Last Chance for PPR Show in PR...

[fireranger33]

As I understand it from emails I have received. Some of you were not sure about traveling to PR. next week for this show. Let me tell you, this is probably the BEST time to go to PR if you love Pasos and wanted to know more about them and see what they mean to this little Island. I was born and raised in PR. and I have never seen tickets to PR for less than $200 per person round trip :shock: . (Tampa-San Juan, Orlando-San Juan). We will be arriving on Wednesday night and returning Monday morning after the show. There are still cheap tickets available as of today. If for some reson anybody changes their mind please email me and I will help you as much as I can!

See you on the trails! :D :D :D

[SandyMM]

I wish we could make it this year , but our plans have been overridden by our niece's wedding plans... :-/ Ah well, family weddings don't come along that often....

[Candice Burger]

Well I hope some may change their minds. If you go, Fox Delicias in Ponce (the link is in the tour plan post) has a deal for the show weekend. Rooms are regularly $69 are going for $53/night.

Puerto Rico is a great place to see and the horses are fabulous. This event--the contest of Champions--may not occur again--don't know if they plan for an annual repeat or not. They have not had a show like this in many years.

I want to publically apologize for how this was organized and I take full responsibility for the miscommunications. All I will say at this point is that IF (not likely) I do this again, I will be 150% in charge or I will not be responsible for the planning. More than happy for someone else to take charge and I just show up.

As it stands, what started out as an invitation to sharing a trip together on an informal basis among friends morphed into something that went out of control. I wish I had taken charge of the situation but I made some choices that didn't turn out to be very wise. I'm accustomed to early planning, detailed agendas, direct communicatons, constant contacts, confirmed reservations when making formal travel plans as opposed to my personal ones. Thank goodness my field surveys aren't planned the way this trip was--My crew would never get their job done. Actually thank goodness my personal plans aren't done this way either.

Ultimately most of my outline for the trip was discarded and I had to depend on third party information, which did not flow very well. I became less of an organizer/planner and more as the front man. My ideas about deadlines, reservations, deposits flew the coop with my outline.

Well no need to dwell on it. What is done is done. As a result, I may not be attending the show myself :cry: BUT I have already started plans to go to PR later in the year. :D There's some gems down there I've yet to see. I still have everyone that sent me their "wanna go". So if you're ever free to join me, please do.

One benefit out of this is I found some great places to stay in PR and depending on who comes along, we can go as cheap or as expensive, as spartan or as expansive, as you want. What I usually do is hunt down cheap deals and then plan around that time period. There's always another day. I have made several new friends and I hope to take advantage of several invites.





There is one caveat to all of this that I think everyone should know about. When the farms in PR found out about the interest here, they were willing to spend $$$$ allot of money to host and entertain the USA guests coming down. This has been the response everytime I mention that I am traveling to see farms. Many planned for caterers or lechones along with an elaborate presentation of their horses for us. I was embarrassed when I had to explain that I could not give a committed number and then finally had to call and cancel all plans yesterday.

Please keep this in mind if anybody wants to travel as a large group in the future. I say this not to make anyone feel bad but to let you know how welcomed you would be and sometimes a little planning allows the farms to prepare for the visit. On previous trips I simply told them it would myself and another friend or two. Puerto Ricans are some of the best hosts in the world. I have been treated like family by people I've never met.

[fireranger33]

Dang thats a good rate! Thanks for the info...

[Terry Wallace]

Darnitall Candace...That was really too bad..I'm sorry to hear of that.
I'd love to go there sometime...just cannot do it right now...I'd love to accompany you on a trip like that..... ;-)

Keep me in mind for future plans...Have video equipment, will travel!

[CarolU]

Candice, isn't there another show in Ponce in March? What am I thinking of if not the National Show.

I'm like Terry, I would love to go, but August is always booked pretty solid for me.

March I coud do! LOL

[Terry Wallace]

March is very "wintry" here...lots of snow....PR would be lookin' REAL good by then! :D

[Candice Burger]

Yeah, I like the idea of going between hurricane seasons myself. I would feel very bad having a good time in PR while Al & horses had to deal with a hurricane in FL.

There is a horse show somewhere on the island every weekend! Then there are larger shows like Dulce Sueno, Feria del Campos, etc.

For those who have never been to a show outside of the USA--I highly recommend it simply to get a better understanding of how these horses are looked at in their countries of origin---definitely not the same.

For those who've "been there, done that", maybe more farms and forget the show. Personally, I was not planning to attend another show--it's like here. Good to see the people and an advantage to see many horses--but sometimes the best breeders are home working....

For those who want a formal, structured outing--Rafael Arbelo, owner of the PPR magazine, has taken my notes of this experience and is thinking of trying another organized trip in 2007. He is hoping to provide regular opportunities for people who want to travel but have hesitations about traveling alone. So, even tho' the first attempt was a bust for participation, it was good to see how many people willing to try this in the first place. 8-)

For everyone that is interested, I'm still building my list--so watch out! I'm looking for travel deals right now. I've got a shopping list of stallions to look at and there are some good deals for belly leases too.

Good time to go? Whenever you feel like it or it's convenient. If serious, start budgeting NOW. You never know when that deal is going to pop up.