Airing on March 30, 2009
Monday night after Saksi
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- Darting between jeeps and avoiding pedestrians, 15-year-old Bryan Lee is riding like the wind. His horse Palomino appears unperturbed by the chaos of the city as he and his master gallop towards their date with destiny. It's the day before the big race that Bryan has been looking forward to for months.
Bryan will be racing against the pony boys of Wright Park in Baguio, youths toughened by poverty and the daily chores of caring for dozens of frisky horses. Bryan is like any shy teenager who likes basketball and hanging out with friends. But he also has the blood of the Ibaloi cowboy streaking through his veins.
Before the Americans arrived a hundred years ago to build Baguio, much of Benguet province was cowboy country. Horses and cattle ruled the land where Session Road and Burnham Park are today. Today the grazing lands are all gone, replaced by pavement and buildings. The horses are now confined to small spaces like Wright Park where children and their parents can ride them while being pulled by pony boys, most of them descendants of Ibaloi cowboys. In their spare time, these young men ride their wards around the park at break-neck speed and race against each other. Howie Severino and his team decide to focus their lens not on one of the Ibalois but on their adopted brother Samson, a stable boy from Pangasinan who has learned to love and ride horses like a native.
Every year, the pony boys' association invites visiting racers to challenge them in a gymkhana, a traditional series of races on their dusty home track: Wright Park's riding oval. Bryan won a big race last year and now a year older and stronger, he is favored to beat the pony boys again. Bryan's grandfather too was an Ibaloi cowboy but he died before Bryan was born. But even before his teens, he learned to love horses and soon became one of the fastest racers in all of Benguet. His father is a local politician, his mother a pediatrician, yet his best friends are fellow horse lovers, some of them out of school youths who care for the horses owned by others.
On the day of the races, a crowd has gathered to see if Bryan continues his winning ways. A series of surprises awaits the protagonists. It becomes a day Bryan will never forget, and not for the reason he was hoping for.
Monday night after Saksi
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- Darting between jeeps and avoiding pedestrians, 15-year-old Bryan Lee is riding like the wind. His horse Palomino appears unperturbed by the chaos of the city as he and his master gallop towards their date with destiny. It's the day before the big race that Bryan has been looking forward to for months.
Bryan will be racing against the pony boys of Wright Park in Baguio, youths toughened by poverty and the daily chores of caring for dozens of frisky horses. Bryan is like any shy teenager who likes basketball and hanging out with friends. But he also has the blood of the Ibaloi cowboy streaking through his veins.
Before the Americans arrived a hundred years ago to build Baguio, much of Benguet province was cowboy country. Horses and cattle ruled the land where Session Road and Burnham Park are today. Today the grazing lands are all gone, replaced by pavement and buildings. The horses are now confined to small spaces like Wright Park where children and their parents can ride them while being pulled by pony boys, most of them descendants of Ibaloi cowboys. In their spare time, these young men ride their wards around the park at break-neck speed and race against each other. Howie Severino and his team decide to focus their lens not on one of the Ibalois but on their adopted brother Samson, a stable boy from Pangasinan who has learned to love and ride horses like a native.
Every year, the pony boys' association invites visiting racers to challenge them in a gymkhana, a traditional series of races on their dusty home track: Wright Park's riding oval. Bryan won a big race last year and now a year older and stronger, he is favored to beat the pony boys again. Bryan's grandfather too was an Ibaloi cowboy but he died before Bryan was born. But even before his teens, he learned to love horses and soon became one of the fastest racers in all of Benguet. His father is a local politician, his mother a pediatrician, yet his best friends are fellow horse lovers, some of them out of school youths who care for the horses owned by others.
On the day of the races, a crowd has gathered to see if Bryan continues his winning ways. A series of surprises awaits the protagonists. It becomes a day Bryan will never forget, and not for the reason he was hoping for.
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