Published on Dec, 2024
My wife and I highly recommend Ranch Xotolar. The experience goes beyond horseback riding and places you inside a genuine, traditional Mexican family ranch. Tomas and his family and group of vaqueros will take great care of you. Our excursion began with timely pick up at our hotel in SMA, along with 5 other guests for the 40 minute drive to the ranch. Once we reached the ranch, we were treated to a hot cup of ranch coffee, a slightly strong, mildly sweet brew. With coffee in hand, we were introduced to the art of milking a cow, in which anyone that wanted to try their hand at milking was welcome…some were better at this than others. This event was not purely for entertainment, but was functional as the milk we harvested was to be used in making the cheese that would later be served with our post-ride traditional Mexican meal. After, Tomas introduced us to his sister (head chef), he explained the cheese making process and turned the milk over to our chef. More on this later.
We were next introduced to the 5 vaqueros and the horses that would accompany us 7 guests on our ride. I will add here that my wife and I are horse owners and trail riders in the mountains of Colorado, while the other 5 guests, with one exception, were relative beginners. All of the vaqueros were very attentive, friendly, and introduced and fit each rider their horses while Tomas described the basics of riding these well trained and steady horses. All of the horses were fit, gentle and well cared for.
Our ride began with vaqueros front, rear and on each side to assure everyone was comfortable with the task at hand. We rode out to the sound of vaqueros singing Mexican ranch tunes and leading us across the arroyo and down a beautiful, but rocky canyon to a creek bed several hundred feet below. The crew (vaqueros), would stop often to take pictures and videos and throw echoes across the beautiful, rugged canyon we rode next to. Along the way, we would reach short stretches of flat, clear ground which created an opportunity for a short, spirited gallop. There were several of these opportunities along the 3 hour, 5+ mile, 800 feet of elevation gain/descent. We happened to have our “horse app” on our phone so we were able to track our stats. Our ride down the canyon and across the creek took us to our halfway point at a little local store where we stopped for sodas and snacks for a little break.
The uphill return trip was more of the same. The terrain is rocky and somewhat technical, but the horses were very sure footed and clearly know their way and took care of their riders.
Upon our return to the ranch we took a short walk to a lovely building where the table was set for the guest with pitchers of ice water and a delicious tamarind agua along with balls of the cheese that the morning’s milk had become, and with homemade salsa and pico de gallo as our appetizer. The meal was completed with homemade tortillas, frijoles soup, rice, beans, and chile rellenos made from the same cheese and with poblano peppers that they had roasted earlier.
We finished lunch and sat on the patio outside and finished our drinks with a great view of SMA to the east then loaded up for our drive back to SMA.
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and we highly recommend Rancho Xotolar and the family and team that will host you there.
Free Cancellation
