horses in puerto rico

Here in Puerto Rico there are horses everywhere.  We often hear people riding their horses past our condo on their way to the beach.   We even used to have horses that lived on the land behind the condo.  Unfortunately, they have since been moved.

we miss our old neighbors…

Día del Descubrimiento de Puerto Rico

Aguada is said to be the first place Christopher Columbus landed in Puerto Rico so they have a big celebration here every year on the Discovery of Puerto Rico Day, November 19.  As part of the festivities, hundreds of people from all around bring their horses down to the beach road (cam playa) in front of our condo and parade them up and down the strip.  It is quite the spectacle.

Horse Rescue

Unfortunately, you do sometimes see horses that are malnourished or mistreated here on the island.  Thankfully, there is a wonderful nonprofit rescue organization here called Defensa Animal de Rincón that is doing an excellent job rescuing and rehabilitating these horses and then finding them permanent homes.

They host a horse class every Saturday that has provided the boys an opportunity to learn how to interact with and even ride these magnificent creatures bareback!  I wonder if the condo HOA would mind if we kept one of these horses on the premises… 😉

waylon and mo

desmond and mo

Both of the boys have taken a liking for a particular horse named “Mo” or Mango Oliver.   You can read his rescue story on the Defensa Animal de Rincón website.  I would not hesitate to recommend this organization as a worthy recipient of your donation dollars for the work they do here on the island.

4/9/16 UPDATE: There is a write up about the horse class in El Coqui of Rincon, a local magazine.  The article includes pictures of our boys and even yours truly.  Take a look at page 34 and 35! 🙂