My buddy Dana and I decided to ride the Sandia foothills just east of Albuquerque, one day. We met up at Elena Gallegos Open Space and saddled up, ready to ride!
The vistas are always incredible!
My buddy Dana and her mustang gelding, Blaze.
The clouds were putting on a show across the Sandia Mountains. Every time we looked up, the mountains had a different appearance. Always stunning!
I was happy to let my buddy lead the ride as I am almost always the leader/guide. Dana knows the foothills trails well as she has ridden them often over the years, so I knew I was in good hands.
She showed me an old land grant settlement snuggled up against the foothills.
And we rode along the edge of the open space, along the far eastern Albuquerque neighborhoods that line the park.
Lots of wide open spaces.
I was thrilled to meet this dog and it's owner because the dog is also missing an eye...the same eye as Apache. So, this is basically Apache's canine eye twin! The One Eye Wonder Dog!
Apache the One-Eye Wonder Horse!
And always, the beautiful views of the Sandia Mountains, with the clouds giving them a new look all day.
How blessed we are to be able to ride in such incredible places!
Even our horses enjoy the views.
Apache and I.
The trails are mostly sandy and easy to travel.
An Apache selfie!
My selfie!
Wonderful trails.
There's those amazing clouds again!
What a beautiful day!
The views never get old or boring.
At one point we decided to leave the park and enter into the National Forest/Wilderness trails. But the horse gate was in very bad shape caused by erosion and lack of maintenance.
We dismounted to help our horses figure out how to negotiate over the jumbled logs through the gate.
The trails were in much better shape than the gate!
We encountered mountain bikers, hikers and even kids in strollers. Lots of stuff for horses to discover and get used to.
Apache and Blaze...the mustang BFFs!
Apache and I surrounded by gorgeous vistas!
Apache and I with Dana and Blaze. A friendly hiker offered to take out photo.
A lot of very cool boulders line the trails.
I love the sections that travel down through the arroyos.
We rode past the ranger station.
A very happy Dana!
Back at the horse trailer after a wonderful ride!
I always thank my girl after every ride.
After we unsaddled and watered our horses, Dana set up a table for us to eat our lunches.
She even brought mini-dixie cups for us to drink our wine.
While we ate our lunches and visited, our horses enjoyed a rest...with a view!
Life is Good!!!
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