A few days ago, I was talking to my (new) boss’s husband, Joe, about where my future is headed. I graduated from Kenyon College just a week ago and moved to Gredos, Spain, to work with Equiberia, an equestrian tourism company founded and run by his wife, María Elena. I had just over a day to move in and meet the horses before the next tour group arrived. I was to accompany them, along with the rest of the Equiberia team, as they rode an average of nineteen miles each day around the valleys of Gredos. María Elena, Joe’s wife, would lead the trip alongside Selma, a young Dane who has worked at Equiberia for over five years now. Every night, we would ride up to a new hotel, untack the horses, feed, turn them out, and be on our merry way. It was pretty incredible.
When Joe asked me this question, we were riding side by side in the back of the group. We were making our way up the Puerto de Chía, a Roman road carved into one of Gredos’ many mountains. As we ascended, I told Joe that I was hoping to work with an (equestrian!) magazine I interned with last summer when I returned from Spain. The magazine, I told him, joined my two greatest interests: writing and riding. Joe liked that response. He informed me that he knew too many young people who, after graduating, forced themselves into industries they had absolutely no interest in — and it eventually tore apart their careers and lives. My mind conjured images of Patrick Bateman and Don Draper. That was not a future I wanted for myself.
As we continued winding our way up the mountain peak, Joe asked me if I had considered wadding my way into equine travel writing. After all, here I was, working for María Elena, already doing half of what I love: riding. Why not combine the two while living in a different country, speaking a different language, and doing a completely different kind of riding than what I am accustomed to?
So, welcome to my Spanish Summer Substack. This is my attempt at both chronicling my time here in Spain for personal purposes and offering folks the opportunity, equestrian or not, to follow along on my adventure. I’ve only been here for two weeks, and I already have enough stories to fill two short story collections, so I assure you these weekly newsletters will contain any and all kinds of entertainment and fun. I’ll be riding and handling new horses, meeting new people, speaking two (or more, including Spanglish) languages, eating, drinking wine, becoming a cat doula, wrangling rowdy foals, cooking (yikes!), and writing writing writing like I normally do. If you’re at all interested in keeping up with me, please subscribe below!
