gAzSelin: Canyon Creek Ranch Trail Ride

We scored 2 free trail rides at a place called Canyon Creek Ranch. They are in Black Canyon City. We allowed for an hour to get there. We met up in the parking lot of the Bad A** BBQ that you can see from I-17. We followed the white pickup truck down the dusty road and to the ranch. Our horses awaited. There were other people already there. One group was from England - Mom they had that proper accent. They were also paying customers.

I don't know why Doug always gets the horse/mule with the good names. His mule's name at the Grand Canyon was Cracker - totally cool because it was the only white mule. And at this place his horse was named Gizmo. I like it. My horse's name was Katman. I guess like Katmandu - but wierd.

Also if anyone remembers my first post about our upcoming trail ride, I asked for suggestions for appropriate old west names for Doug and myself. Only one person responded. Thanks Becky. So I will try to refer to us by her suggested names - it may help this story sound like a true out west adventure.

Anyway, pretty soon it was time for the "freebies" to get on the horses and start their ride. Horace got up onto Gizmo with ease. Saige was able to get onto Katman as well. They were lucky. There was a heavy lady and chubby boy that had to use the stairs to get on their horses. It was because their horses were so tall. Yeah, right! But Saige was silently thankful they didn't lead her horse over there and make her use the stairs. That would have been like riding "the short bus" to school.

The trail leader was really nice and he had just returned to the valley from Utah. Horace and Saige were the first 2 riders and were able to talk to him about Utah and lots of other things. The trail was hot and dusty. All the riders were also told about how wet and green it was earlier in the year. And because of that the horses liked to stop and try to eat. They were given a pointed warning about not letting the horses eat during the ride. If their horse was to put their head down and try to eat they were supposed to give a hard yank with the reins and put a quick stop to that. If a person were to let their horse eat then the horse wouldn't be focused on it's work - giving safe rides. The horse would be searching for and getting mouthfuls of greens to eat.

Did everyone listen? Yes. Did they follow through. No. No - they did not. Many struggled with this issue throughout the whole event. When one horse stopped to snack all the other horses behind it would also have to stop. That would string out the group and then the front ones would have to wait as well. More on this later.

The kid was just behind Saige. This didn't seem to be a bad thing until - well actually right from the start. He was about 10 years old and was so excited and loud. He kept yelling for his mom and dad to hear him. He acted like he knew everything. Because of all the noise he was making, Saige couldn't hear what Horace and the leader were talking about. That made her feel left out. And, well, I guess Saige wasn't very patient with him. She was happy that after their stop at the Old West town that that group ended up in front of her and she and Horace ended up near the back of the group.

The ride was pleasant. Horace and Saige enjoyed being out in the desert landscape. No vehicles could be seen or heard. After about 40 minutes or so the group arrived at their destination. A Old West town complete with saloon. It was here that all the tired dusty travelers were able to dismount and enjoy breakfast. Horace helped himself to a cool drink and a cinnamon roll thingy. Saige had grapes and a granola bar thingy and a cool drink. It was a nice place to get out of the sun and cool off a bit.

After a few minutes Horace and Saige followed the group out to the activity area. The first thing they did was to practice their roping skills. On Saige's 2nd attempt she was able to snag one horn on her fake bull. But pretty successful. Now Horace, he needed 3 tries. But he was also able to get the rope around one horn. Here is video proof of that.

Next Saige and Horace tried out their shooting skills. Each were given 6 shots. Horace looked like a pro - but it was hard to see if he was hitting what he was aiming at. Saige wasn't so good. The gun was heavy AND she kept forgetting to pull the hammer back. Her hand was shaking too. But it was fun.

The group wasn't taken to the axe throwing area. That was probably because the kid on the ride wouldn't leave the roping area until he successfully roped both horns. Sheesh! Can't someone control this kid?

They also gave a nice tour of the facilities. They rent out their facilities for special events, meetings, weddings, etc. They mentioned that the head of NIKE and their higher ups were there for an event. The place is really nice so if you are interested - they are willing.

After the tour everyone re-mounted and headed back to the ranch. Remember the warning about letting the horses eat? On the way back everyone was back to mindlessly riding and not controlling their horse. The guy in front of me was letting his horse eat a lot. It would stop and nibble over and over again. Then at one point it sort of stepped off the trail to reach a nice tasty weed. When it was time to go the horse couldn't go. It sort of jumped or made a hard lean backward. Saige was right behind his horse so her horse backed up in reaction to the other horse. Saige could see that the other horse had its leg stuck on a piece of barbed wire. Another hard pull and the horse was able to free itself. Sheesh! Saige was relieved that nothing worse happened. It could have been a real disaster if either of the horses had reared up or lost their footing and fallen. But alas, the disaster was averted.

Now after that happened do you think that people were better about keeping their horses from eating along the trail? Wrong! They did not! Sheesh! They must have been green horns or something.

As they were nearing the ranch another warning was given. All the horses were to be kept in a single file line and not allowed to spread out. Did they listen? Yes. Did they follow directions? No! No they did not. But in this author's humble opinion - Horace and Saige did remarkably well especially when the other folks were just letting their horses call the shots.

Anyway, the whole morning was a real success! Arrival at the ranch at was at about 8 am and departure was at about 11 am or so. The "freebies" were given about 1 hour of riding time and 1 hour at the old west village. Pretty good. Saige and Horace were prepared and impressed enough to give them a tip. Actually Horace is involved in planning a big world-wide conference in Phoenix in March so he might suggest this horseback riding activity as a possiblity for interested parties who attend the conference.

P.S. The ranch also had a buffalo in a pen for everyone to see.

Those things are huge!