Desfile a Caballo: The Final Ride at 2012’s Feria De Las Flores

Writer’s note: This is Part 2 of a two-part story. Click here for Part 1.

The white sheets hanging above the walkway railings outside the Aguacatala metro station blocked our view, but we heard the cheers and immediately knew, “We need to get the hell down there.”

We were running behind schedule to get to the Desfile a Caballo, the horse parade. That’s why we stopped at Aguacatala, instead of Ayurá, the station where the event started. But we still almost missed the beginning. We even had a hard time getting a good spot, the reason I didn’t get pics of the military and police marching.

No matter, though. After a few minutes, I snaked my way through the crowd, something made easier by the fact that I’m only 5’5” and 128 pounds — or 1.65 meters and 58 kilos for any Colombians reading, or hell, anyone from a country other than the United States, a place that stubbornly uses its own measurement system.

Metric iconoclasm aside, there was parade to see, the last one of La Feria De Las Flores 2012. The horses this year were last in this great festival, which draws people from all over the country and other countries as well.

All the parade needed was music, the way at least one horse has a little boom box if you go to a cabalgatas, like I did last year. Still, even though I missed some things because of my schedule and the parade was missing music, I’ll be missing the event until it returns next year.

This is what I saw on the final day of the festival: