Recommended casa particulares in Cuba

especially appreciate your suggestion that those wanting to go horseback riding book through their casa--and even then, I would suggest that they check out the horses first and REFUSE to ride those who appear ill-cared-for.

What does an ill cared for horse look like? Inform yourself before you arrive.
ALL the horses I saw in Vinales looked underfed, with ribs and hip bones showing on many, and the rest unhealthily underweight, including those for tourists to ride, most for the "guides" or other locals (except a few cowboys who compete in rodeos),, and any pulling work carts.
These guys who run the horseback riding "concessions" are NOT feeding these horses grain, which the horses need to stay healthy. (I have worked professionally with horses and do know about adequate rations for them.) There probably isn't horse feed grain even to be had on the island, even for a price, except for the Olympic Equestrian Team horses in Havana and those in the government breeding and sale program. The horses in Vinales and elsewhere in the Cuban countryside are only being pegged out to eat grass, which does not provide enough nourishment, particularly for the amount of work they do.
Booking through a casa doesn't change any of the above.

Neuzao53, I do not doubt that ALL the hourses you saw in Vinales looked underfed and probably were. But you did not see ALL the horses in Vinales, let alone all in Cuba, and there ARE some that are properly cared for. (I provided the name of one such horseback riding concession in Vinales with well-cared for horses, operated by a French woman and her Cuban husband.)

I do believe that casa owners, being more hip to what foreigners will and will not tolerate, are likely to steer guests toward better cared-for horses (and better guides.) But that is not a given--after all, casa owners are not a uniform bunch either. That is why I suggested that anyone hoping to go horseback riding in Cuba check out the horses first. I don't think it requires any special ability to tell whether a horse is half starved or well cared for. If tourists simply refused to ride horses that look underfed or unhealthy, this would, probably in less than a year, result in most of the horses for hire being a great deal better. (Ditto riding in horse-drawn vehicles; if it's a skinny horse, DON'T.)

Grain is available in Cuba. So is worm medicine. Much of what appears to be starvation in Cuban horses (indeed in horses in much of the Third World) is worm infection, whereby worms in the gut get much of the nutrients of whatever the horses are eating. As you, a professional horse-feeder, would know.

ttjpdo, too bad I didn't know about your French friend with the good horses. I would have appreciated a decent ride. Had I really thought about the mentions of riding into the fields in Vinales, I might gave asked here beforehand. But the regular folks here don't seem like the horsey type.

I may not have seen ALL the horses in Vinales, but I got a good look at the dozens that were waiting at the end of the baseball stadium street to take tourists riding, and a lot more around town, as well as on the roads I traveled from town to town around the country. I notice horses. Maybe 1 in 100 in the fields and on the roads looked healthy and well fed. Its cheaper to put horses out to grass only, which isn't enough to sustain any horse asked to do work of any kind, even without worms. Grain is expensive, not a way to maximize profits on the animals.
Neither casa owners nor most tourists have any clue about horses' condition if the animals aren't literally dropping dead in front of them.
Perhaps tourists to a developing Cuba who intend to ride, or state they intend to visit Vinales in particular, should be educating themselves, as tourists began to in regards to captive dolphin shows.

The cows look seriously under nourished also, only the pigs look well fed.

The cows look seriously under nourished also, only the pigs look well fed.

Is that why there is apparently very little fresh milk available?
And why rope vieja seems to be made with pork, unlike typical Cuban cooking in the US?

If it is not made of beef, it is not ropa vieja surely, but something else !

The infamous mystery meat of Cuba.

The goats look fine also,like the pigs.

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