Horse back Riding in Rockies

Ok, so we planned this part of the trip long ago. Like 6 months or more. I had to more or less cajole Ron into doing the horseback ride. He has been less than enthusiastic since the inception. The horses we rode were draft cross horses of some kind. They didn’t look too lively, but that was ok with us. Can I say that “looks are deceiving”? We did a 2 hour ride. ¼ of that would have been enough for Ron and Lauren. Maybe even Lynn. But despite a horrible beetle infestation that is and will kill 80-90% of all the lodgepole pine trees and makes all the mountains look like they’ve been nuked, it was still quite lovely. The aspen trees were in abundance. Still lots of wildflowers blooming. Spruce trees have survived. We saw mule deer. Old homestead. Beaver dams. And our guide was very talkative. About halfway through Lauren’s horse, Bilbo decided he would eat. Since we’d been told that they were NOT ALLOWED TO EAT ON THE TRAIL Lauren pulled him up. He was bucked off for his trouble. Well,for anyone 30 and under that hurts. A lot. For someone over 50 and whose last horse ride was, oh say, 3 years ago, that’s definitely not a good thing. But he got back on and finished the ride. Impressive. Ron couldn’t finish. They had to come and get him and let someone else ride his horse back. I am the only one of the 4 of us that would willingly go again. Even though I couldn’t figure out how to make my legs work when I got off. Heck, I couldn’t even get off without one of the wranglers taking a crowbar and prying my legs up and over the horse’s back. Did I say I loved this ride? I did! And Lauren? He is black and blue from his toes to his thigh and he thinks hedislocated his shoulder. Partner, I think this was his last ride.