Since I’ve moved to Colorado, I’ve seen a lot of roping arenas, barrel racing arenas, open highway, and even a few mountain views from the front seat of my pickup. What I hadn’t seen, though, were the mountains (or the foothills) from horseback.

This weekend Corey and I took some time out to take a long ride in the foothills of the Rockies, and for the first time in a long time, I really felt like I live in the Colorado I had always heard about as a kid or seen in the movies. Here on the Front Range, we can see the mountains, but we spend most of our time living in the flat high desert. So to get out on the rocky trails of the foothills was really something for this East Coaster who is only accustomed to muddy, rolling hills.

The trail we opted for was a 10-mile loop, definitely a longer ride than either Corey and I had been on in a long, long time. Our girls (Skeeter and Naughty made the trip this time) got a great work out for both their bodies and their brains, as they’ve both been spending a lot of time working in the arena. They had to watch their step on rocky ledges and trudge through 2 feet of snow at higher elevation.

This was also a huge chance for us to save on fuel and improve on rationing our traveling, as this trail head was only three miles from the barn. I opted not to head to my second barrel race of the weekend an hour and a half away to enjoy a closer-to-home activity instead.

You’ll see in our April issue (hitting the mail tomorrow!) that 32 percent of our readers dream of a riding vacation in the Rockies. If any of you decide to live that dream, let me know, I’ll come for a ride with ya!