, we were back on the range, this time at J.C.'s family ranch, known as Las Delicias...
Vol. 8 • May 2003 • No. 33
