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On Monday we set out on a ride to our friends’ Patsy and Bob place.  Patsy and Bob have a Bed and Breakfast on their beautiful 300 acre working farm. Alturas de Puriscal has a coffee plantation  an orange orchard, dairy cows and pigs and of course beautiful horses. Patsy came to Barking Horse Farm and six of us headed out to find the trails to her place. On the way we passed though private farms and then we rode right through a suburban neighborhood. The horses loved Alturas de Puriscal, especially our water loving Beau who took a mud bath in the pond! Patsy made us a delicious meal and we all slept well in our spacious, artistically decorated rooms. In the morning we headed out to the magical Poso Cajon where once again Beau went for a swim, this time in the lagoon there. We back on country roads through small towns all the way home. It was a fun trip and now we know the way to Patsy’s house!

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One of the nicest horse events that happen in Costa Rica is the Cabalgata. This is a fund raising event on horseback. Horse owners are invited on a trail ride through private farms,they are given a meal, and they have a chance to win horse equipment at a raffle. These are organized by communities to raise money for a school, or a community center among other things. This particular event was held to raise money for Mari Cruz Belen. Mari Cruz is a Special Olympics Cyclist from our town of Puriscal who has been chosen to go to Greece to compete in the Special Olympics Competition.

The horses (and riders) from Establo San Rafael and Barking Horse Farm were invited to attend so Brenda, Liz, Olivia and our two horse interns Erin and Kristin decided to go and show our support for Mari Cruz. We headed out from the farm and climbed up to the ridge on the back roads. When we got there we noticed the rain clouds forming in the distance and sure enough, just as the horses were setting out on the cabalgata the skies opened up in a deluge of tropical rain. It rained through the whole ride! We couldn’t take a single picture to show what a picturesque route the cabalgata followed. Of course, as we arrived back at the festivities the rain stopped. We all enjoyed the local food provided for the participants and we won prizes in the raffle!! We all rode home happy and, thanks to our colorful rain ponchos, not too wet.

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This was a great trip because we rode with all very accomplished Parelli riders. We ended the trip with a two day workshop with David Lichman. We are currently putting together the trek and workshop schedule for 2012. We are happy to be having 5 star Parelli instructor DavidLichman back for a 4th time in January and 4 star Parelli instructor Nita Jo Rush for her first trek and workshop in February. We will have the exact dates as time gets closer. We are in the process of arranging the schedule for a trek and workshop with other Parelli instructors in March and April.  Stay tuned for more details.

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We are having a great time riding Beau with out reins in the ring. He stops with only the leg commands and stays relaxed and calm in all the gaits. This is great for a right brain introvert that he is. Doing this has also helped him stay calm and pay attention when he is out on trail rides. We love Beau!

April 22-29

Three star Parelli professional, Fawn Anderson, will be coming to Barking Horse Farm Costa Rica to teach a 2 day workshop at the equestrian facilities of Establo San Rafael. Following the workshop Fawn will be joining us on a 5 day horseback riding trek through the mountains to the Pacific coast beach of Playa Bejuco. This is a great opportunity to study with Fawn and then ride out with her for 5 days while you practice what you have learned.

 

Hear what folks said about our most recent trek  in Jan 2011:
“Thank you for such a wonderful trek!”
“I will never forget our experiences!”
“Your confidence and leadership throughout the trip was very reassuring.”
“We had such an incredible time and stories that will last a lifetime!”

5 star Parelli professional David Lichman has this to say about our horses:
“Barking Horse Farm and Establo San Rafael have Level 2 trained horses, with exceptional reliability and sure-footedness for trails.”

David has made four trips to Costa Rica in the past three years and now we are happy to have Fawn Anderson joining us!

For a detailed itinerary and pricing for this workshop and trek

Click Here

 

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Barking Horse Farm and Establo San Rafael combined horses to take a large group (11 horses in all!) On this trip our riders were all high level Parelli students and horse owners. It was a real treat to see the Parelli training that we give to our horses truly appreciated. And it was even better to see such high level riders in action. We learned so much from everyone about riding techniques, knot tieing, bare foot trimming and hoof boots, and lots more. I want to thank everyone who went on the trek for making it such a memorable experience!

As always, the David Lichman workshop was a great event. For some of the participants it was their first time attending one of his workshops, while others were returning students. David gave us all individualized attention and everyone progressed and learned lots and had fun too. To quote one of the new participants, “David is not only a great clinician but an excellent teacher.” David, we all loved your jokes and the inspiring music too. We look forward to seeing you here in Costa Rica next year.

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We climbed to the chilly heights of La Portenciana and then descended to the steamy rain forest heat of Lanas. Our return trip took us through the Scarlet Macaw Corridor and along the Rio Tulin where we visited some amazing waterfalls. Our January trek is full but there is still room in February, March and April if you want to join us in the future. Just check our trekking schedule.