On the Horse Trail
A horse farm near Tagaytay teaches city-slickers the joys
of being a cowboy
By Teddy Montelibano
Related > Ready
for Riding
Anyone who loves horses should come visit Coffee
Creek Farm, Nicholas Matti's breeding farm in Silang, Cavite.
One can see the likes of Sandrina, Metuchen, Big Honey, Miss
Bertha, and about 15 or so other beauties as they roam, grazing
at grass within an enclosed pasture under Matti's attentive
care while they are attended to by a bevy of grooms.
Matti, who hails from Negros, purchased the eight-hectare
property when he started breeding horses in the 1980s. A graduate
of De La Salle University, he had earlier been involved in
businessman Ernest Escaler's coffee trading operations. Later,
he and a partner went on their own to represent a transnational
commodities firm, trading primarily coffee in the region -
an activity which continues to preoccupy Matti today.
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| Coffee expert and horseman, Nicky Matti (far right) is the authority on horses and horsemanship at Coffee Creek Farm |
At about the same time that he went into coffee
trading, Matti started to cross breed local riding and cow
ponies with thoroughbreds in his home province of Negros Occidental.
A horse lover since his teens, Matti had always wanted to
upgrade the quality of such native ponies. He explains, "Actually,
many of the horses we have in the country today are a mixture
of Southeast Asian breeds - Indonesian or Mongol types of
ponies crossed with Western or Spanish horses brought here
by the Spaniards and Americans. They have good lineage but
have degenerated down the years because of poor feeding and
maintenance."
He was also able to find such mixed-blooded
horses, including native ones that had been crossed with thoroughbreds
in areas like Batangas and Quezon provinces. But Matti only
chose, for this type of horse, those at least 56 to 60 inches
(or, in horseman's language, 14 to 15 hands) from the ground
to the withers, that is, where the horse's neck starts.
Matti and a brother-in-law, a rancher in Isabela,
also bought a few light quarter horses (Australian imports)
from the Yulos of Canlubang, Laguna and these they started
breeding with much bigger thoroughbreds. He also added, in
the early 1990s, an Anglo-Arab (an Arab stallion crossed with
a thoroughbred) which he purchased, again from the Yulos.
This he used as a stud to mate with stock owned by his in-laws,
the Vergel de Dioses', in their farm in Bulacan. The Anglo-Arab,
along with some mares he had brought over to his farm in Negros
which were crossed with an Australian quarter horse produced
offspring which today, form part of Matti's half-mixed, half
thoroughbred stock.
Through the years, he says, "we were able
to produce good stock; some died, some we sold and some which
we entered in races at the racetracks have even come out winners
in their class." He is particularly pleased with his
non-thoroughbred, grade stock. "They've proven to be
good saddle horses or, as we call them, cow ponies."
These animals are versatile and Matti uses them both for work
in a cattle ranch he keeps in Negros and for either trail
or pleasure riding both there and in Coffee Creek Farm in
Cavite. "We've even sold a few to some people from the
(Manila) Polo Club and which are now being trained for polo,"
he relates, "and I hope they'll prove to have the right
temperament for that sport."
Matti himself is quite partial to quarter horses,
which are excellent for trail riding. "They're wide-bodied,
with good-sized chests and an average height of five feet.
They're not too tall but they're fast and sure-footed animals."
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| At Coffee Creek Farm, Jimmy, the Cowboy, helps teach the basics of horsemanship |
He loves to ride in Cavite and along with a
group, he regularly roams trail in Tagaytay Highlands and
elsewhere, including trails his horse trainers have discovered
beyond Coffee Creek Farm. One such trail starts along a creek
that runs at the back of his farm and which goes up to verdant
fields leading to the town of Amadeo, a coffee-growing area
in Cavite where Matti operates his coffee mill, Beneficio
Amadeo. This particular trail on horseback brings one through
some six kilometers of scenic rolling landscape, grass fields,
coffee plantations, fruit farms, lush paths, wide-open fields,
and a breathtakingly beautiful but challenging deep canyon
river pass which his chief cowboy, Jimmy Villan, has dubbed
the "Mystical Trail." This is the natural divide
between Silang and Amadeo and ages ago, sackloads of produce
were slung by tradesmen at the back of burricos (small pack
horses) which were then led along this path in the direction
of either Amadeo or Silang towns.
Matti found this trail after asking farmers
in areas surrounding Coffee Creek if there were any short
cuts that linked his horse farm in Silang and his coffee mill
in Amadeo. "I was told to look for a pass called 'Matarik'
and Jimmy and his people found exactly that - a steep (matarik
in Tagalog) and narrow trail which can be reached via a canyon
bounded by rock walls and thick vegetation and where a stream
runs through." He intends to include this trail and others
in the course program now being drawn up for a riding and
horsemanship school he recently launched in Coffee Creek.
The school is where he hopes to impart his passion for horses
and riding.
Matti is also willing to sell his horses to
other horse lovers, particularly to a market that is not exactly
keen on disposing the family jewels or a minor fortune just
to purchase a good, decent horse. "Traditionally, the
market for horses in the country is basically composed of
people who have the kind of resources to import say, a formidably-priced
thoroughbred or warmblood from the US or Europe," he
observes. "But there is now an emerging market of people
who would like to learn how to ride and would like to buy
their own horse for that purpose but who do not want to spend
an exorbitant amount to buy a horse and pay additional amounts
for a stable."
Continues Matti, "Obviously, the first
thing we've got to do is teach people in this market to ride
a horse. What we want to establish in Coffee Creek is a school
where we won't only teach you how to ride but teach you horsemanship
as well."
Anyone can come around to Coffee Creek for
an introductory ride. For about P350 an hour, one can go up
a horse and ride in the arena on the farm grounds. A little
more will allow one to ride around the bridle path on the
farm. However, Matti underlines that he will reserve the right
to disallow anyone from going up a horse if it is apparent
that one really doesn't know how to stay on a saddle. "Then,"
he says, "we will urge that person to enroll in our riding
and horsemanship school."
The course basically includes "familiarity
and communicating with your horse -- horse language, if you
will -- proper grooming and so on. We will put a stress on
no-frills riding. What we aim to do is that once someone goes
through our program, he will be able to ride trail anywhere."
The lessons will be made available to small groups of students
at a time. This is so, says Matti, to allow each 10-session
course to be taught effectively.
Anyone signing up for the ten-session program
will be provided knowledge in riding and horsemanship with
a passion, a horse to ride on, and a choice in saddle -- either
Western or English. Matti stresses, "In the end, it will
not matter which saddle you prefer to use. The important thing
is that you will have a general understanding of riding and
horsemanship. You will learn all you need to know about horses
and once we're done with you, you can mount any horse and
ride with confidence."
Coffee Creek Farm is located at Barrio Lalaan
Uno, off the highway in Silang, Cavite and about five minutes
from the Tagaytay City rotunda. Call 0917.523.1820 or (632)
888.0043 for details.
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