Horses On Parade

Each spring, Atenas has its Topes - horse parade.  This is a big deal as ranchers from the canton drive their horses into town via their blue and white farm trucks, and saddle up to prance up and down the streets, amongst the regular car and motorcycle traffic.  Their destination was eventually to get to the old folks home where there was some sort of blessing.  I was told that this was a fund raiser for the home and since I saw each rider had a number pinned on their back, there might have been a parade fee that they paid.

This area has many fincas (farms and ranches) with cattle and horses. Its not unusual to see someone riding into town. With the condition of many of the roads, the horse seems like a preferable mode of transportation.
The cowboys are dressed much as you'd see in the US. Their cowboy hats are a bit wider, but they mostly wear jeans, boots, and plaid long sleeved shirts. Some had intricate embroidery on their shirts which showed me that this was a special day for them.

This parade was an all afternoon affair with no real organization that I could discern.  Horses and their riders were typically in groups of what appeared to be family or friends.  As the afternoon turned to evening, more and more riders were carrying 'beverages' to sustain them as they headed through town to the old folks home.  I was amazed at the prancing by each and every horse that made them seem so elegant.

Now I'm in the parade!

Maybe it was my enthusiam? But one of the riders stopped and asked me if I wanted to ride in the parade.  Of course this was all in Spanish and I wasnt sure what was going on, but the Tico's standing next to us yelled 'SI' and waved me toward the horse as the rider jumped off.  So, here I am saddling up for my participation in the Tope!

We had been seeing oxcarts with oxen/cows around town the past couple of days, but for some reason, I didnt have my camera.  Sunday morning (after the Saturday Tope), I heard a clop clop on the hilly dirt/gravel road outside of our house.  I jumped up to see - a beautifully painted ox cart carrying a young girl and going up the hill.  When I waived with my camera in hand, they stopped so I could take a picture.  While the cart, and in fact the cows, were beautiful - riding in that cart didnt look very comfortable.  After all, these carts were originally used to carry coffee beans into town..