The first horses that we purchased here were native to the island. They are mixed breed Criollos. The word Criollo means "of Spanish origin", and refers to a variety of related South American horses. A stockily built animal, the Criollo stands between 1.42 and 1.52 m (14-15 hh). The breed is among the toughest, soundest, and most enduring horses in the world, and is capable of carrying heavy weights over long distances and very difficult terrain. They are perfect for our business.
The first is a gelding named Bienvenido, which means welcome in Spanish, we call him Ben. He is the white one in the picture above. He has a funny little ear that you can see if you look closely. They told us that he got bitten by a mosquito in the ear and it got so swollen that the cartilage broke. His former owner used him primarily for Coleo which is a rodeo type sport. We use him for a guide horse because he is willing to go anywhere and try anything. He is also a good leader.
The second horse is a mare named Bomberita. We think this means little fireman. She has a lot of Arab blood in her. She's short, stocky and a great climber. We also primarily use her for a guide horse.
The next two horses we bought together from the same person. They are Chocolate and Sunset. Choco is in the picture above talking to his best friend Ben about the great view from the mountains. Choco is a my favorite horse to ride. He is very smooth in a canter and has a great personality. He is a perfect horse for the most experienced riders and also for the brand new riders.
Sunset is the alpha horse of our group. He insists on being the last horse in line so that he can keep an eye on all the other horses. He wants to make sure that they all all going where he wants to to go.
Then came Princessa. She is a little old lady. We use her for our younger riders and for the folks that are really nervous about riding. She is very calm and we can lead her with a rope if it is needed to give our guests a level of comfort. Many times we start a ride leading her out with a brand new rider and by the time we get back they are riding her by themselves. It's great to see people develop a level of confidence in such a short time.
The next two also came together. One is named Calypso and the other is Ghandi. Calypso is the biggest of the Criollo horses so he is reserved for our bigger guests. Ghandi is aptly named as he is the most mellow of our crew.
We have some pictures posted here http://picasaweb.google.com/CabaCaribe/TheHorses and as we get more time we'll get more pictures up.
We also brought six horses here from the U.S.. Five Quarter Horses and one Paint. We use the quarter horses mostly for Coleo, which I'll explain later. We actually have two of the top Coleo horses on the island.
The Paint is named Teardrop because of a mark at the corner of his eye that looks like a teardrop. He is a our biggest horse. He is very experienced and provides a good ride ride for our guests that have a little experience.
We have put a lot of time into all of our horses to make sure that they are able to carry first time riders. When you get to the ranch you'll see what a great bunch of horses we have.
Hasta Luego,
CabaCaribe
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