“For me, the Chagra was a revelation.”
Riding alongside them, I was immersed in a world forged in the Valley of the Volcanoes, surrounded by peaks over 6,000 meters (≈18,000 ft). Together, we navigated the untamed paramo, chasing wild cattle and horses, crossing swamps, sliding through mud, and enduring grueling days at high altitude. Nights were spent beneath makeshift camps of rubber ponchos, subsisting on what we could hunt or fish. Close encounters with enraged bulls revealed a life of raw skill, survival, and an unbreakable bond between man, horse, and land.