Very late in posting this, but it was such a nice day I didn’t want to leave it out…
For my birthday this year we had the eventful trip to Golden. Despite the dramas, Henry and I managed to steal away a few hours to our ourselves thanks to some lovely friends watching Rocket.
Always up for a new adventure, we went horseback riding up by the Baleberry river just north of Golden.
Bear Corner Ranch. – http://www.bearcornerb-b.com/
Hidden up in the hills in a great remote little spot is Bear Corner Ranch. Pulling in you will see all the horses living their best life in all that open space. And we were greeted by the stunning Merlin. A huge big pig who apparently was a house pig!
We were still in the middle of the big heatwave so our trip was changed to earlier in the morning so that we could beat the heat. It was nice and cool and the sun was just coming out.
The owners of Bear Corner as great. Really relaxed and they run the horse-riding trips from their home on the ranch. Al, is an ex-Rodeo rider and his partner took us out riding.
The trip was 2 hours long and was the perfect amount of time for us novice riders whose bum cheeks hadn’t built up the callus for riding yet.
We went straight in the woods up a big steep hill. Pretty intense for the first time on a horse in well over 15 years, but I’m all for being chucked in at the deep end. My horse was called Sisco and he was great, very calm and with occasional little trot.
(There was another horse called Beau but apparently that was a little more bolshie and not ideal for someone who hasn’t ridden in a while. A bolshie Beau??? I don’t believe it!)
Henry was great, so confident as his mum has always ridden, so he gave me some good tips and made it really fun.
We rode up through the woods and along the river and eventually stopped at a beautiful view point of the valley. We stopped and took some photos and then headed back. Two lively dogs followed us from the ranch the whole way and we found out they were to help give warning to the riders and horses of any other animals.
Thank God they were there as we passed a black bear on our way back to the ranch and the dogs helped guide it away without anyone getting upset. So amazing to see a little bear like that so close up when riding a horse! no photos I’m afraid as i was to busy trying not to panic.
If you want a real cowboy experience in BC then I highly recommend Bear Corner. Super nice people, easy to book and a lovely relaxing morning spent enjoying the beautiful BC countryside.
Tips: take A LOT of bug spray, wear trousers, and do your squats in the run up.
A Beau Place 