July 3rd 2012

So I arrived at around 9am this morning. My flight was uneventful, I slept a fair amount. Martin picked me up from the airport (a little late but no big deal, my plane was early after all) and took me to the farm. Driving in Buenos Aires was interesting. Let's just say, the lane lines are guidelines :P To get to Rancho Pampa you have to drive through some really sketchy looking dirt roads, lots of tall fences ect. The farm itself is well protected, high walls with barbed wire on top and spikes on top of the gates. It isn't huge, but it definitely isn't small either. The barn is a little old but in good repair. The ring was too wet to ride in after rain Sunday night so instead I got to meet the horses and the dogs and then help clip. I mostly did faces, although I held the twitch for Katie once and also held up a few legs to stop one horse from kicking while she did the other legs. Things are definitely different than what I am used to but the horses looked happy and healthy. I also got to meet three of the guys, Rodrigo who is another rider, and Walter, Carlos, and David who do barn work and stuff. Walter is very outgoing and friendly, even if I hardly understand a wood he is saying. Rodrigo has a little bit of English but not very much. There are foals in the barn right now, down from the breeding farm to get some basic handling and to get registered. One is in pretty bad shape though. It apparently tried to jump a five foot gate while they were rounding them p and missed by about a foot and had a nasty fall. Now it is hobbling along. Hopefully the damage isn't too bad but they won't keep him if he isn't going to heal completely.