Palo Marino Horse Show

The area around Trujillo is famous in Peru for it's dancing horses. No before you get all animal welfare on us, they don't have a circus type thing going on where horses are made to perform unnatural tricks. This is quite a classy affair where Peruvian women dance on the ground in traditional dancing costume and the men dance around them whilst on horseback. It was truly beautiful to watch - very graceful and such beautiful horses. Jody named one of them Barbie and if you look at the photos you will see why. Here is a bit of history from wiki, to paint the backgroundThe horseman riding the Peruvian Horse is called 'Chalán'. He wears a wide straw hat or ‘jipijapa’ and a brown poncho made of vicuña fiber. (vicuna are like very small llamas or alpacas and if you have ever felt anything knitted from vicuna wool – you will know it is one of the softest things you could ever wear) The horseman neither jumps or moves in the saddle. He remains almost immobile on the horse. The Peruvian Paso or Peruvian Horse is considered the best saddle horse in the world because of its smooth walking. Due to the isolation of the breed for over 400 years (Berber, Arabic and Andalusian cross breeding), the Peruvian Paso developed a very particular body proportion and side walk. This natural lateral gait is called the paso llano: the horses lift their front leg and hind leg at the same time. The Peruvian Horse has been declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation of Peru since 1992. This demonstrates how much the horse is respected, appreciated and celebrated in Peru. The Peruvian Paso is typical of the northern Peruvian regions. Trujillo city is considered the Cradle of typical Peruvian Paso Horse. We had wanted to go and visit the horses for some time and we mentioned it to the other volunteers to see if anyone wanted to join us. Johnannie stuck her hand up and on one particular Sunday, we set off with her, her boyfriend Pinky, his brother Chris (and a girl whom no-one knew her name and Chris didn't share it or he couldn't remember either!) in Chris's car.The centre where the horses are isn't far out of Huanchaco, just along the coast road behind Chan Chan between the two towns. When we arrived we headed straight to the stables to see the horses. It was apparent after we had seen the show that these were not the horses used in the show but we don't really know why they are here. Maybe they are privately owned or used for something else. They hold 2 shows a day here. The first is timed to coincide with lunch so tours bring buses of people here to eat first then enjoy the show. We imagine it is a nice day out as it is a nice setting. We were the first to arrive but it soon filled up with people, mainly Peruvians but a couple of Gringos too. This is what the show promised - taken from their advertising:During the show, you’ll be able to appreciate beautiful horses mounted by the ‘chalanes’ wearing their typical clothing. There’s also a dance demonstration of the Marinera, Trujillo style. A special choreography is performed which includes a horse, the chalán and a female dancer. For those who don’t know the dance, Marinera is a graceful and romantic dance performed by a couple. Both the man and woman use handkerchiefs as props. The dance is a nice blend of different cultures of Peru. It’s considered one of the most popular traditional dances of the country. Trujillo hosts the most famous annual Marinera festival every January. (This festival was the one we went to find with Marketa back in January - our first month here). Again our first concern anytime we see anything involving animals, is are they well looked after and treated? We are happy to say that when these horses came out into the arena, they looked like they were prized possessions that were treated like royalty. It was a beautiful show and we loved the bit where the lady came out to dance with the horse too. There were no stupid circus tricks or anything degrading so we really enjoyed it. Johannie had never been here to see the dancing either despite living here for some time and we all enjoyed it together.At the end they gave everyone the chance to go and stroke the horses and ask questions. Some of the riders spoke English too. Jody was gutted to find out that the horse she had named Barbie was actually named something really boring. For an extra £2 you could ride one of the horses around the arena. We watched one man go around and it looked like he had a great time. So £2 paid, it was Jody's turn. However she was gutted that they wouldn't let her walk around on her own, she had to be held as a man led her like a child. But at the same time she could also understand why they don't let people off with their expensive horses. (So how come the man got to do it on his own - mystery!) This was a really lovely day out and we are really glad we went. It was really good to have other people to share it with too. Thank you Johannie, Pinky & Chris. We enjoyed your company very much too.