Travels - 1st Trip to Argentina

January, 2017

First time in Argentina

We had a lot of students come from Argentina in the mid and late 1990’s. Then it kind of dried up because of the political landscape of that country. With their last election, things in Argentina are changing, and we were finally able to make a trip to that great place that we had always wanted to see.

Our first student from Argentina was Pedro Pechar. He was from a big ranch, (Estacion) in Tierra Del Fuego, the southern tip of Argentina. Pedro was a great friend to us, and we had a wonderful time with him while he was becoming a farrier. He went to contests with us, cooked asado every time he could, and was the main reason that the following students from Argentina kept coming. And Pedro was a personal friend of the Mustad family in Argentina, and was instrumental in introducing us to that incredible family, which had a profound impact on my career.

Our second student from Argentina was Emilio Ezcurra. Emilio was a famous rugby player, a big guy with a big heart, and he was also a true friend while he was at school. His sense of humor and continuous smile and positive attitude are infectious. Emilio went to contests with us as well, and we made a lot of wonderful memories with these guys.

Our chance to do a clinic in Argentina came up because another one of our Argentine graduates, Tomas Lockey, had decided to open a horse school called El Picazo. It is the fist school of its kind in Argentina that is teaching all sorts of horse-related skills. Farriery amongst them. Mustad Argentina and El Picazo came together to offer 3 days of clinic, and Kelly and I were asked to come and be the clinicians.

The clinic is one side of the story, and the trip to Fin Del Mundo with Pedro and Emilio is the other side. Those blogs will follow, and thanks for reading.