Andalusian Adventure is a horseback holiday outfit in the Sierra de las Nieves National Park - Monda, Spain. We leave Malaga for the 30 km drive up into the foothills of Sierra Nevada for a private 2 hour ride at 3:30pm. A truck rear-ends a car on the A-355 and after 40 minutes of wreckage clearing we show up a 1/2 hour late. The proprietor is a Brit named "Lee" who very politely gets us saddled up and going (not sure he buys our story or just thinks Yanks are rudely late) .   We ride the Andalusian steeds on Portuguese-Moor-Spanish saddles which I'm worried as there are no saddle horns for the girls to hang onto but we are issued British "brain buckets" and head out.   Ash is on Kenyah who "kicks a lot". Jen is on Trillo. KT is on Trujillo, and I ride Billy .    The ride seems tame at first, but we hit a smoothly paved concrete access road into the Park with a very steep angle.  It feels like the horses will slip every step and we have to concentrate to keep them from bunching up and stumbling. The scenery is breathtaking through almond and olive groves...up and down ravines, and finally in some fields off-path where Lee hurries up and the horses trot/gallop.   All of them that is....but KT's Trujillo....who we discover is 22 years old and just wants to eat. Then he'll go from 0 to 60 to catch up.  She's about done 60 minutes into the ride.   We figure its not the horse........KT just belongs in Equestrian Special - Ed and she vows to stay with Mom next time.  

This ride is more technical than what we did in the Arizona desert. The pictures don't do the trails justice as I cant snap shots & concentrate on reins or where the girls are going when we're on the steepest portions and along rain-washed paths w/ 100 ft drop-offs just alongside. The horses don't want to fall either, but it's a good thrill to look over edge of the cliffs.   We return saddle worn and pay our 50e each with some wonder if we'll be able to climb Gibraltar tomorrow.