The thunder of hooves, the clouds of dust, and the intricate skills of horse riders added a new chapter to my sporting memories as I enjoyed the Sortija de Caballos on the side of Montaña Chayofita.

For many it’s just that small mound above Los Cristianos beach with the unfinished building, many others like myself have used it as a nice warm up walk when the urge to go hiking comes knocking. But on this Saturday afternoon I wasn’t quite sure what I would find as I took the track just above the ring road. I imagined a parade and the odd race of a few horses but it was much better organized than that and backed by Arona Deportes.

A paddock area had been set up with horse boxes containing 20 horses eager to get out and stretch their legs. A few people I spoke to told me these events happen a lot in the north of Tenerife, the last being in Arafo. A partially built road was the track and on a frame set up over it there were small coloured ribbons to be plucked off in mid gallop. This was the main competition to be followed by straight forward races, riders registered at the announcer’s box where trophies awaited. It was more about the challenge than any big rewards but there was plenty of food to be won for the horses – well it was a big day for them too. A large snack and drink van was set up and helped the relaxed, friendly feel to the competition,

After plenty of warm up gallops the riders went down to the lower end of the hill  and charged up as the riders tried to snatch the ribbons in that brief spell they were reachable. It looked very difficult but some made light work of it. The horses looked wonderful, a mix of power and beauty and clearly well looked after.

There was a decent crowd, many of them obviously knew each other from similar events, a few curious walkers hung around to enjoy the spectacle, and hopefully some of the others had responded after seeing my preview in The Tenerife Weekly. I should imagine there was a good few drinks enjoyed later on as stories were swapped, for me it was a new experience and I will be looking out for future meetings.