Sombrero Ranch

Elite '08

41

58

Sam H.

Boulder, CO

We have all seen movies where an actor or actress is flying across the landscape riding a beautiful horse, galloping at full speed.

It looks awesome.  Having never enjoyed the experience of horse back riding, I decided to book a trip over the weekend.

My ex-girlfriend (Carol) was visiting from San Diego and this would be here first time riding as well.

After choosing our ride (2 hours) we waited for an available wrangler (guide) to take us out for our ride.

Unfortunately, no wranglers were available, but the gentleman responsible for shoeing the horses offered to take us.  The cool part was it was just Carol, myself and our makeshift guide Chuck.

We were given horses and some basic instructions, and we were on our way.  There were dark clouds moving in fast and the sound of thunder in the distance.

The ride itself was very enjoyable.  We went at a slow, comfortable pace, climbing several ridges and then finally descending down a long hill.  The first hour flew by, but I started to get a little sore around the 1:15 mark.  I soon found myself pushing on the saddle horn to relieve some of the rough jars and bumps of riding a horse.

The scenery was beautiful and we were able to see squirrels, rabbits and even some deer grazing only 20 yards from the trail.

While a little sore, the whole trip was very smooth, until all hell broke loose.  We were only twenty feet from the stables, literally at the end of the ride when...

Something, we still do not know what, spooked Carol's horse.  The horse immediately reared up and started kicking furiously at the air.
This in turn forced my horse to spook, but instead of rearing, she took off like a bullet.  I really did not know what happened, except all of a sudden my horse was running across a road, then proceeded to jump an eight foot gulch, charge up a hill, turn around, jump the gulch again, charge back across the street and then head straight for a fence.

I remember our guide Chuck yelling "pull on the reins!"  I yelled back "I am pulling on the reins!"

Finally Chuck was able to corner the horse against the fence and grab the rope hanging from the horses neck.

I finally had a chance to look back at Carol, who had managed to eventually settle her horse after the horse reared several time, spun in crazy circles, and then dashed off before she finally got the horse settled.  Amazingly, both of us being first time riders, we were able to stay on our horses and avoid major injury.

Needless to say, it was a crazy ending to a very serene and peaceful ride.  I am not sure if I will get on a horse again in the near future...

The ranch is itself was a good experience and I would recommend Sombrero Ranches for anyone interested in horse back riding.

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