From left to right: Author Landon W. Lamb’s wife, the author, and their grandchildren, Tony Jr., Morgan, and Thomas. The family went on a memorable New Year’s Day ride in the Sonoran Desert. Inset: Morgan, Tony Jr., and Thomas raid the cooler after the ride.

For Christmas presents to our three young grandchildren last year, we gave them a card with a handwritten note saying not too expect too much under the Christmas tree, but that we’d be taking them on a desert trail ride over their school vacation.

The first scheduled trip from the morning of Christmas Eve had to be canceled due to a cold winter rain here in the Sonoran Desert, complicated by one grandchild, Tony Jr., not having completely shed his bout with the flu. By New Year’s Day, Tony had totally recovered, and the Arizona weather turned great, temperature reaching the mid to high 60s, winds slightly blustery, with scattered clouds adding to the scenic beauty for the trip.

Horses in the Family
Since our first two grandchildren arrived 10 years ago, we’ve babysat them on New Year’s Eve, making it a family tradition. Some 11 years ago, our daughter, Dana, married Frank. Four days later, our son, Tony, married Dianna, creating some severe stress on Grandma, I might add. The next year, our first grandson, Thomas, got here, followed four months later by Tony Jr. Three years later, our only granddaughter, Morgan Jayn, arrived, making our family complete.

A bit more family background: Many more years ago than we like to ’fess up to, Janie and I adopted two Indian babies for our family, and many Indian customs and traditions rubbed off on us. Somehow, our grandkids managed to give us Indian names to distinguish us from their other grandparents. They’re called “Grandma and Grandpa with the pretty house,” and we’re called “Grandma and Grandpa with the horses.”

Like our kids before them, as soon as we could, we had them riding in front of us in the saddle doing circles in our arena. Soon, they were sitting in the saddle themselves as we led the horses so they could experience the enjoyment of riding on their own. Once they were coordinated enough to hold the reins themselves, our obedient horses simply followed us around. Eventually, we had the kids riding behind us on short, one- to two-hour desert rides. Then I’d take one child at a time on longer rides. Having only two horses to ride required that Grandma surrender her mare, Sox, for the kids to ride.

Our little scheme worked, and very shortly, we got our grandchildren hooked on horses. We’d perfected this plan many years before as we’d used it on Tony Sr. and Dana Jane 20 some odd years ago. Unfortunately, their horse addiction wore a bit thin when they discovered the opposite sex, and they opted to sell their horses and buy themselves cars, because “our friends are not into horses, Dad.”

A few years before this Christmas-present ride, we’d put together a family trail ride into the Sonoran Desert during a family reunion here in Arizona, when Cave Creek Outfitters in Scottsdale, Arizona, took 19 of us on a ride. Todd Masden, the owner, and Bianca Janus, a wrangler, provided a trip none of our relatives from the rain forests of western Washington will soon forget.

Making Memories
We “babysat” the kids on New Year’s Eve this year, as usual — beer pancakes and fried spam for breakfast, saddled and loaded horses into the trailer, three kids jumped into the van — and made a 30-minute drive out to Cave Creek Outfitters. On our drive, we encountered a severe 15-minute misty windshield, but once everyone was horseback, the clouds parted as though pre-programmed.

As I’d suffered a mild stroke a few months before, Janie and I felt the need of wrangler assistance should a problem develop, so we joined a group on an afternoon desert trail ride. Morgan Jayn rode Bullet, an older Quarter Horse; Tony Jr. was astride Gary, a great one-eyed 28-year-old senior citizen of the horse world; and Thomas was aboard a palomino named Skippy. These horses might not place very high in a halter class, but they’re willing travelers and plum gentle. Grandma and Grandpa would ride their own horses, Sox and Stella.

The first mile, we had to dodge some new homes under construction, but then we rode up into nearly pristine high Sonoran desert. We rode past Palo Verde and mesquite trees, pricky pear, giant saguaro cactus, and — not to be forgotten — those infamous “jumpin’ cholla” just waiting to entertain the uneducated to the ways of the desert.

As we rode west and took a rest to let the horses get their breath, we realized the trip had been a steady, gradual climb among the huge conglomerate of boulders. The rest period was also used as a Kodak moment. Our wrangler, Miss Jeannie Hatfield, checked the riggings and helped with family portraits. She has a natural knack for dealing with horses and people, especially children.

Looking east, we viewed Four Peaks in the Matazal mountain range. A little farther south, we gazed into the Superstition Mountains with Weaver’s Needle dominating the horizon. A few minutes for photographs, then its time to head back to the outfitter’s headquarters. By now, everyone is an experienced cowboy, especially if you’re 10-year-old boys, or a 7-year-old young lady, or even the youngest of the riders, a pretty young cowgirl of 5.

Perhaps not a very wild and wooly outing compared to the Bill Williams rides or packing the mail via a Pony Express run from Holbrook to Scottsdale for Parada Del Sol Fiesta Days, but a real great time for grandkids and grandparents alike. Maybe, just maybe, those kids on that ride will be hooked on horses and trails for life.

Please take our advice, and do your part to get your grandkids away from that boob tube, stop their squinting into a video game, and make a few family memories that will last them a lifetime, before you happen to suffer “The Big One.”

Landon W. Lamb, a former working cowboy, previously owned Double L Packers, a guide and outfitter service in Washington state. He also served as a professional desert guide in Arizona, and is a professional fine-arts sculptor and painter. For more information on Cave Creek Outfitters, call (480) 471-4635, or visit www.cavecreekoutfitters.com.