Caballos y Presidentes

Saturday morning I received an email from the professor at the University of Chile that I work with.  He mentioned that there was a horse show at the Parque Bicentenario in Vitacura.  Erin and I didn't have anything planned, so when you say horse to Erin it is "let's go."  A five thousand peso cab ride there (it was only 2,500 pesos back...got ripped off) and dos mil pesos para la boleto  (two thousand pesos for the ticket to get in) and we were set for the afternoon.

This park is in the upscale Eastern side of Santiago.  You could tell by some of the houses we passed on the way there.

The entrance to the park was quite modern, but it really had an emphasis on green once you got in.  As with many of the parks in Santiago, the main walkways are sand/clay.  A lot of nice plantings and newly planted trees.  The hill in the background on the first picture is part of the San Cristobal hill/ridge line that I run on all the time.  It is several miles long.

There is a playground with equipment that is unique to say the least.

There were also 60 merchants selling things ranging from organic chocolate to beer to hand woven hats.

Of course I bought all three - including a hat.  Puts me in pretty good company as you'll see...and the band is hand woven horse hair.  The material they make them out of is soft like cotton - an important consideration when you don't have hair.

As you can see, there is a lot of interesting uses of pallets.  Tables, chairs, displays, and bars.

There was even a "small" midway...pun intended.  (And Elvis lives!)

But the real reason we were here was for the horse show, so...trumpets please!!

 There is a particular breed of horse in Chile that has been carefully controlled to keep the breed pure.  I've only have pictures in this posting and they don't do justice to the horse and the show.

One of the national symbols of Chile is the spur - check these out!  They generally don't touch the horse with them and they are primarily for show.  They tend to sing in the wind and when someone is walking with them on. Note the stirrups have a cover for the rider's boot.

Now when they brought this guy in via an elaborate carriage I knew we were in for a great show.  I instantly recognized him as Sebastián Piñera, the President of Chile. Pretty much the whole world saw him during the Chilean miner rescue.  He is the one with the dark jacket.  (click to zoom)

The horse show didn't disappoint as there were many different things presented - speed, patterns, cow rustling, and of course pretty girls. (hey, the President was there!)

I keep telling Ike and Seth that they should take up equestrian because there are pretty girls every time you turn around.  (okay, they generally aren't dressed in feathers, but what's to say the fashion doesn't catch on in the States?)

And oh yes, we met the President!  He told me "you're going to want a picture of this."  Check out the hat...kind of like mine, eh!  By the way, President Piñera is a former Fulbright Scholar and a former professor at the University of Chile.  Hat, Fulbright, University of Chile...we have a lot in common...he's a billionaire though, so that is where the similarity ends.

Who would think that an arena like this would have the president visit?

That is something I really find attractive about Chile.  Things are often simple and understated.  It is about the experience, not the "things."


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