I want a pony!

After weeks of backpacking and camping, Nate and I were in desperate need of a sleeping situation not involving thermarests and tents, so we decided to spend a couple of days relaxing at an old estancia on Route 40 run by Petty and her husband Coco. Key to the estancia experience for me was the possibility of horse riding. When I called to make our reservation, Petty informed me that the estancia did indeed have horses and, "if you know how to ride, you can certainly ride." I sat on a horse once 15 years ago without any major problems, so I informed her that yes, of course Nate and I knew how to ride.

Once we had arrived at the estancia, she seemed slightly more reluctant to entrust two of her horses to our clearly untutored hands. Over breakfast she made us sign a release form while fellow guests (who were too scared to ride themselves) reminded us of what a great responsibility we were accepting by taking the horses, and quizzed us about saddlery, asking if we were aware that the horses here were saddled western style. We did not. Did we know what western style was? No. After thoroughly demonstrating our ignorance of all things equine, Petty introduced us to our horses. Nate was given Petty's horse, Coco, (apparently named after her husband), while I rode Pampero, a fat brown horse. Under Petty's close watch, I took Pampero for a practice ride around the paddock, while Nate kicked a totally immobile Coco in a fruitless attempt to get him moving. Petty watched for a few minutes before announcing "I think you'll need a whip!" Whip in hand, Nate got Coco moving, and we hit the trail, chasing sheep around the estancia and marvelling at the bone and carcass littered landscape.

The beauty of taking horses out alone (especially when provided with a whip) is that you can finally do all the things that guides, for some reason, restrain you from doing: make the horses run, jump over streams, play chicken with the other riders. The downside is that horses are willful, lazy animals, and without a guide or a competent rider to keep them in line, they immediately lose the trail, pretend that they are totally unfamiliar with the terrain, and generally use all their wiles in an attempt to trick the rider into letting them return home. We fell for none of their tricks, and had an excellent ride. -EMW