Riding in the Torotillas

Today we went riding on Jemma's farm. She picked us up at Supermaxi at 8:00, but first she took us to see her house in San Joaquin. A lot of expat families live there, not retirees, and I really like it because there is a lot of green space. I don't know if we will be able to find a house to rent there, but we can try. We met her husband, Aaron, and their 4 children. They are from Ireland and own several farms here in Ecuador.

After picking up some snacks for the ride we headed to her farm high up in the hills. It was a long and very bumpy road. The back roads are terrible and you definitely need a 4 wheel drive. Once we got there it started pouring. Jemma's guardia (farm hand) helped to saddle up the horses and get everyone on. We started out pretty well until we rounded the bend and came upon a stallion on the other side of the fence and some dogs. Tali's horse started to run from the stallion and that was that. She was hysterical and there was no calming her down. Jemma had to walk next to her for a long time. Tali was still a mess though. We stopped at the half way point and got off for a snack and some rest. We ate bananas and apples and drank some water. The horses munched nearby. Tali did not want to get back on her horse, Fleur. Finn was riding a lovely, little mare called Martha. Martha was the farm favorite and all 0f the kids loved her. I convinced Tali to ride Martha back and Finn rode on Fleur. Finn did great the whole ride no matter who he rode. He really, truly surprised me. He had a blast and thought it was fun when his horse would trot to catch up. Tali, however, was still a mess. We got her up on Martha, but Jemma ended up having to pony her the whole way back and whenever Martha started to walk in the grass Tali would start to wail. Ugh. What a ride for Jemma. I felt very sorry for her.

Mark and Pat were troopers, but I don't think they enjoyed it all that much. Pat's horse would not listen to him and kept trying to eat. Mark's horse, Annie, was very sweet, but one time semi-bolted up the hill with Pat's and that was a little scary for me to watch. All in all I had a good time, but I don't think I will be getting Tali, Pat or Mark on a horse anytime soon.

On the way home we stopped at Coopera. It is the organic cooperative grocery store. I bought some avacados and some dragon fruit to try. We really liked it. It is big. Like a grapefruit. When you cut it open there is a creamy white inside filled with little black seeds. You scoop it out with a spoon. It tastes almost like kiwi. Loved it.

One embarrassing thing that happened was that we dragged mud all the way through the Coopera. I didn't realize what we were doing until I turned around and a man was following us through the store with a mop. How embarrassing! We promptly left, but had to go to Supermaxi for salt. We stood off to the side in the mall while Pat ran into the store. We had tracked mud from the stairs over to where we were standing and mud puddles soon formed around our feet. You could see all of the Ecuadorians following the muddy footprints over to where we were standing. Who knows what they were thinking, but I can only imagine. One thing I had read before coming was that you should always brush your shoes off before coming to town. Also, the streets, sidewalks and parking lots are spotless. We were mortified.