Exhibitions
San Antonio Battle of the Flowers Parade
While we were learning about riding and horsemanship during these years, we began giving “exhibitions” for people who came to see the horses. Once, for Dad’s birthday, we rode together and did a pas de deux without really knowing what we were doing. I think I was 12 years old. The next day, one of the guests called you and asked if we could do a riding exhibition for charity. And so began our performances. The first one was for the South Texas Epilespy Foundation and invitations just kept coming. We’ve done fundraising shows for the American Heart Association, the Special Olympics and many more organizations.
Each time we did a show, another invitation would appear! We did years of shows for the Belmont Stakes and went several times to perform at the Kentucky Horse Park. We traveled all over the U.S., as well as abroad.
Riding in downtown Chicago
It was kind of like being in the circus. The horses were driven to exhibitions by Paco and Mauro Alamilla, two brothers who work on the farm and ride with us, and my uncle Alex. We usually took a plane to meet them. We got authentic costumes so we could show the horses with their original attire. Even Rafael, Paco and Mauro’s trajes cortos and cassacas as well as our saddles were purchased from El Caballo in Seville, Spain and Correria Machado in the beautiful area of Alcazar do Sal, Portugal. All of Maritza’s beautiful riding dresses came from the exclusive custom shop of Dona Consuelo located in Old Seville in Calle Cuna.
We had so much fun showing people about these horses. When we first began the exhibitions, most people had no idea about these breed and what they could do. Year after year, we realized that people were recognizing them and knew all about them! It was great teaching and sharing their beauty and magic with other people.
Currently, my brother’s children, Victoria, Rafael, and Alejandro, all take lessons with Maritza and Paco every Saturday morning. Paco’s children, Julisa and Sebastian also ride and the oldest of the children, Julisa, Rafael and Sebastian have already performed in their first exhibition.
When young Rafael (third generation) started riding, it was quite touching to see him taking his first steps as an equestrian rider on Helicon, who has been his father’s fearless friend, companion and show partner for over 25 years.
It’s exciting to see an interest in the next generation for what we’ve built. Pretty soon, we may have our own riding school keeping our family heritage alive.
Kentucky Horse Park
Hundreds of shows have been performed all over the country, always to benefit a special charity close to our hearts. Several we repeated for up to eight years. Some of them include:
The Rolex Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park
The Aid to the Zoo in Phoenix, Arizona
The Belmont Horse Festival at Belmont Park during the Belmont Stakes
The Olympic Festival
Mid- America Horse Festival in Chicago
The International Horse Show in Washington D.C.
Big D Charity Horse Show in Dallas
Kansas Charity Horse Show
Austin Beauty of Horses
IALHA Nationals and many others.
We’ve also been featured on Good Morning America, Today Show, On the Right Track, ESPN, Despierta America, Fuera de Serie, Edicion Especial, Desde San Antonio.
Kentucky Horse Park
Some of our most memorable guest have been:
Infanta Elena, daughter of the King of Spain, amazing author and humanitarian, Pulitzer Prize Winner James Michener , photographer extraordinaire Robert Vavra, Christopher Columbus, direct descendant of the discoverer of America, Martin Luther King’s son, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, great grand nephews of St. Therese, actors Matt Damon, Billy Bob Thornton, Penelope Cruz, pediatrician and children advocate, Doctor Patch Adams; author, speaker, humanitarian Mark Victor Hansen of Chicken Soup for the Soul fame, who brought with him 60 of his closes friends, his Inner Circle members.
We choose around 12 to 15 conventions, benefits or Equine Experience events per year to create memories that will live with the attendees forever. All shows are done now at our 32-year-old, 11-acre estate in San Antonio, Texas. Performing shows at our place is great because it allows every member of the family to carry on our individual activities and a personal life while we continue our lifetime love affair with these horses.
