Espiritu de Arrieros - retracing history
Espiritu de Arrieros, in the spirit of the traders, merchants, smugglers, contrabandists of the past, is our club especially for the experienced rider. These ripe Madroños are abundant in the autumn on one of our trails. Drunken strawberries we call them! So many people offer horseback riding for the uninitiated on very sound, solid mounts that follow one-another nose to tail (caraculo!). This is great for the equine-holidayist. But for the more serious equine-hobbyist (!) this offers no excitement whatsoever, and as riders ourselves we know that the chance to go for a `proper´ ride when your own horse isn´t available is often not an option. My husband and I have spent many hours in the saddle re-tracing the steps of the traders and smugglers of the past as they took their wares from the coast up to the mountain, or vice versa. Asking old forest guards, local shepherds and farmers what they remember of the routes that the Arrieros took. These routes have mostly fallen into disuse and disappeared, becoming overgrown and lost. With their help and the assistance of modern technology (handheld GPS and a rather expensive program that shows all the old military routes and off-road tracks) we slowly went about finding, clearing and opening up these long lost trails. It is an on-going project! 
Due to these routes being mostly far away from any navigable road, therefore vehicles can not enter to collect tired or injured horses or riders, we do only offer these excursions to competent riders able to spend many hours in the saddle. Likewise our horses are suitably schooled, fit, are fed a very healthy high-fibre diet and are barefoot (no chance of loosing a shoe half way up, or down, a mountain!) in order to assure an enjoyable time whilst exploring countryside barely seen this century. Flora and Fauna in abundance. Depending on the time of year you can pick blackberries, pomegranates, oranges, madronos etc to breakfast on, from the saddle as you ride by. Wild Boar, Deer and Mountain Goat in their very natural habitat barely lift their heads from their daily musings as they are not accustomed to us humans and don´t see the horses as any threat.
Excursions are usually a minimum of 4 hours to all day. And when we say 8 hours in the saddle that is exactly what we mean. We do stop for breakfast and/or lunch on the longer excursions. Often a picnic but sometimes we make it to a roadside venta, again depending on the route. Shorter and longer excursions can always be arranged. Occasional 2-day excursions, sleeping under the stars and really getting back to nature for those that dare. We welcome members to our club with their own apt, healthy horse, offering overnight stall or paddock care at reasonable prices if required. Each member receives a club tee shirt and a saddle log book. 
Weather permitting we hold one excursion a month. As membership increases we will be organising other events, all horse related but not necessarily in the saddle!Come and see us or complete the contact form with your enquiry to find out more. |
