I had a rare treat the other day. The chance to go horseback riding with my neighbors. I love horses. When I was fourteen I had a love affair with horses and had a horse of my own: King. At that age my parents had a love affair with Colorado too, and for several years we went to a dude ranch on vacation. I don't think I ever got off the horse except for lunch (sometimes) and dinner. Ride, ride, ride. I've ridden on and off through the years, but never anything steady. Plus, since a horse tried to remove my left breast once in Amsterdam, I've been a bit head-shy of horses, which I hated. 

They trailered the horses to forest land. In the above photo, draw a straight line from the right-hand edge of the road upwards through the valley and you can see the route we took to the top for an observation point over the Laramie River Valley and back towards Bull Mountain. They loaned me a pair of cowboy boots and we saddled up. The ride went through golden aspens, little creeks and muddy bogs, to sage covered meadows. We encountered two bulls and made a wide berth around them in case they got any idea of challenging us. Big Angus bulls! The trip up was pretty much uneventul except for my saddle sliding off to the side, which was easily corrected. I think they were more concerned for me than I was about myself. I'm tough. I may not have ridden for years, but pretty much nothing fazes me.

Here are Debra and I at the top. I am riding a horse called Rawah with the Rawah mountains behind me. Debra's horse is named Rawhide and he's what is known as a smokey Palomino. I didn't get a photo of David's horse, Cash, (named after Johnny Cash with a cute story to go along with his naming) but he's a gorgeous big buttermilk buckskin. One day I hope they will let me ride him when they feel more comfortable with my riding abilities. I need to brush up, although it all felt pretty good. I felt like I really didn't find my seat until we were on the way down.

When I got off the horse I felt as if I was walking like Dick the Tree looks. From the knees down I was wobbly and weak. What a weenie. Today I am pretty good except I can feel it in my butt and thighs if I am climbing.

Here is the view from the top of the Laramie River Valley (Rick and I took a drive on that very road below us today). More aspen pics to come from that!

And the view back to Bull Mountain from the way we had come from.

We might get in another ride where Rick can join us early next week, but it all depends on the weather and the forecast is for a rainy start to the week.

Until then I have some beautiful photos to share with you. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!