Why did you become a veterinarian?
I carry it in my genes: my great-grandfather was already an albéitar, as the job of those who then took special care of animals and healed them was called.
And did the family like him?
And, furthermore, I am passionate about racehorses. I live near the Madrid racecourse and I love going to see the races.
What does a horse know that we don't know?
He has better vision than ours, which he complements with a photographic memory, and his retina is very sensitive to movement. He also remembers smells and sounds with an accuracy that often surpasses – and catches – his riders off guard.
If I mistreat a horse, will it remember and take revenge days later?
It usually happens: yes. But fortunately they also remember those of us who know how to treat them well. And they are prey, not predators, and they are always alert, reacting in advance to danger...
Are they afraid?
More than fearful: their relationship with the world is fear and flight in advance, so they have developed marvelous muscular power for running and jumping; but in the phylogenetic line they are close to us...
Is that why we feel so close to them?
Them, not so much: the wild horse will never approach a human on its own; the domestic must always dominate the fear of him... And they have olfactory memory: they will remember how each rider smells. And sport horses are even more sensitive.
I see they are your favorites.
I have been treating them for 30 years. When I was 21, I went to Australia to learn about racehorses. It is a powerful industry in England, the USA, France and, above all, what I was saying, Australia. Racehorses are auctioned when they are one year old, and the good ones are auctioned for real fortunes.
Is the industry greased with betting?
But with exemplary tradition and supervision. There are expert, honest, very attentive race stewards, and also very harsh penalties for cheaters... It is not easy to deceive them.
For example?
There are those who try to deceive with the weight handicap, although there is a certain tolerance because it can be part of legal strategies. In Spain, turf is little developed, and in Barcelona there is no racecourse.
Why is that hobby missing here?
Due to the gambling law, which does not allow betting.
Can you whisper to horses?
They are techniques. Monty Roberts is the horse whisperer who inspired the movie...
What does Monty manage to do with it?
For example, when faced with a horse that does not want to get into a truck to be transported, he whispers, true, speaks in its ear with certain very refined sounds and uses touch. And he gets the horse to come in.
Does Monty have a gift?
He doesn't have a gift; He has a technique. Horses operate on a simple reward and punishment scheme; submission and dominance. And the whisperers apply it until they get the horse to obey them more than they obey other riders.
Who is your favorite rider?
The legendary was the Englishman Lester Piggott, with an impressive record of won races.
What is more difficult: winning by jumping or running?
The jump is pure technique, and the race, a mixture of physicality and strategy: very cerebral and very muscular at the same time, with an exciting conjunction of animal and human brain and muscle.
Do you advise us to ride?
At a certain age, it is better to buy a bike; I do recommend horse riding to a kid, but for the discipline and the values of effort, method and improvement.
Have you been afraid of a horse?
And it's not that long ago. They called me urgently from the Royal Palace because there was a sick horse in the stables; but I went at two in the morning and I was only hooked because the box is small.
Did they manage to free him?
He jumped up, but with the stable master and I inside, distressed, because he could kill you with one blow of his hand. Although there was luck and he turned the other way...
Buf.
...But when I walked out the door he turned around and crushed me with his rump. I heard a crack... it was two broken ribs...
Did you learn something?
What I already knew: whenever there is an accident with a horse, 90% of the fault lies with oneself. A rope should have been tied to its tail and pulled from outside the box; but I trusted myself, and it almost cost me my life.
