Although I’ve had a variety of unpleasant experiences horseback riding, including: having a horse lay down with me on top of him (I had to jump off), a horse bolt unexpectedly with me hanging on for dear life, falling off of a horse in Spain when he tried to eat grass on the side of a rather large hill, have a horse try to buck me off and rub me against trees; well you get the picture–I continue to enjoy riding!  So, I planned a ride for myself and two of my tour attendees through Rancho Chilamate.  They picked us up in San Juan del Sur and drove us to their beautiful ranch about 20-30 minutes away.  They have boots and hats to make sure you look and feel like an authentic Cowgirl!

They have cute young women as their tour leaders!  Here’s Claudia from Spain leading us through the lovely countryside…

We stopped briefly to look at some monkeys on the way…

Here’s Jing keeping the dust out of her mouth and behind her…Alla, whose horse was slow…

It was rather difficult to turn around whilst riding to capture photos, but here’s the rest of the crew…

Our destination was a secluded beach almost an hour’s ride away…

My horse “Colorado” was wonderful!  He obeyed my commands and when we arrived to the beach, he galloped back and forth along the shoreline!  I don’t have photos of me galloping, but it was the first time since I began riding 35 years ago that I felt “at one” with the horse.  I wasn’t bobbing up and down as he galloped, just a smooth back and forth motion.

It was exhilarating!  When we returned to the ranch, chilled orange juice, iced water, and shots of whiskey were waiting.  The chips and salsa were so so good!

It was a wonderful experience!  Thanks Rancho Chilamate!