Riding in the Foothills of the Sierra Madres above Vallarta

Please Rate Vote 1 Vote 2 Vote 3 Vote 4 Vote 5

By Sally Newall
Though a life-long horse lover, I have always been a 'riding for fun' type of girl rather than a skilled horsewoman. So when the opportunity arose to swap sunbathing for a morning's riding, I jumped at the chance, but not without trepidation. I had never tried Western style riding before, although I'll admit I always thought it looked like the easy option, compared to its more formal English cousin. I was about to find out.

As we bumped our way along the dusty road to "Rancho El Charro', surrounded by chickens, donkeys and inquisitive children, we could have been a million miles from the golden sands and swanky hotels of Nuevo Vallarta. In reality, we were a mere 15 minutes away from the beach. Here, the hotels had given way to the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains and the sea for the banks of the River Pitillal. The ranch is situated in the rural village of Playa Grande, one look around told me that it probably hadn't changed much in the last one hundred years, here people were just going about their everyday lives, with no tourists for distraction. I felt that we were at last getting a glimpse at the real Mexico.

The sight of the "rancho" further confirmed we had made a good choice, the stables were clean and well maintained and the horses all looked happy and healthy. They definitely cater for the more discerning rider. I noticed that the door of the immaculate toilets was optimistically labeled, 'cowgirl' - I was ready to give it my best shot.

We were shown to our horses by our friendly guide Ramon, who reassured me that he had eight years experience of taking out clueless riders like us! My trusty steed for the three hour ride was Payaso (Clown); he barely batted an eyelid as I heaved myself on to his back. Pam, the friendly American owner gave me a quick lesson in the art of 'neck reining' which she reassured me was 'easy', and then we were off!

Apart from concentrating on trying to look relaxed and as 'cowgirl' as possible, I was entranced by the beautiful scenery and wildlife. We made our way through the jungle foothills at a leisurely pace with Ramon pointing out the brilliant yellow "primaveras" and bright red "tulipanes".

We then alarmingly started heading quite steeply upwards. Luckily "Payaso" knew exactly what to do, and we made our way slowly uphill. At the top we were treated to a magnificent view over the whole of the bay, a sight not to be missed.

We then made our way back down then weaved our way along the banks of the Pitillal, once again the horses were completely unfazed by having to take a quick dip in the river. Just as I thought I was getting to grips with it, we were passed by a young cowboy no more than eight years old, putting us to shame by expertly guiding his horse around the rocks!

This setback aside, it was the chance to prove our expertise by picking up the pace. I was excited but also a bit nervous at the prospect of a canter. With a quick 'vamos' from Ramon we were off. I need not have worried, as true to Mexican form, we sent off at a leisurely and almost comfortable pace (compared to trotting anyway). After a few more exhilarating canters, we were back down in the village.

All too soon we were back at the ranch, probably much to "Payaso´s" relief, but for once I didn't really feel like hitting the beach.

Not yet a cowgirl but my visit to "Rancho El Charro" has definitely made me want to keep trying.