I went to Costa Rica a year ago and it still is always on my mind. Not for the whole trip just one part which I felt was something special to me. My first impression of Costa Rica was that it was just some poor third world country with a volcano and a beach. My impression was strengthened when the first thing i saw when i flew into costa rica was a huge fire next to the runway. I thought wow it is like looks like some war torn country. I was very wrong about Costa Rica
The next day after my family landed in San Jose we headed off into the mountains of costa rica. We visited the natural hot springs. We also decided to go ziplining through the rain forest which is very popular. When we showed up at the place where we were going to zip line they had a bunch of horses waiting for us. I didnt know that I was going to have to ride a horse. Dont get me wrong I have ridden horses before because my uncle owns about 5 or 6 of them but it had been awhile and I had always ridden on a western style saddle. All of the horses were saddled with english style saddles. The difference with a western and english style is that the western had a horn on it that you can hold on to which for me makes a big differance. So I jump on my horse and like always I decide to race my brother to the top of the mountain. When riding up I saw some of the finest horse riding skills I had ever seen. The native Costa Ricans riding up with us moved up and the caravan of people and horses with great skill and tenacity. I quickly became bored so I pulled far a head of my brother and the rest of the people I had my horse going at a full gallop when I began to lose control. I started falling off to my right side so I went with my instinct and grabbed for the horn in the middle of the saddle. Of course it wasnt there so I had to do something I had seen In a western movie. I grabbed the horse around the neck and held on. The last thing that went through my mind was I did not want to share the same destiny that Christopher Reeves had.
After this I dont remeber that much. The horse must had hit a ditch or something along that line and threw me off. I remember waking up to my horse looking down at me and one of the Costa Rican Cowboys. The Costa Rican looked down at me and said the words "Usted es un vaquero loco". I was alright I just had bumped my head on something and knocked myself out. I later found out that what the Costa Rican said meant "You are a crazy cowboy".
