Even though the area was weather forecast was to have significant wind the adventurous  Trio: Liz, Leigh and Linda, decided to try the La Cienega Trail hoping the wind would be less.  The winds were very strong in Guiterrez

R & R

Canyon, annoying the horses no end when their hay was blowing out of their pens.

Most horses are jumpy in the wind, never knowing what is going to jump out at them from the bushes.  Paso’s are of Spanish Blood and typically have more brio or spirit;   however this doesn’t translate to spooky or crazy.  In a well trained animal there minds are so good that they typically don’t spook or bolt!

Saddled and ready we took the blacktop road to the trail.  It was a busy

Leigh and the gaiting Grace

weekend with several cars driving cautiously by.  However a brain dead skateboarder came whizzing by us at a fast rate of speed.  Thank goodness once again for good minds, the horses didn’t skip a beat!

These are not really mature horses they are all rather young.  Casanova is the old man at 6, both Rip and Amazing Grace are 4 years old.   There was no bolting or going sideways they all just kept the beat!  Another reason to ride Gaited!

The La Cienega Trail in the Sandia Mountains is accessed by taking Hwy North 14 from I 40 east of Albuquerque to the Crest Road and then just a few short miles to the trail.  It is just before Doc Long’s picnic grounds.  There is a large area for parking horse trailers.   Several trails can be followed from the trail head.  We took the Faulty Trail for the entire loop.   At the summit you feel like you are on top of the world, for some of us with acrophobia that is not a good thing.  A narrow trail with a significant drop off preceded by some large stone blocks resembling stone steps.  Even as surefooted as these horses are we choose to dismount and walk down the trail until it leveled out.   Casanova, the terrific Peruvian Paso who is my main mount took good care of me.  Along the way we were treated to several sightings of the Abert Squirrel, a rather large squirrel mostly charcoal but with white markings as well.  At first you might think you were seeing a small skunk running up the trees.  They are distinguished by their large ear tufts and are found mainly where there are large Ponderosa Pine trees as they subsist on the pine cones.  However after saying that I must add that we had a rogue Abert squirrel show up on our 3rd floor deck, how in the world he got there is anyone’s guess!  He must have scaled the side of the house as we have no trees that reach that high.  Of course I was worried that he would starve so I supplied him with food and water.  He enjoyed my seat cushions for a day or so before he decided the woods were more inviting and he disappeared.   I might also add that we don’t have any Ponderosas near us only Pinon so I guess he high tailed it for higher altitude and Ponderosas.

All in all a beautiful ride

In celebration of our beautiful November weather there were 3 rides last week!  The weather has been treating us to mid 70’s and the bluest of skies, only in New Mexico do you get the azure skies with the golden leaves!  Truly all the beautiful colors!  Wednesday, Casanova, a fantastic Peruvian Paso, took me over the ridge from La Cienega and one of the steepest trails I’ve see and successfully I might add or I wouldn’t be penning this!  Then over the weekend Amazing Grace, a Singlefooter took me on several amazing rides.  These horses have everything going for them, amazing gait, great temperment and a great mind.  Grace is just 3, only went through training in the spring and is calm and secure!  All in all a very satisfying ride!  The name Singlefooter came from the fact that as they show their tremendous speed, pictures will show they only have one foot on the ground; pretty darn close to flying.  Some of the faster horses have been clocked 25 mph or more in gait!  Check back here for information on the upcoming Amazing Gaits Farm website, featuring gaited horses.