A chilled Filly

Monday 10 August 2015

Riding in the Rocky Mountains

I regularly go to Calgary in Canada for work. Last Thursday was one of those trips which meant that I had Friday off in Calgary. Mostly I hire a car and head off to the mountains to go climbing or hiking. On this occasion I decided to go riding instead.
A quick search on the internet gave several places that I could go, but only one actually in the mountains themselves. This was Boundary Ranch in Kananaskis country. A quick phone call and I was booked on the ride at 0945 on Friday. It was explained that we would only walk and that this was really just a tourist ride. But I wanted to ride in the mountains I had hiked and knew well so felt that was fine.

I arrived at the ranch early after breakfast at the Summit Cafe in Canmore. My favourite breakfast place in the area. I checked in and then wandered out to see the horses being prepared. This is a big operation with lots of horses to tack up. All the horses seemed to be in pretty good condition and the tack looked serviceable. The only thing that worried me slightly was the long shank bits they were using. Ok for riders with soft hands, but for tourists who had never ridden before ??

It turned out that there were a fair few riders. Around 20 or so plus guides. They decided to split us into two groups. Once it was time to mount up they took individual folks to their mounts and got them onboard anyway they could. But the horses had seen it all before and were chilled. The instructions were "kick them to go, pull them to stop and neck rein them to turn". Again a slightly worrying set of instructions to give tourists, but in the even most of the horses didn't need any cues as they knew the route.

Once we finally set out I could see why we were walking. The trail was very stony and in places steep. Very good terrain to get a horse thinking to its' feet. My little horse, Branton, was brilliant. Very light to the aids, though he did keep trying to pull through my hands. I guess he was trying to get enough rein so that he could eat grass. He spent quite sometime trying to out focus me with this tactic, but eventually gave it up as a bad job. After that we just got on fine. By the time we got back I was very impressed by him and said so to the guide. She found that interesting as a guide the previous year had tried to buy him at the end of his stay to take home for reining competitions.

The ride itself was through beautiful country, but I'll let the pictures describe that. I rode as the last "tourist" which meant I could chat with the following guide. We got on really well and discussed all things about horses. She was from New Zealand and before coming to the USA had only ridden in English style. Western was new to her. So we discussed the vaquero style I'm studying and she seemed very interested. By the time we got back I think was was considering studying some more herself.

To summarise I would recommend the ranch to others. Your not going to have the world most exciting ride, but the terrain and scenery more that make up for that. The horses are well looked after and seemed happy in their work. The staff are friendly in a sincere and not false way. They do longer rides than the two hours I did. All the way up to 6 days with camping out I understand. Through the Rocky Mountains that would be an experience. One of the guides was keen I should go on that trip with him so he could teach me how to go on a packing trip with horses. Again that sincere friendliness shone through.








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