Story by Tammy Hernandez

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"What a cute little pony!" "Where is his shoes?" "Does she know that this is a long ride for a barefoot pony?" These questions and comments were asked over and over as my horse, FF Tesoro, was lead off of the barge at Two Harbors on Catalina Island after a 5 hour barge ride. I proudly announced that he was not a pony, but a Peruvian Paso. I smiled as all of the women gathered around Tesoro curious as to what was wrong with his legs!

Next to the Tevis Cup, the Las Caballeras ride on Catalina Island was always a riding goal of mine. This year, I was finally living the dream! My vet, Dr. Ruth Subeck and a long time member of Las Caballeras, notified me that she would like to sponsor me to join the women's only ride on Catalina. One week of riding, swimming, camping and gourmet cooking was ahead of us and being the trail horse that he is, I had all ready signed us up for the most adventurous and difficult of rides.

The first night, all of the 47 horses that came for the ride stayed at Two Harbors acclimating to the island while all of us were given a bus ride to our secluded camp to set up and enjoy an amazing dinner and get-to-know-everyone party. It was fabulous! The next morning the bus arrived to take us back to our horses, who were well fed and rested, and we saddled up to ride the 2 hour ride back to our campsite. Upon arrival at my tent, I immediately took Tesoro down to the beach, which was only about 50 feet away, and let him see the ocean for what was probably the first time in his life. I laughed as he rolled and rolled and rolled in the deep sand and then finally, stepping into the ocean snorting all of the time. After lunch, we went for ride to the top of a cliff over our campsite. We were so high, we could see the airplanes landing at the Catalina Airport below us.