Riding Horses With Daddy
I found this review on Yelp. Today is the sixth anniversary of the day we went riding. What a precious little nugget from the past!
My dad is 80 years old. He has bone marrow cancer and a bad heart valve. One of them is expected to finish him off sometime in the near future. In the meantime, my sister and I like to keep him actively engaged in the world around him as much as we can. He goes on cruises with one or the other of us several times a year, and I am always looking for things to do here in San Antonio.
Dad has always enjoyed horses. He grew up with horses. He was active in rodeo as a teenager. We even had a horse at the Lackland Saddle Club when I was a little boy. Of late, Dad had been traveling to Wickenburg, Arizona every year for a week-long ride in the mountains with the Desert Caballeros. He stopped when his first cancer treatments made him weak and never went back after losing Mom three years ago. When I saw a Groupon for Salado Creek Ranch, I jumped at the chance to take him horseback riding. That was a long time ago. We finally used it today.
When we pulled up to Salado Creek Ranch, it looked like a deserted old stable. Nobody seemed to be around. Then we heard a lady holler from the trail that she would be right up to help us. In fact, two women came. They had been helping get two reluctant horses started for the previous group of riders.
As soon as they got up to the stable, they started making us feel at home. We did the required paperwork and got introduced to some big beautiful dogs. Then we stood around looking at everything around us while waiting for our ride. I am horrible with names, but the lady who did our paperwork, was especially attentive to Dad. I was really impressed throughout our experience with how genuinely happy and nice all of the people at the ranch were.
Time came to get on our horses. Dad got on before me and I snapped a quick photo to send off to my sister. My turn came and even though I was secretly terrified, I managed to get up on that poor little horse, with just a little help pulling my leg over. Unlike Dad, I grabbed on to the horn and never let it go the whole time we were riding. I blew off taking pictures. It was kind of scary way up there.
The guides took really good care of us. They had to fix a couple of attitude problems for two of the horses on occasion. Of course, one of them was mine! He wanted to stop and eat, but all in all, he did a good job of staying with the group. We rode around and around on trails all over the creek bed for at least an hour. At one point, I suddenly realized that certain parts of me were getting a little bit tired of being constantly pounded in the saddle. I asked the guide closest to me if someone was watching the time. I was sure we were well into our second hour.
We finally got back to the stable. They asked if we wanted them to take our picture, but there was no way I was gonna try and get my phone or Flip video camera out of my pockets while sitting on that horse! A couple of them helped me off the horse. I stepped down on to the little stairs and realized I had no feeling in my legs. It took a few steps to get control back. Meanwhile Dad hopped off of his horse like a ten year old and was walking around gawking at everything.
Dad has always enjoyed horses. He grew up with horses. He was active in rodeo as a teenager. We even had a horse at the Lackland Saddle Club when I was a little boy. Of late, Dad had been traveling to Wickenburg, Arizona every year for a week-long ride in the mountains with the Desert Caballeros. He stopped when his first cancer treatments made him weak and never went back after losing Mom three years ago. When I saw a Groupon for Salado Creek Ranch, I jumped at the chance to take him horseback riding. That was a long time ago. We finally used it today.
When we pulled up to Salado Creek Ranch, it looked like a deserted old stable. Nobody seemed to be around. Then we heard a lady holler from the trail that she would be right up to help us. In fact, two women came. They had been helping get two reluctant horses started for the previous group of riders.
As soon as they got up to the stable, they started making us feel at home. We did the required paperwork and got introduced to some big beautiful dogs. Then we stood around looking at everything around us while waiting for our ride. I am horrible with names, but the lady who did our paperwork, was especially attentive to Dad. I was really impressed throughout our experience with how genuinely happy and nice all of the people at the ranch were.
Time came to get on our horses. Dad got on before me and I snapped a quick photo to send off to my sister. My turn came and even though I was secretly terrified, I managed to get up on that poor little horse, with just a little help pulling my leg over. Unlike Dad, I grabbed on to the horn and never let it go the whole time we were riding. I blew off taking pictures. It was kind of scary way up there.
The guides took really good care of us. They had to fix a couple of attitude problems for two of the horses on occasion. Of course, one of them was mine! He wanted to stop and eat, but all in all, he did a good job of staying with the group. We rode around and around on trails all over the creek bed for at least an hour. At one point, I suddenly realized that certain parts of me were getting a little bit tired of being constantly pounded in the saddle. I asked the guide closest to me if someone was watching the time. I was sure we were well into our second hour.
We finally got back to the stable. They asked if we wanted them to take our picture, but there was no way I was gonna try and get my phone or Flip video camera out of my pockets while sitting on that horse! A couple of them helped me off the horse. I stepped down on to the little stairs and realized I had no feeling in my legs. It took a few steps to get control back. Meanwhile Dad hopped off of his horse like a ten year old and was walking around gawking at everything.
In the car, I asked Dad if he would like to go back again sometime. He said he definitely would. I have to admit that, scared or not, I'll be right there with him. I had a great time.