Questions people ask us all the time:

Where are you anyway and how far away are you from the USA?

The map above gives you a visual of where we are. Our city, Tuxtepec, is in the state of Oaxaca, but right on the border of the state of Veracruz- when you cross the river bordering our city, you cross into the state of Veracruz.

Mexico is a large country with extreme contrasts in climate and terrain. The land mass is 756,066 square miles, bounded on the west by the Pacific and east by the Gulf of Mexico on the east. The country is roughly a third the size of the continental USA. Our area is in the foothills of tropical mountains and the area is mostly agricultural, with bananas, sugar cane and pineapples being leading crops.

Looks can be deceiving on a map... we are a 2 1/2 hour drive from the port city of Veracruz on the Gulf, but 6 hours from the capital of our state Oaxaca de Juárez. The drive to Oaxaca is only 120 miles, but the route is over the steep hairpin curves of the Sierra Madre mountain range. To Salina Cruz on the Pacific, the drive is 7 hours- a much longer distance than to Oaxaca but hardly much longer in time due to mostly straight and level roads that bypass the mountains.

A drive from the Texas border to our rancho takes about 20 hours. By contrast, a flight from Houston, Texas to Veracruz international airport is only 2 hours and a few minutes!

Can I buy property in Mexico as a foreigner?

Yes it is very easy. Except right on the US border or on the coast and there are restrictions (that is within 62 miles (100 kms) of the US/Mexican border, or within 31 miles (50 kms) of the coast). But don't get overly excited, land in Mexico is reasonably priced but not "almost free." If you are serious about purchasing land or a house in our area of Mexico, we are happy to hook you up with people who are selling properties and a Mexico attorney to handle your transaction properly. But before you do any hunting, come check out the area or other areas of Mexico you might like. See this article on MexConnect for some info about the closest major city to us.

If I sell a horse to a client of yours in Mexico will it get slaughtered for meat?

Not likely. First of all it wouldn't make any economic sense whatsoever. And to be quite honest, after a decade of living here I've never known or heard of anyone in our area butchering a horse or selling one off for meat at any price.

What do people do with horses in Mexico?

Horses are an important part of the culture in our area of Mexico. The streets shut down through town nearly once a month for huge horse parades called cabalgatas. Five horse race tracks are within 15 minutes of our ranch and the races go off weekly, advertized on the radio and newspapers and widely attended. Horses are presented at Expos (similar to county fairs) at least twice a year in Tuxtepec. The milkman in our colony (as well as many other small dairymen in this town) rides a horse to deliver milk with barrels strapped over both sides of the horse's rear; kids ride their horses to school; men ride horses to pubs; ranchers use horses daily to work cows; and a vast crowd of people just keep horses as riding pets. Hipodromo De Las America in Mexico City is a state of the art racing facility that hosts Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred racing. The hunter jumper circuit and dressage is quite popular in Veracruz and other more metro areas, while the rodeos are more prevalent in country areas including this one. Endurance riding is an up and coming sport in Mexico soon to receive FEI status, with rides hosted in our state of Oaxaca and in Veracruz as well as in other areas. At this time, there is no Arabian show program in Mexico, but an increasing number of Arabian horse enthusiasts.