Watch this segment in Spanish. (10:23 minutes)

Web Extra: Jose Rivera sings and talks about “Pelea de Gallos.” (3:30 minutes)

Producer/Editor: Brandon Wickey
Videographers: Brandon Wickey, Jason Robinson
Audio: Chuck Burgess

Cultural Chords

Jose Rivera

Meet Jose Rivera, a vocalist and guitarist who developed his love for music in his hometown of Aguascalientes in central Mexico, a town renowned for its music. Jose shares his passion for music with Lexington audiences as a performer at the city’s Latino Festival and at a Mexican restaurant as part of a mariachi band.

Jose comes from a region that has been influenced by the romantic guitar music of trios and soloists. It’s been integrated with the more general mariachi music of Mexico, and as such, Jose performs in the traditional style of a Mexican cowboy—the charro. The highlight of his career in Aguascalientes was performing as a soloist in the Feria de San Marcos, the national fair located in his hometown.

After coming to Lexington, Jose played in a romance quartet for a time before his bandmates returned to Mexico. Jose stayed behind and embarked on a solo career. Since then, he has played in many festivals across the central part of the state, at the Kentucky State Fair, and at many community events.

Jose performs several traditional Mexican classics, including “Malaguena,” “Paloma Negra,” and “Pelea de Gallos.”

Watch This Story (9:07)

For more information:
• Equus Survival Trust has information about many endangered horse breeds and how you can help save them.

Producer: Valerie Trimble
Videographer: John Schroering
Audio: Brent Abshear
Editor: Jim Piston

Treasure in the Hills

Mountain Pleasure Horses

We travel to Wolfe County to meet Nora Deaton and her Mountain Pleasure horses. Bred in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky for hundreds of years, Mountain Pleasure Horses are used for both work and recreational purposes.

Known for its willing disposition and easy-riding gait, the Mountain Pleasure Horse is among the many horses whose numbers are critically low. Victoria Tollman, executive director of the Equus Survival Trust, explains that the organization classifies the breed as “critical” when there are only 100-300 active adult breeding mares. To save these endangered horses, the organization promotes sound breeding practices and good stewardship to keep the gene pools viably diverse and the breeds usefully productive.

For years called “Mountain Horses” or “Country Saddle” horses, the Mountain Pleasure Horse existed in Kentucky 160 years ago and has proven to be the parent stock of American gaited horse breeds, including the Rocky Mountain Horse and Tennessee Walking Horse.

Watch This Story (6:42)

For more information:
• The Loretto Community website has information about the history of the Loretto Motherhouse.

Producer: Dave Shuffett
Videographers: Prentice Walker, Dave Shuffett
Editor: Jay Akers

A Tranquil Nature

The Loretto Motherhouse

At the Loretto Motherhouse in Marion County, a community of active and retired nuns keep an active farm, host retreats, maintain an art gallery, and conduct tours detailing the history of one of the oldest convents west of the Appalachians.

Founded on the Kentucky frontier in 1812 as Friends of Mary at the Foot of the Cross, the first sisters dedicated their lives to God as religious women and educated poor children of the area.

The first Motherhouse was located in St. Charles and named St. Stephen’s Farm by Father Stephen Badin, the first priest ordained in the United States, who lived there from 1796 to 1819. Father Charles Nerinckx, the clerical founder of the Friends of Mary order, lived at St. Charles from 1812 until 1824.

The founding sisters later took the name Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross and moved from St. Charles to Nerinx in 1824. The Loretto Academy closed in 1918, but both the 1832 and 1888 school buildings are still in use. The first school, now called Rhodes Hall, is an art studio and gallery, and the second school building serves as a residence, offices, and part of Knobs Haven Retreat Center.

The sisters are making plans to celebrate their jubilee in 2012.

Watch This Story (5:56)