Adventures of a Cabalgata

Saturday night I had the opportunity to FINALLY go on my first ever Cabalgata. Typically held to raise money for a certain cause, Cabalgatas are mass horse rides, coupled with entertainment, auctions, food, drinks and festivities.

This particular event was held to raise money for an eight year old girl with Spina bifida. Having already undergone 12 surgeries, she is in need of several more. Currently she has to empty her bladder through a tube connected to her stomach. She desires to go to school and play with other kids and to live a life as close to normal as possible. Just recently, she was given a temporary wheel chair - made possible from the press generated from this event.

Her whole life she has been carried around wherever she needs to go, and her current chair doesn't provide the support her body needs to be comfortable. The government has granted money to build a home for her family, something that is needed before she can undergo any more surgeries in order to have a home to properly recover. However, the family needs a piece of land in order to build the house, in order to have the surgery, in order for her to live as close to normal as possible. So, the money raised from the event will buy a piece of land! Extra money raised will be used to purchase the correct type of chair in order to support her needs.

I am not sure how much money was raised with the event, but if anyone wants to contribute by donating anything, please contact me and we can make arrangements.

Now, back to the Cabalgata...this one was unique, taking place by moonlight! We arrived via horseback and eagerly awaited dusk to turn into night, the moon to light the sky, and the ride to begin. In the meantime, we enjoyed some bocas (snacks) of carne de cerdo con yucca (slow cooked pork and yucca), salchicha (sausage) con tortilla, and some icy cold ones.

Here we are on the way to the event...
Line and Weibke first, Weibke and me second pic...

Here is the bar...

No harassing the bar keeps with this security:)

See the moon?

Live entertainment!

Sights and sounds from the event:


The auction - calf or sheep anyone?

Bathroom break - incidentally the porta-potty was about 10 feet away.

It's TIME!!

Heading out - here you see Ace and Comanche! The ride was about 1.5 hours of moonlit awesomeness. Two big beautiful river crossings, people cheering, riders singing, hooves stomping - the atmosphere was magical.

After about 20 minutes we came upon the refreshment stand!

Everyone sat around and enjoyed a cold one on horse back for about 20 minutes before setting off once again.

For part of the ride these "Cabalgateras" were behind us, singing their hearts out. It seems a "Cabalgatera" is a person whose job is to go to the various Cabalgata's throughout the country and do their thing. Exactly what that thing is remains a mystery - it seemed to me it was flirting with girls and singing songs - what a gig indeed!

Here you can hear them - you can't see anything since I took the video in the dark but you can get the idea of the ambiance.



After returning from the ride, they had a traditional folklore dance performance. I love watching these - the colors are so bright and the people so happy.

A video of the dancing:



Three amigas - Weibke, Line and Yours Truly.

Unfortunately, the night ended and we had to go home. Alas, the adventure wasn't over since we had to ride about an hour to get back home. An hour riding under the light of the moon, I'd do it anytime!