I recently was invited to head down to the Village of Corrales, northwest of Albuquerque, along the Rio Grande, for a trail ride.
My friend Vicki came by and picked up me and my Apache mare and then we drove to the Horse Trailer parking area on the east side of the Rio Grande.
I feel I must back up a little and add that this trail ride was something I had on my Bucket List even before I owned my own horse. Over 7 years ago, when my family lived in the city of Rio Rancho, just north of Corrales, we would often visit the beautiful, rural Village of Corrales to go hiking, to the park and to the library. Sometimes we would enjoy delicious pizza at Village Pizza. One thing I noticed was the hitching rail just outside of the restaurant, and sometimes while we were there, we’d see horses hitched up to that rail, while their owners were inside enjoying the pizza. I vowed that one day I would ride my own horse to Village Pizza, too!
And that is exactly what I got to do with my Apache mare and a few good friends recently.
But first we had to ride there. And the journey into Corrales included some new obstacles for me and my horse and some exciting adventures along the way.
All tacked up and ready to ride.
I remembered to bring my GPS and turn it on to record our entire ride. The following GPS map shows the route we rode into and around Corrales. The red pin shows our start and end point at the Horse Trailer Parking Lot. Our trail ride was 8 miles round-trip.
Corrales Bosque Trail Ride
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking near Albuquerque, New Mexico
As we rode out of the parking lot we encountered joggers, people walking their dogs, moving cars, and many bicyclists. I was so proud of my Apache mare for being so unfazed by all of it, especially as we rode by within 3 feet of one of those low-to-the-ground recumbent bikes. It looked weird to me, but my awesome horse wasn’t concerned about it at all.
(Not my photo)
As you can see from the GPS Map above, we had to ride underneath busy Alameda Rd. beside a ditch full with water, almost as soon as we left the parking lot. I don’t know about my Apache mare, but this was a first for me. But my friend Vicki and her horse Copper had done this ride many times, so they led the way.
There were 4 of us riding and I think we were all pleasantly surprised that none of our horses were in the least bit concerned about riding beneath the bridge while trucks and cars thumped and bumped loudly over our heads and pigeons flew out from the rafters above us.
Immediately after riding beneath the bridge, we had another bridge to cross…this time, we crossed over.
This bridge crosses over that ditch that runs beneath the Alameda Rd Bridge. The water comes from the Rio Grande and is diverted into this large ditch which eventually empties into smaller acequias that carry water to irrigate farms and homes located along the Rio Grande Bosque.
Crossing over this concrete bridge, with water flowing beneath, was also a non-issue for all 4 of our brave and wonderful horses.
But we’re not done with bridges yet……oh no….not at all. Immediately after crossing under and over the last two bridges, there was another one to ride across. This one 5 times larger than both of those bridges combined.
This bridge traverses the mighty Rio Grande River!
And this bridge is mighty in length at 962 feet long!!!
This is the bridge that kept me up at night for a week, before this planned trail ride. I fretted and worried and stressed.
But I shouldn’t have. Because my Apache Mare is a Rock Star!
My friend Vicki and her Rocky Mountain horse Copper has crossed over this bridge about 20 times, so they are a seasoned Corrales riding team. My friend Cindy and her Arabian mare Nova had never ridden in Corrales, and Nova is still a young horse, that Cindy has only had 3 years. Her other horse, Sharif, another Arabian, is a recent rescue from a slaughter truck. She’s only had him for a few months and has only been ridden a handful of times around her house. And her friend Leslie, is a beginner rider.
Can you see why I was a little nervous about this trail ride??
But, as you can see, even with the cars and trucks driving by beside us on busy Alameda Rd, even with bicycles, joggers and dog walkers moving past us, even with the hollow sound of the concrete bridge beneath our horse’s hooves and the Rio Grande flowing below, all 4 of our horses were calm, brave, willing, and obviously enjoying our little adventure, just as much as we were.
At 962 feet long, there was a lot to look at as we crossed the Alameda Pedestrian Bridge…..like a group of beginner kayakers learning how to maneuver their kayaks through the river.
Apache, as usual, was enjoying herself looking at everything all around us, just as much as I was. She and I love to take our time enjoying the sights.
That…..and the fact that we were riding with a gaited horse and two Arabians. It’s easy to understand why Apache and I were in the back most of the day, and spent a lot of the day trotting and cantering to keep up. *grin*
I enjoyed the colorful kayaks all lined up in a row with the beautiful yellow cottonwoods as a backdrop.
Those iron contraptions lining the river are called jetty jacks. Jetty jacks are structures made of I-beams that look very similar to the jacks game that many folks played as a kid. They are placed along major flood plain areas to protect human habitation and farmlands from flood debris. They are now obsolete since the Rio Grande has been dammed. For more info: Jetty Jacks
After we stepped off the bridge, we had to step over a series of railroad ties that are placed at the entrance to the Rio Grande Bosque to keep out motorized vehicles.
And then we rode alongside a dry ditch for a brief while.
But soon we entered the shady Bosque trails beneath the dense Cottonwood Trees.
Many of the Cottonwood trees were in their full autumn splendor.
The trails were wonderfully sandy and flat. My mare and I enjoyed lots of trotting as we tried to keep up with our friends.
But we also both enjoyed just moseying along beneath the glorious fall colors.
Sometimes the trail passed between sections of old Jetty Jacks.
My absolutely favorite parts of the Bosque trails were the tree tunnels.
The folks who created these Bosque trails deserve a huge kudos. This is such a beautiful place to ride and we all enjoyed every moment out there with our horses.
I’m so grateful for my wonderful horse who allows me to take photographs. Apache also seemed to enjoy the beauty all around us. We would purposefully go slow to enjoy the peacefulness and feel as if we were riding alone in nature together.
I felt so connected to my horse and she felt so soft, relaxed, an eager to please. Sometimes Apache would turn her head to me to ask if we could go faster, and I would say trot and we would fly along the trail, with me laughing, my heart full of joy!
Along the way we encountered people walking dogs, joggers and mountain bikers. I was told that Corrales is a very busy place and can be over-stimulating for many horses. But everyone we met on the trails and roads were very polite around our horses. And our horses took everything they saw in stride. I love my Apache mare!
I seriously fell in love with the tree tunnels. I’m sure I was grinning from ear to ear every time we rode through a tree tunnel!
I’ve come to discover that my favorite trails are those with huge trees overhead. Somehow it just feels so protective, so magical, so comforting. I feel like a child in a playground crawling through fun tunnels.
I love to gaze up into the treetops and the bright blue sky
After a while we left behind My Happy Place and rode out on to the ditch banks again. The views of the Sandia Mountains and the golden cottonwoods made for a stunning backdrop.
This ditch bank was filled with water, so Vicki and Copper rode down inside to play and drink.
My Apache mare had no interest in sliding down the steep ditch bank to play in the water, so we took photos instead.
And then we crossed another bridge!
This bridge made a tinny, echo sound as we clip-clopped across. I thought the curvy iron railings were pretty. On the other side of the bridge was a gate with another railroad tie box to keep motorized vehicles out of the Bosque. Apache crossed the bridge and stepped over the railroad ties like she’s been doing it her entire life. Have I mentioned how much I love my horse?
My friends Cindy and Leslie bringing up the rear.
As we rode along the roadways and ditch banks in Corrales, we saw many beautifully landscaped yards. Some were a little weird, though.
I just don’t understand why anyone would place funky looking wooden cows in their front yard…..
My disdain for wooden cows goes back to a year ago. Some of you ay remember the Founders Ranch ACTHA CTR that Apache and I competed in a year ago in July. One of those obstacles was a white bridge, which Apache did perfectly and willingly.
But on the other side of that bridge obstacle the hosts of the ride places two life-sized wooden cows, and Apache decided they were horse eating wooden cows and we needed to to do a 360 and get outta there!
And for that bridge obstacle we ended up with a zero! (Grrr!) You can check out that post with all of the funny photos here: Founders Ranch Moo Cow Bridge
But this time around, the wooden cows didn’t phase Apache at all. She gave them a hard look and then we continued on down the road.
Dog walkers, bikes and cars passed us as we rode towards our destination.
And at one point, a couple ducks flew up out of the ditch and startled me, but my mare didn't do anything but look. There was definitely lots of things to distract or unnerve a horse while riding in Corrales…..like lush fields of tasty alfalfa.
And nicely dressed scarecrows………
But none of our horses spooked or got nervous about any of the things we saw. They all seemed to enjoy our trail ride as much as their humans did.
And we soon arrived at our lunch destination!
There was a large group of people eating outside on the patio at Village Pizza. All of the kids were thrilled to see us ride up and we went over to charm them with our ponies.
Apache was very curious about the squealing children, but wasn’t all that interested in being petted by any of them.
But that’s ok. It was time to get my pony hitched up so I could join my friends for a delicious lunch of Pizza!
To Be Continued………………………….
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