Pottery, Lorca, and the Fericab 2010

October 16, 2010

On Thursday we invited the four British couples who have welcomed us into this little neighborhood for cocktails. Well, it should have been “billed” as a wine and cheese! Everyone but Jean came, as she was getting the flu. Karen made a wonderful guacamole; I concocted two hot tapas. One was made of eggplant, tomatoes, and onions; the other was garbanzo beans, tomatoes, and onion.
We had seen publicity for Fericab 2010 in Lorca, which is an annual horse show. Karen LOVES horses, so she wanted to go for last night’s event. Fericab had started on Monday and will run until Sunday. We drove over the scenic back roads to stop first in Totana, which was advertised as a big pottery center. Of course, most everything in Spain closes from 1-4 or 2-5; by the time we got to Totana and found the pottery area, we had about one half hour to visit one place.
This place reminded me a bit of Deruta, Italy, which we had visited in 2000. This shop is a family business, and Polo, the father and grandfather and the original potter, was there in the shop. They had a wonderful selection, and GREAT prices, but I did not succumb. (With three more Ryanair flights, I’m continuing to watch my luggage weight.)
On our way to Lorca, which was maybe fifteen miles away, we stopped at a truck stop for lunch. Karen had big casserole of sizzling garlic prawns; my (boring-but tasty) choice was spaghetti Bolognese.
The GPS saved us as it got us right to the arena where the Fericab was held. The arena was closed until five, so we had about a half hour for an interesting walk through the nearby Lorca neighborhood of grand homes (all behind fences).
At five sixteen horses and their trainers came into the ring to go through the “paces”. Each horse was rated on various points, and the winners were announced at the end. Karen said they were all stallions, so the winners would command higher stud fees.
At 9-ish (scheduled for 8:30), we saw the Espectaculo Ecuestre, Equestrian Spectacular, which was the grand finale for the day. This was six different trainers (one woman) riding their horses, who were trained to do some amazing things. For example, some horses could sort of “high step” on opposite feet. My pictures really don't capture it. The first rider was a ten year old boy (pictured) who did a wonderful job! Afterwards we saw him outside on his horse, he smiled broadly as we gave him a thumbs up and “Muy bueno”! One rider/trainer was riding one horse and had another one “in tow” to give the audience an idea of how they train them to perform.
Karen said what she had seen at Fericab was “fabulous…never seen horses like that before…impeccable performance”. They were Andalusians as well as Lippenzers (sp!).
About twenty minutes from home, we stopped for dinner at Venta San Felipe. It was now 11:15ish, so we’re settling into the Spanish meal patterns, as we prepare to leave Aguilas tomorrow for two nights in Alicante. At that point Karen will go off to Barcelona and then Madrid, while I go to Mallorca and then to Venice.