CARTAGENA, SPAIN

SPANISH DANCING –

TWO & FOUR LEGGED!

Friday, April 11, 2025, 6 AM, Temperature 61 Degrees, 87% Humidity, W- NNE @ 7 mph

Our cabin was labeled “EVACUATED”! When we left the cabin to join our excursion; the tag on the door said “Evacuated” but, it’s not the first time! We’ve been very impressed that once a week when we are in Port, the Zuiderdam holds a full crew, hour long safety drill. Every week it’s a different safety scenario. Once, at a tender port, they even launched the tender/lifeboats during the drill. They take safety, our safety, seriously. John is also really impressed that the Captain participates in the drill and makes the Drill announcements over the PA. Leaving the ship’s safety in good hands, we headed for our excursion bus to visit a Spanish horse ranch. Only downside, we didn’t get time to tour the beautiful city of Cartagena.

Cartagena is a port city in the southeast region of Spain. It was founded by the Carthaginians about 220 BC but was probably not the earliest settlement in the region. It is the city from which Hannibal (and his elephants) invaded Italy by crossing the Alps. Hannibal occupied most of southern Italy for 15 years. He was eventually defeated by Rome, not by direct battle but by a war of attrition with defeats in Hispania which prevented him being reinforced. Carthage was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC. Eventually Rome returned to the area and the city prospered during this period. There are many examples of Roman remains. The city was eventually overtaken by the Visigoths and sank into obscurity during Muslim rule. The city was taken by Castile in 1245 and in 1270 became the center for the early Castilian Navy. Much of Cartagena history stems from its importance as a defensive port. The landmarks in Cartagena show Roman, Byzantine and Moorish remains. It is a beautiful city with wide marble pedestrian walkways – definitely lots to see on another trip!

Our journey to the horse ranch gave us an opportunity to see the countryside. We saw the remains of many old windmills. The guide said Cartagena is in one of the driest areas in Europe. The city has used up its natural ground water resources and brings in water from other regions. It also uses desalination for its city water. Using sophisticated drip water irrigation systems, the area has become producer of potatoes (41 varieties), other produce and citrus. She said the area produces 1.5 million tons of lemons a year.

The Ranch is called MAIPE and was established in 1975. The name is based on the initials of the owner’s children. The family’s business is construction (which helps explain the beautiful home and garden where we saw our show). It started as a hobby ranch but in 50 years it has developed a reputation as an outstanding breeder of Andalusian horses and is now a successful, standalone business. Generally, 40 new colts or fillies are born each year and 40 three-year-olds are sold to keep a balance in the horse population. It’s a very sophisticated operation, all done by artificial insemination – no fun for anyone, the horses or the handlers accomplishing it. A mare is first bred at 3 years and will have a foal every year for 10-13 years. At that point, she’s retired to enjoy the rest of her life at pasture. Later in the horse part of the program, we saw a stampede of mares, all less than 7 months pregnant (horses are pregnant for 11 months), horses further along than 7 months were not included in the stampede for their safety. The group gave us a chance to see all the color varieties available through selective breeding. The original gray is the most predominate color. The guide said a few years ago, Palomino was the most popular color but in horses, like everything else, things change. Now a triple cross, almost Albino colored horse with pink nose and blue eyes is the trendy “IN” (and most expensive) horse color.

The first portion of the program there was a discussion of the Stud horse. Our guide did most of the presentation; she’s bilingual English/Spanish. Although the sons of the owner spoke English, the father did not and the conversations with the horse handler was in Spanish. Later, she said she was neither a member of the family nor an employee of the ranch; she had just picked up information over the years of doing tours. She did a great job. She talked about the standards required for a registered Andalusian and said none of the ranch’s horses had ever failed to meet those standards. Male horses maintain their flowing mane and tail. A female horse’s mane is trimmed close to the neck and their tails are shaved about a foot down the tail for sanitation purposes during insemination and birthing – aren’t the boys always the pretty ones in nature (except homo sapiens)! Although the mares can be kept together, the boys don’t play well together and are kept in individual stalls but taken out daily for a couple of hours of personal free running every day.

Then we moved on to a discussion of the mares and got up close and personal with two proud Mamas and their babies (3 and 5 days old). The young horses already showed the graceful running style for which Andalusians are known. They are also very gentle and have mild nature, great for therapy work. The horses at this ranch aren’t “broken” or trained here. They are sold at 3 years of age when formal training begins but they are used to people and walking on a long lead. Horses are sold all over the world for up to $40,000 each. It would cost approximately $10,000 to fly a horse, via DHL to the US.

The last part of the horse portion of the program, the stampede, was mentioned before. Some ran, some took a more leisurely approach, but all were beautiful.

We were promised two surprises! The first was a delicious snack served on the owner’s patio. There was Tortilla Espanola (Spanish potato and egg pie similar to a frittata), cheese, rustic bread topped with garlic and olive oil, stuffed olives, chips, wine & water. The second surprise was a performance by a beautiful flamenco dancer. She performed two dances on the patio, then moved to a wooden platform in the yard under the trees. She was joined by a trained Andalusian and rider – surprise number three?! Although the two-legged dancer was as good as ever, all attention was diverted to the four-legged one. So graceful and beautiful. What a special treat to see this beautiful animal in action.

Back on the bus and a brief tour of Cartagena before we returned to the Zuiderdam. Much of the old city is closed to vehicular traffic and only accessible by foot. Surprised to learn that part of this city, like others we have visited, is built on “created” land. Even back in the 1800’s the city had outgrown its bounds.