a pony is still at the top of my birthday list

Last week was a busy one. The BA Indpendent Film Festival started and there was a series of horse shows at La Rural, one of the main exhibition spaces here in Buenos Aires. Argentina has a huge horse culture, including the gauchos (who ride Western), competitive polo teams, horse racing, as well as English style riding, which is what I did way back when in VT. We were able to see all the respective horses associated with these styles at La Rural. In between competitions, people could walk among the stalls (over 1,000 horses there) and visit the horses, most of which were for sale. Pete and I just got new credit cards and I truly think that if we'd had them that day, I very well may have purchased a horse. The first day we got there I secretly cried several times, just seeing the horses (judge if you like!).

This horse wanted to do a little visiting and poked his head over the stall

then two others joined in

they even had foals there...I probably could have snuck out with this one

some of the riders were BABIES. I couldn't believe they were jumping these huge double oxers

On Saturday, we continued our horse themed week and went to the Hipódromo, which is very close to our house, and saw the races. We had better luck betting here than at the casino and used our winnings for a dinner out at Kansas, our secret American restaurant indulgence. I was wishing that David was there because Pete got very into betting strategies and I was absolutely not interested at all. I wanted to bet on all the horses that were ranked last because I felt badly for them.

winning ticket on Welshman, see horse below

And here, the most famous rider of all...My mom got me the biggest helmet with the most padding. It was by far the least cool looking. I was, however, incredibly proud of my chaps with the purple fringe (not featured in this photo). I would probably wear them today if they still fit. Dot and I got Grand Champion two summer show series in a row. The jumps weren't quite as high as the ones you saw above....