The Horses of Peten Itza
In 1618 two Franciscan missionaries, Bartolome de Fuensalida and Juan de Orbita, set out from Merida to convert the Itza to Christianity. Six months later they arrived at the stronghold of Tayasal, where the Itza ruler received them hospitably. Lord Canek refused to renounce his own religion however.
As Sylvanus Morley explains in The Ancient Maya, "The fathers were shown a large idol in the form of a horse, called Tzimin Chac, the "thunder horse." When Cortes had visited Tayasal, he left a lame horse with the Canek of that day, promising to return for it himself or to send for it. After Cortes's departure, the Itza treated the horse as a god, offering it fowl, other meats, and flowers, on which diet the horse died. The Itza, terrified at the death of a god on their hands, made a stone idol of the horse, which they worshiped in order to prove they were not responsible for its death."
The legend of the horse lives on and some people believe that the stone horse it still lost somewhere at the bottom of the lake.
We believe that one of the ways to Reduce community dependency on cattle industry jobs impacting the southern border of the Tikal National Park UNESCO Site. is to Create awareness promoting reversal and use of regenerative practices, draw focus down to the towns co-designing new systems and grow Identity as “a place of interest” between Flores and Tikal with a flourishing scene for Cowboy and Horse Culture.
Many of the local men work as ranchers. Honoring the Culture that already exists around the cowboys, we seek to find other ways they can benefit by shifting their focus to sustainable methods, increase youth participation, to especially include and also interest more girls to take up riding. As it stands right now horseback riding and ranching is done only mostly by the boys and men.
Youth Program
As a male dominated activity in Peten, we seek to put emphasis especially on getting more girls to ride. With few healthy activities to fill both boys and girls extra time, Horses not only give our teens something new to do, but also offers an opportunity to raise self awareness, esteem, and serves as a social and Therapeutic medium.