Banos - arguments at sundown

I had promised myself (and Liam) that this blog post would be more positive and upbeat. However, after today that isn't going to happen. We had decided that Banos would redeem itself, in style, in the form of a wonderful day on horseback, climbing mountain roads, stopping to catch beautiful views and visiting one or two waterfalls. And after the fantastic horse-related day in Colombia just a few weeks ago, I had no reservations about getting back in the saddle.

We chose one of the many adventure tour offices in the town centre and at $40 for two for four hours hire, I was fairly happy to go ahead. After all, I'd read that some horses are ill looked after, so going with one of the main companies seemed worth it.

After what ended up being a 45 minute delay, we were taken to the edge of town to pick up the horses. The owners were just finishing up a few running repairs to the horses' shoes and a few moments later we were up and away. Well, not quite.

My only other experience of horse riding involved a horse that really wanted to fly - I'm sure if it had had anything approximating to wings, it would have done! - so I expected some tight rein control might be needed. But not so, with this one. Instead, it hobbled (thats the only word that describes it) down the road, with me trying not to fall off at breathtakingly slow speed! Sophie had mentioned at the start that mine looked pregnant, and I wondered if she may have been right.

Sophie's horse couldn't even muster up a hobble. That was until our guide (a ten year old boy) gave it a few whips and we all experienced ten seconds of awkward trotting, and then back to hobbling.

As we climbed up the mountain road, it was obvious the horses were struggling. And we were only one hour into a four hour journey. At one point my horse turned around and started heading back down the hill and there wasn't much I could do about it!

The whole situation made me very angry. For one, it was unfair to charge $40 and give us either ill or tired horses. And secondly, who likes to spend an afternoon torturing an animal? And this is me, the guy who wasn't keen on horses a few weeks back! Plus, I don't feel that good about shouting at a ten year old boy, so instead we explained why we weren't happy and headed back for town. In a very arrogant way, the boy either didn't understand or chose not to.

Back in town we headed straight for the office and explained the situation. I think that either the horses were in very bad condition, or they had just returned from a morning ride and were exhausted. On arrival at the office we were told that unfortunately the boss was not in and we'd have to come back later. So we did, three times and eventually the boss returned to face our complaint.
(see below: not a happy face)

What followed was basically a big argument. The boss fetched the horse owner and we all talked/shouted it over. Then one of the shop owner's friends explained that even in Europe, if you buy a burger and don't like it, you don't eat it and then complain. How very helpful. A burger analogy. Of course, being an expert on horses I should have known after one glance that they weren't fit for a trip up the mountain!
Eventually they agreed to give half our money back. We should have been given a total refund, but I suppose we did well to get anything. If only we'd hired those noisy quad bikes instead!