While staying at the Monument Valley KOA, we had a one hour horseback ride from D/D MTA Horse Tours, with a Navajo guide, and horses corralled next to the KOA.
The experience was a bit marred by unreliable operators; the booking said to turn up half an hour before our reservation, which we did, but they never turned up, so we gave up in disgust. We contacted them, and arranged again for a couple of days later. Again, they didn’t turn up on time; they eventually arrived half an hour late, after we prompted them via text. Apparently Navajo time is like Hawaii time, very casual. Not impressed.
The Trip Advisor site has some reviews from others who also experienced their unreliability, which ruined their plans. Fortunately, we were there for a week, so could afford to be flexible.
Once they did turn up, the actual horseback ride was a memorable experience. This was our first (and so far only) time riding horses, so we weren’t entirely sure what to expect, or whether or not we’d like it. But we did. We’ll probably try it again in the future.
Here’s part of the horse corral, with monument rocks in the background:
Our guide chose four horses; one for each of us, for himself, and for his young daughter, who also joined us on the ride:
The two horses in the middle were the ones we rode. The left of those two was named Four Socks (if I recall correctly), and was ridden by Jenn. The black one to the right was named Miles, and was ridden by me:
Here’s me mounting the horse, helped by our guide:
Jenn on a horse:
And off we go:
Our Navajo guide talking about the monuments etc:
Sunset:
Some pictures of us taken by our guide:
Onward:
The guide’s daughter led on the way back:
Overall, a great experience. It would have been better if the operators were more reliable, but the ride itself was fun and memorable.
