Westward Ho! (Part 3) - Cowboy Up

"I couldn't do that. Could you do that? How can they do that? Who are those guys?"

It was time for us four city slickers to embark on the adventure that had caused the most excitement before we had even left Massachusetts: horseback riding! With very little to absolutely no prior experience on a horse, we weren't exactly sure how this would turn out -- but hey, we'd seen it in the movies, right? How hard could it be?
Returning to Zion -- which actually served as the shoot location for the Hole in the Wall hideout of Mr. Cassidy and Mr. Kid (above) --  we were sized up by the horse wranglers and saddled with our noble steeds.

WAIT A SECOND - HOW DO YOU DRIVE THIS THING?!?!?

Being so green, we were expecting detailed instructions, complete with charts and diagrams, about how to steer our animals (ok, maybe not charts and diagrams. But DETAILED, anyways). Once we were seated, the wranglers kindly told us, " 'Right, turnthiswaytogoleft, thiswaytogoright, kicktogoforward, pullbacktostop, LET'S RIDE!!" WAAAAIIIIITTTTT!!!!

In a trial by fire -- or water, actually -- our horses waded right through a stream within the first hundred yards, where a photog nabbed these profile-pic worthy snapshots. Presenting:

Calamity Heather, riding Kitten

Sheriff Andrew, riding Fancy

Jolly Jackie, riding Charlie

Outlaw Pat, on H.B. (He maintains to this day that the initials stand for Hell Blazer)

We have several friends who are horse owners/lovers who had told us before the trip how much we'd enjoy this particular outing; within the first half hour of riding, I knew exactly what they'd been on about. I put my hand on Fancy's flank once, and it was just a solid wall of muscle. Yet, for all their incredible power, these were some of the calmest, most tame animals I've ever been around, and it wasn't hard to form a connection with them before long. 

We did our cowboy thing for several hours, riding up and down through Zion as the sun (and the heat index) got higher, and it was everything we'd imagined it would be. The horses rode in single file line just feet from the rear of the rider before them; whenever a gap started to form, we were instructed to give the horses a little nudge to speed them up and close the space. I decided to hold Fancy back for a second at one point, before breaking into a gallop to see what it was like. For an answer, you should ask my mom and Heather, the two riders behind me, who broke into similar gallops and who are still on strained speaking terms with me.

"Riders of Rohan! What news from the Mark?!"

So yeah, we're all basically full-on cowboys/cowgirls now, in case you were wondering. Sorta. At the very least, I get why all those old Western heroes walk bow-legged now. One for the history books, for sure!

Next up: the City of Sin. We're coming for you, Terry Benedict.