Feb-2014
Horseback riding the Patagonian lands
Ariane picks us up in Down Town Bariloche, where 3 other tourists and I join her for a short pick-up ride to her home. There she has her horses waiting for us to be picked. I get to share the backseat during the 15 minutes ride with her three lovely dogs. She has a Greyhound, a Labrador and a puppy dachshund. Together with the dogs, we’re going for a super fun horse riding tour in Bariloche today!
Horses in the garden
Ariane has 4 horses kind of staying in her backyard (awesome!) and three more staying at someone’s estancia. Today we’ll do the tour with 5 horses. There’s Wayne, Malbec (as in the wine), Gaucho, Balthazar, and Perla.
I get to ride Wayne today, a pretty horse with a brown/orange kind of color. I have to say I love the name of one of the other horses, which is Malbec. I have never seen a horse named after a wine. Love it!
Ariane makes sure the saddles are comfortable before we go
A definitely very comfortable leather saddle with sheepskin
Teaching horses how to swim
“Would you like to swim with the horses in the river?” Ariane asks us. Sure we do! A girl from New York and I are very enthusiastic and we head towards the riverside to take our saddles of. In the meanwhile the other two tourists are still figuring out if they could really miss this chance. While the two of us are just smiling whilst we entered the river, my horse did not find the water that attractive. I got him to enter the deeper pool in the river a couple of times though and it was so much fun! “Alright, I’ll go too!” miss Oklahoma says. After a while we are all in the river enjoying the refreshing water. What a great day!
Who’s Ariane?
Ariane arrived in Bariloche 10 years ago and made the decision to go and live here because she was actually born in Buenos Aires and wanted to go back to Argentina. She also always wanted to have a cat, a dog, and of course her own horse. That was very doable in Bariloche!
She just moved to her new house, but she has stayed in different places before and she has even stayed with the local Indians. She’s good friends with the local people and she can therefor add an extra value to her tours by showing tourists who the locals really are.
Having a lunch at the local gaucho family
The gaucho family home
Ariane leads us to the home of a local in the afternoon, to eat, have a drink and chat while we enjoy the hospitality of an authentic gaucho.
The house actually got turned into a restaurant while we were there. With bread and cheese, olives, salads, meat, and mate, it was one big party meal. Señor “negro” and his wife are very friendly people and he speaks a bit unclear, which reminds me of someone from Andalusia, Spain.
He is a real gaucho who used to parade allot with his things made of wood and especially leather. The house looks like a museum now, full of beautiful things the gauchos normally use, which are now serving as decoration.
The gaucho, señor “negro”
When we arrive back to Ariane’s house we enjoy a cold beer and cheers to this fantastic horse-riding day before we get brought back to the city center. What a lovely day. I wish I could wake up tomorrow, walk into my own garden en decide to ride one of those horses again.
Sr. negro helping us by adjusting the saddles after lunch
If you’re in Bariloche or in the surroundings and you like horses then I highly, highly recommend you to send an e-mail to Ariane and go for the best horseriding experience you’ll find in Argentina!
About Renate Rigters
Ever since I left my home country I felt at home at any other place I went to. I enjoy getting to know more cultures by talking to strangers and hearing their philosophy about life. Speaking with gestures when you can not find a shared language, finding places only the locals go to and learn about their customs and values. Hanging out with local people makes me happy. The experience of every new place is a step out of your comfort zone where I like to wander around until it feels like a second home.
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Leuk! Ik vind het altijd heerlijk paardrijden op reis en zwemmen met paarden helemaal geweldig;)
Inderdaad heerlijk! 🙂