Lajitas Stables- All Day Ride

Janelle was a wonderful guide, and the trail horses all had great attitudes. My spouse and I went on an All Day ride today to celebrate our first few days as newlyweds and Janelle took us on a breathtaking excursion through Big Bend State Park, from 500 feet up on the beautiful Contrabando Mesa, down to the sandy arroyo of Fresno Creek. By the creek, we found a shady spot and stopped for a full delicious lunch including smoked chicken from Rustic Iron BBQ, homemade bean salad, cheese, crackers, pickled okra, and more. The quality of food was top notch. After lunch, we moved on into hills and small mountains of red stone, where we spotted an aoudad ram (bighorn sheep). The instructions given to us regarding what to bring on the trip were thorough - we were extremely well prepared and had plenty of water. Janelle has a sincere and good-natured way about her - friendly, knowledgeable, caring for both riders and horses. I expressed my interest in one day having a few horses of my own, and she generously shared her knowledge, advice, and experiences. We both felt like we were in great hands - even while climbing and descending very narrow, steep, rocky trails, we were totally relaxed and thrilled to be there. The horses were calm and even tempered (though they'll eat the whole way if you don't keep a close eye and prevent them from doing so!) and very good with the difficult terrain - every minute in the saddle was an excellent experience. I recommend bringing a bandana to protect the back of your neck from the sun, sunblock if you're not completely covered, chapstick with UV protection, tough jeans, boots, and a chin strap for your hat. Upper elevations do get very windy and the trip includes passing through a fair amount of leg-level brush and prickly plants, but the land out here is some of the most beautiful I've seen in my entire life. The trip was more than worth the very reasonable cost. What a good day. Thank you for the ride and good company. Gene and Dilan

We loved our horse back riding 🥰 our guide Shelby was very friendly, knowledgeable and gave us great suggestions about what to do in town! The ride was beautiful with some great views. A must while you’re visiting.

Our guide was a very informative, patient, not to mention hilarious man! He said he'd been with the company for many years, and it showed. The breathtaking views are something I doubt I'll experience anywhere else, and we will definitely be back again for the overnight trip. The lunch our guide packed was delicious, and we are in a beautiful canyon area. He allowed for viewing and photo breaks, without having to request, to soak in the beautiful views of the mountains, river, cliffs, and wildlife. As an experienced rider my expectations are always low for trail rides, as no trotting, galloping is allowed for safety in general-however-this ride provided all the thrills necessary. The horses are so well trained you don't even have to be an experienced rider though, it seems they could literally make this trek in their sleep, all you've got to do is sit back, follow the instructions provided and relax. On another note-At the end of our trip, I thought and was CERTAIN I had not been given my card back from our guide, as I could not locate it, so was in touch with the office several times, in which they were very helpful and responsive, not to mention patient. They did a thorough search, even on the actual trail! After a few days I actually found my credit card at home and called to inform them of my mistake. They remained humble and appreciative of me letting them know. (OOPS-I feel so bad about the trouble they went through) There were no complaints on their end and they handled it very professionally. We would recommend this ride and these stables to anyone! What an amazing experience."

The all day trail ride was awesome! Slightly tiresome, but just had the most amazing views and was deffiently a thrill of a ride!