Since we moved to Phoenix we always wanted to try horse riding especially with a stable close by. And still year after year passed and we couldn’t muster the courage or energy to do the ride. Well, no more, today is the day to do our first horse ride renting horses from Ponderosa Stables and then riding into the desert. At least as long the horses do not eat our fingers.
We have booked online and are wondering if we are going to be the only people on the ride. We shouldn’t have wondered, when we arrive at the meeting point there are already quite a few people gathered for the ride and there is a steady stream of arrivals after us. After signing the usual “we are not responsible for your death even if we kill you” disclaimer it is time to check out the horses that are already lined up, to convince them not to eat our fingers. Or whatever they intend to do with us when we start riding.
However the horses here are beyond tame. They only eat and wait for the riders to climb on them so we muster our courage and walk to the stand from where you climb onto the horse.
Almost 20 minutes after the time the ride was supposed to start the cowboys finally start to help the people get in the saddle. We expect to use the ladder stand that is set up nearby but they help us climb into the saddle from the ground, scary. And then they let us ride on our horses while they help other people and the horse decides to move on which is a bit scary as we have no idea how to control it. Luckily someone comes to hold the reigns and then finally everyone gets in a single file and on it goes through South Mountain.
The first thing that we learn is that the horses prefer to stop at almost every bush to nibble and we have to pull the reigns to stop them so they do not impede the whole group. Relatively soon the initial stress of being high in the air on an unknown animal disappears and we start enjoying the ride and learning how to control the horse. Riding is surprisingly easy with a few commands that the horse understands and we use as we continue down the trail with the rest of the group. Part of which seems to be on the phone or making taking selfies, who knows, but still it underscores how little danger there is. Especially as each horse follows the one in front without any command.
The ride goes mostly well except for a short episode of one horse biting the one in front who braked suddenly. Even so I am able to fall behind the rest of the riders to take some photos before hurrying as the wrangler comes to bring us back together.
And then we are back at the stables after a two hour ride that was worth it even though it left us sore for two weeks. Still we finally made it, now on to the next thing on our to do list!
