She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes....

We went horseback riding today at McDonalds Ranch in Scottsdale.  We road from Scottsdale to Phoenix.  For most of us, it meant riding a horse for the first time in probably 35-40 years.  We can all feel the muscles in our legs and bottom ends.  It was really fun to ride around the ranch.  We had a great leader.  His name was cowboy George. We had quite an interesting conversation with George. He told us all about his where he got his spur's and chaps.  I didn't realize that they are usually custome made to  your size.    Ralph loved his chaps, The chaps are used to help protect them from the needles off the cactus.  These needles are so strong that they penetrate the leather on the cowboy boots. 

There was a total of 6 of us riding with George.  He kept us amused with jokes along the ride.  It was really interesting to see all the cacti in the the desert and also to spot wildlife as it skirted the various bushes.

Our horses were pretty gentle.  Teresa was riding Zorro - we laughed when she got that horse as she asked for the tamest one that they had.  My horse was called Hobo - he was a nice gentle horse who listened very well.  Lawrence was riding Cisco. Cisco was a tailgating nibbler.  It was interesting as George was telling us that they picked the horse around the person riding it.  Lawrence likes to drive close to others and he admits to being a nibbler as well.  Ralph was riding  horse named Static.  This was a really nice horse as well.  At the end of the ride Ralph was asking if we could have a nice trot back to the ranch.  I hoped that George would say no as the ground was not very level and every muscle in my body was screaming out in pain.  I was ready to get off that saddle and have a nice hot tub.  Lucky for me - George said, not this time.

It was a great ride and we had a lot of fun.  We saw alot and learned alot.