Horseback ride in Sierra de la Ventana

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“There is a horse for every rider. When chosen wisely, it is impossible for them to have a misunderstanding. Horse and man become one and head for the same destination, enjoying themselves all the time” said Roberto enthusiastically in front of a group of people who were listening attentively to the way horses were to be distributed in order to start what would be the last ride of the day, before sunset and the full moon.
    
The group was formed by almost ten people of both genders and all ages. The youngest rider was a 10-year-old boy who had been matched with a “faithful” short horse. The eldest rider was about 70. Thus, after introducing ourselves and sharing some mate, we set off.

The guide pointed at the mountain range we were heading for. From there, the view of the window is really magical, unique. As the sun sets, sometimes the moon seems to be the perfect finale of the ride. Between puffs and neighs, the horses began the last ride of the day.

We slowly left Villa Ventana behind and crossed various creeks and streams bordered by gorse plants. Then we reached an old dam which used to operate as natural reserve for the orchards which provided fruit and vegetables to the guests of the Viejo Club Hotel Sierra de la Ventana, today immersed in oblivion. We could appreciate it from a distance and even today, burnt down since a couple of years ago, it still generates a feeling of stateliness few times seen in a building from the early XXth century.
    

Living Nature

During the first hour, we approached the Mount Ventana hillsides. We had crossed Las Piedras Creek while the guide pointed at the various geological formations that gave origin to the shire. Meanwhile, we were bordering the perfect edge of the mountains and with our eyes on the plains, we could appreciate a kind of cemetery of English trains which once joined the entire mountain range. Today, long after those days of glory, they lie resting, some of them in almost perfect condition, as if the passing of time had not affected them at all.
    
One of the most interesting moments was when the guide stopped and asked for silence. We soon understood what that was about. A family of grey foxes was teaching their offspring to hunt using a small mouse they had just hunted. We could see the whole scene. The grown-up foxes would approach the prey stealthily and jump over it. Then the small foxes would try to do likewise. And thus, they jumped once and again until they noticed our presence and ran away through the pastures until we lost sight of them.
    
Mount Bahía Blanca was now behind us and far away. But farther up, we could make out the famous mountain that gives name to the entire mountain range. We began to go up slowly to the top of a low hill in order to have a unique panoramic sight of the famous hole. After getting off the horses and taking some pictures, we started our way back.


Back
    
At this point, the horses had made their greatest effort and the sun began to disappear among the mountains. Villa Ventana, just like Sierra de la Ventana, let us see the smoke coming out of the chimneys, which indicated that the afternoon was quite cold.

As we crossed the last creek, in this case called Belisario, the moon had become the total protagonist of the afternoon. White, porous and perfect, it began to appear from behind the mountains. Night was inevitable.
    
The horses knew that there were still some hundred meters to end the day and, as usual in these cases, they hurried their pace. In fact, they urged us. Thus, after an undescribable experience, we began to bid our farewells until our next meeting which, even though we did not know when it would happen, we were certain that it would.