One beautiful sunny day this summer, my friend Dana invited me to ride Cienega Canyon with her. We met at the Cienega Canyon Equestrian Trailhead and parking area.
Dana and her lovely Arabian mare.
We decided to do a loop starting with the whimsical TeePee Trail.
So named because of the many rustic, handmade teepees placed all along the trail.
It's a fun trail to ride.
There are lots of small hills as it winds through the forest, which make it a blast to trot or canter through.
One of the little hills with a teepee at the bottom before the trail travels around a bend and then back up another small hill.
It was great to catch up with my friend Dana.
I love riding in the mountains...flat trails are boring.
Great views from the trail of the east side of the Sandia Mountains.
So lush and green!
Heading downhill.
Yep. Gotta get my trail selfie!
Lots of lush, green grass beside the trail for our horses to munch.
Such a beautiful trail!
The trail hugs the side of the mountain.
So pretty!
A trail selfie from inside of a beautiful tree tunnel.
Love!!
And most people think of New Mexico as a dry, brown desert.
We rode through a narrow canyon on a beautiful trail called Bill Springs.
When we reached the end of the canyon, several groups of kids from a summer camp hiked down the mountain and as soon as they saw our horses, they squealed with excitement.
Many of the kids had never been up close to a horse before and were they thrilled to be able to pet our horses and ask questions and learn about horses.
Dana and I were happy to share our horses with the 30+ kids and we were so proud of our rock solid, gentle, confident mares.
I even let some of the kids and counselors feed my Apache mare some cookies, and they could not have been more excited.
After the kids left, we turned around and headed back down the narrow canyon.
Apache and I posing in front of a cool rock wall.
Riding past the rock wall.
The Bill Springs trail leads into the Doc Long Picnic Grounds.
Dana and I decided to ride into the Picnic Grounds to stop for our lunch break. There is a neat little bridge to ride across near the pavilions.
Fun little trail obstacle.
Ta Da!!
Horses are like people magnets. As soon as we tied up our horses, a couple of kids and their Mom came over to ask if they could pet our horses.
Great location for a trail ride lunch!
Our horses enjoyed a nice shady rest spot with access to grass.
After lunch we headed back down the trail towards Sulphur Canyon Picnic Grounds.
Sometimes it's nice to ride side-by-side so you can chat and catch up with your riding buddy.
Sometimes it's nice to ride at a distance so you can enjoy the peace and solitude.
We had to cross a small creek and Dana's mare refused to cross until Dan dismounted and led her across.
On the way back up to the horse trailer parking area, a coyote crossed our path a few times. At one point, the coyote stopped in the middle of the road and squatted to poop. When we reached his poop spot after he disappeared into the woods, we noticed that his runny poop had a red baloney string inside of it. Apparently some visitors to the Picnic Grounds shared their lunch with that coyote, instead of taking it home or throwing it in the bear proof trash cans. Even though it was kind of funny to have a coyote poop in front of you, I felt sorry for him. Poor guy.
Other than that, we had a fantastic ride!
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