Shores and Saddle: Riding the Beaches and Jungles of Jaco

You set out before the heat builds—sand still cool under the horse's hooves, the ocean pushing a thin, salty breeze across your face. The tack creaks like an old boat; the horse finds its rhythm and you fall into a steadier one of your own. To your right, the Pacific shimmers and stretches toward the horizon; to your left, the green becomes a wall—mangroves and tropical forest folding into one another, leaves gleaming like polished coins. On a two-hour loop that starts and ends on Jaco Beach, the world narrows to hoofbeats, birdsong and the occasional rustle where a sloth or monkey makes itself known.