Today was a big day!  First, we drove 1 1/2 hrs. North to Abiquiu to a “real” cowboy’s land to horseback ride!  His name is Fred Espinola…and I learned more on this 4 hour ride than I’ve ever learned.  Having rode in Spain, Costa Rica, Texas, Indiana and Hawaii…not to mention a variety of places in Ohio…I discovered why horses usually gave me a difficult time.  They want you to show them who’s boss…(kind of like men).  I fell off of a horse in Spain because he wanted to eat grass on the side of a cliff and I let him.  A horse laid down with me on top of him (of course I had to jump off quickly) in Texas.  On the Loveland Bike Trail in Cincinnati, a horse tried to buck me off of him.  They used to love to scrape my legs against trees and fences.  At least I’ve followed the advice of getting back on a horse if you fall off!

I hadn’t ridden in 4 years so I asked for a nice steady horse.  Meet Charlie…the one-eyed horse.

Fred had us take a minute to close our eyes and visualize what our ride was going to be like…and to sense the connection between ourselves and our horse…pretty cool!

This is Fred…

This is Mitzi…visiting Fred from California.  She’s a sweetie!!

This is Tony Llama!

His horses are rescued Mustangs!

At times, we were riding along some higher hills/cliffs and I was afraid that Charlie (since he was missing an eye) wouldn’t be able to see where the cliff dropped off!

We got to trot/canter/gallop a lot…so I’m still sore a week later!!

Fred made me a little nervous when he said if Charlie starts to paw at the water…to pull him away from it…because that means he’s going to lay down in it!

Next, we stopped at Ojo Caliente Hot Springs to hopefully help with the sore muscles from riding.  Their sulphur-free, geothermal mineral waters have flowed from a subterranean volcanic aquifer for thousands of years. Over 100,000 gallons per day come to the surface, revitalizing those who soak in the long believed, healing waters.

SPA is the acronym for the Latin phrase Salus Per Aquas, which means “health through water.”

There was a European guy that hit on me…as I’m telling him about my bruises from horseback riding…he said I was sexy and he would kiss them for me…oh la la!!  I told him he had something in his mustache (a “booger”).  I’d want to know!

We only spent about an hour there…because we had a schedule to keep.  Next…we went to a piano bar called “Vanessie”.  The pianist’s name is Doug Montgomery and he is very talented.  It is a local’s hangout…if you want to sing…you tell Doug ahead of time and it’s great fun!!