We flew into Mexico City and arrived at the Rancho around 6 pm. The other guests were enjoying the pool and hanging out before dinner. There were a group of five from London, a pair from New York City, and two friends from Atlanta. Dinners were impressive four course meals with a soup, appetizer, main and a dessert. We sat with the London contingency and laughed and chatted until fairly late.
The next morning came early with a lovely dawn. Breakfast is a little buffet held in a gorgeous sunroom. The manager, Shaun, came in to ask which horses we wanted and where we wanted to go. Today's itinerary was a town called Daxthi. It was a full day ride with a stop for lunch at a tiny restaurant in town. We rode with the other Americans. I started on a cute flea-bitten stallion named Diamante. Mike's horse, a big Chestnut stallion named Atila, was being difficult and we ended up switching. Both were dreamy. Diamante has a funny walk, but it doesn't slow him down a bit. Atila has a gorgeous canter that I let ride instead of running full tilt toward the end of the ride. We rode through acres and acres of farmland and a couple of tiny towns. At times we galloped, other times we walked. It was incredible!
The ride started at 930 AM. After a long day of riding, we made it back to our room to shower at 500 PM. The pool and an amazing frozen margarita were calling my name before dinner.
The next day all of the guests we knew went to see the pyramids. We opted to ride. There were a group of airline workers (pilots, cabin crew, etc) on a layover. So they came to join us. Three of them were on our half day ride. We did a half day ride to Xochitlan de Las Flores, another darling little town. I rode a palomino named Versace and Mike was on a bay called Tequila. Tequila ended up being a favorite of both of ours for the trip. Versace was a good boy, but had super bouncy gaits.
We returned to the Rancho for lunch, which was way too much food between rides, and switched horses for an hour of riding around the hills above the rancho. Tequila was an absolute joy! Mike did not enjoy his ride on Versace. Too much bouncing was really uncomfortable for him.
The Rancho has a yoga room that overlooks a waterfall. Since we were back so early, we went down and visited the falls then did some yoga on our own. It was absolutely lovely. The Rancho definitely needs a good yoga teacher. Maybe I'll quit my day job, live there and spend my days teaching yoga and riding horses.
Our third day of riding was with a fantastic wrangler named Franco who took Mike and me out to a gorgeous canyon and a rock formation called Los Organos. I rode Versace again though he was not the horse I had asked for. Mike rode a big gorgeous palomino stallion named Valiente. He rode him for half the day then switched with me but still struggled with Versace's gaits, so Franco traded him for Calypso, a stout roan gelding. That went much much better.
Los Organos is at the bottom of a canyon. It consists of a little stream winding down the canyon and surrounded by stone fingers. Franco told us the legend is that many years ago there were a lot of small villages around and they all wanted exclusive rights to the water. Each village prayed to the river god to give the water to its people. The river god told the villagers they had to share it amongst all of the peoples. They refused and resumed bickering among themselves. Later they all returned to demand the river god to make a choice among villages. He turned everyone who was there to stone, thereby creating the rock structures. Legend has it when the wind blows through, it sounds like the people whispering "help me" from inside the rocks.
A herd of wild horses including two foals roams the valley. They were curious, but unafraid. They seem to be respected and left alone by the people in the area. We climbed out of the canyon by following a little trail almost straight up the canyon wall. It was amazing! Franco stopped us for lunch at a little restaurant in a corn field before we continued back. For our last night, we stayed up talking and playing pool with other guests.
We went for one more short ride before we left. Mike rode a giant dappled gray named Bronco who was coming off a year of being out of service for an injury. He was so happy to be out. I took a black gelding named Zorro, who ended up limping the entire time. After he almost fell over cantering down the road, I took Bronco and Mike jumped on white Mariachi for some runs through a field. It was glorious! Bronco ended up being the favorite horse of the trip for both of us. Mariachi was a fun smooth ride for Mike. My phone pouch fell off the saddle and there was a mad rush to find out before we left. Thank goodness for the Find My iPhone feature.
I HAVE to go back! I had such an amazing time and can't wait to take out a few more of the horses that everyone else seemed to snatch up before I could ask. I could spend months there and not get everything out of it that's available.
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