them to transport building materials, food, anything that has to go somewhere.” “For those who own horses, their lives are made easier,”
she continues. “And they love their horses and take very good care of them.” While on the coast in Varadero, Rose observed a slightly
different type of horse. She says they were larger than the other Cuban horses she saw, often Palomino in color, very attractive and had something of the look of a Warmblood in their body type and gaits. Adorned with more ornate saddles and bridles, they were clearly not work horses, she adds, speculating that these breeds must have been brought over with the Spaniards during colonization. Rose and her daughter were fascinated to see the many
extra steps Cubans were willing to take to ensure their horses’ good health. The pair observed farmers travelling to grassy areas to cut the grass by hand with machetes, for example, then load it by hand onto carts and transport it home to feed their horses and other livestock. For most, this was a daily process. Alterna- tively, horses are brought to rural spots where they can graze for a few hours. Corn husks and plantain leaves are also offered as forage. And in a country where commercial
worming products are not available, horses are instead treated by being fed plants known to control the parasites. “In America, we’re always so concerned about every detail of our horses’ care. In Cuba, horses certainly aren’t neglected—Cubans have a huge love for their animals. But the horses are certainly treated very differently than they are here,” Rose comments. In all, Rose
says, her trip to Cuba was a wonderful experience, offering relax- ation, adventure and a chance to explore a new culture. “We’re definitely going back!”
Cuba Hosted the Pan-Ams
According to Wikipedia, there were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries competing in 33 different sports. The main stadium for the games, the Estadio Pana- mericano, was built near Havana specifically for the event. Designed to hold 50,000 people, it is still in use today, mostly for soccer. The U.S. took the team silver medal in dressage
T
at the event, as well as the team bronze in show jumping. Canada took team gold, while Mexico took team bronze in dressage. In show jumping, Brazil took gold and Canada took silver. American Jennifer Miller won the individual
bronze medal in dressage, riding the Trakehner Triomphe. There was no eventing competition, both at this Pan Am Games and again in 2003 in the Dominican Republic. Instead, a Pan American Eventing Championship was held in in Georgia in 1991 and in New Jersey in 2003. The other members of the 1991 U.S dressage
team were Kathleen Adams riding Zanger, Gwen Blake on Juvel and Tom Valter on Zoolog. The members of the U.S show jumping team at the games were Dorothy D. Alexander on Bon Ratour, Andre Dignelli on Gaelic, Richard Fellers on El Mirasol and Debbie Shaffner on Poor Richard.
26 July/August 2017
he Pan American Games were held in Cuba in 1991, running from August 2 to August 18.
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