Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
Dear Daniela,
I really enjoyed this outstanding riding experience on a very save feeling , easy going, beautiful Arabian horse, but first things first.
I really was looking forward visiting Southern California. And one of my plans was, to go horse back riding and get a real insight of how it feels to go on a trail and enjoy the unique scenery. So searching for a place in the greater area of Los Angeles turned out a bit tricky, since most ranches only offer regular arena rides. At some point I came over www.runninghorseranch.com owned by Daniela and finally found what I was looking for.
Daniela offers different rides mainly aiming at the experienced horseback rider, which makes her service very special. Having said this, time wise you can choose trail rides from 2 hours up to 6 days and although she has set offers, she will also tailor to your exact wishes. So a dream come true for somebody who always wanted to live the "....been through the desert on a horse with no name..." experience!
I booked a two day package, going to Burnt Peak and Bear Camp. Each where half day rides and sounded very exciting to me. Along with the rides I also booked the overnight stay.
After a warm welcome upon my arrival at RHR, I checked into my room, which is actually a very cosy little apartment. Neat and clean! It has a fully equipped kitchenette with fridge and stove. On the porch you have a smoker/grill. The bed is very comfortable! And the little living room has a TV. But the most you will remember the absolute spectacular view. You not only see the horses, you are looking over mountains down into the valley! Just great!! Sitting and relaxing on the little porch, for me it was the perfect opposite to the challenging rides!
After settling down a bit, I joined the Daniela at the pasture, who introduced me to Astaire. The wonderful Arabien horse, who took me on the trail. While tacking up to try him, I learned a lot about RHR, the horses and Daniela's background. Daniela is a successful endurance rider. She competes on a regular basis in middle and long range endurance rides all over the US. Daniela has mostly BLM mustangs, which she gets very young and trains them herself. But then she also takes on rescued problem horses and turns them into little pearls. She keeps the horses in big pastures in herd's, so they live very natural. For Daniela an essential part of there training is to keep the horses as natural as possible. Only a relaxed, socialized and happy horse is a good and concentrated partner on the trail and in the arena. On top of that, intense horsemanship training prepares the horses for there task. It is a clear result of her horse training, that she can offer this high quality rides!
When I got on Astaire, it directly showed. I was feeling safe right from the beginning and as if I never rode another horse. A pretty unique experience, since actually it takes always time to grow together with a new horse partner! The next day we started pretty early in the morning to head to Bear Camp. The ride started with a strong clime up the hill, which took almost an hour . Although I consider myself experienced, it was the first challenge. But this great horse helped me to utilize my abilities and took me up there to an even more spectacular view from the top of the mountain. From here on there was (next to the great riding experience including a mix of walking, trotting and galloping) one great view after another. It is just simply to much to describe! This experience has to be made! The trails all together are made for experienced riders and horses and where lots of fun to ride. Especially exciting I found the fact, that we where riding on the Pacific Crest Trail, the historic trail from Mexico to Canada. At the end of each ride we where being picked up and the horses where trailered back to the ranch.
Each riding day left me very happy and highly satisfied. I will be coming back for sure and can only recommend Daniela and her horses! And thank you for the new views into horse training. I took them on for myself!
Warm regards
Patricia read more