The Tucson Saddle Club offers one-day and weekend rides throughout the year, topped by the grand Tierra Bella (which means beautiful land), a five-day ride held every October. Author Jule Drown rode in her first Tierra Bella last fall, which was held on a working cattle ranch in the Whetstone Mountains southeast of Tucson.

My 6-year-old Paso Fino gelding, Alegro, is usually calm and downright lazy. But take him on a big group ride, and he suddenly becomes excited and even difficult to control. When I first got him a few years ago, a friend invited me to join her for the national Missouri Fox Trotter five-day trail ride in the Phoenix area. I was aghast to be astride a horse who wouldn’t calm down and backed into cactus along the trail because he was fidgeting during rest stops. He didn’t behave normally until the last day, worn out from exhaustion.

After that less-than-ideal experience, I joined the Tucson Saddle Club, which I can’t say enough good things about. These friendly people give generously of their time, and thoroughly enjoy riding in the desert and mountain country surrounding Tucson.

The club offers one-day and weekend rides throughout the year, topped by the grand Tierra Bella (which means beautiful land), a five-day ride held every October.

I started taking Alegro on numerous one-day group trail rides offered by the club. Before each ride, I give him an oral paste to calm him down. This seems to do the trick, and helps ensure that I’ll have an enjoyable riding experience.

“The friendly people [of the Tucson Saddle Club] give generously of their time, and thoroughly enjoy riding in the desert and mountain country surrounding Tucson,” says Jule Drown.

In 2003, I signed up to participate in my first Tierra Bella, only to be thrown from my spirited little Paso Fino mare the month before the ride, resulting in a badly broken wrist. (See “Falling After Forty,” Cactus Country, September/October ’04). Disappointed at my bad luck, I vowed never to fall off a horse again (and haven’t!) and make it to Tierra Bella in 2004.

Due to the intense summer heat, Tierra Bella signals the beginning of our busy riding season in Tucson, October through April. True desert rats, my trail-riding partner, Terry, and I rode early on Saturday mornings throughout the summer to ensure our horses stayed in good condition so they’d be prepared for challenging fall rides, especially Tierra Bella.

Now that I’ve personally experienced Tierra Bella, I know why Tucson Saddle Club members speak of it so fondly. This time, a family graciously allowed the club to ride on their working cattle ranch in the Whetstone Mountains southeast of Tucson. The ranch is located at a higher elevation than Tucson, so we rode in less cactus and rocks than usual while enjoying beautiful vistas of the San Pedro River valley south of the town of Benson.

Author Jule Drown and her Paso Fino gelding Allegro - along with riding partner Terry and his Peruvian Paso mare, Isabella - pause at a water tank during last fall's Tierra Bella ride.

The meals were catered, and we joked about the extra weight that our horses needed to carry from all the delicious food we were eating. There was fabulous entertainment, from raffles to cowboy poets and singers. Those of us who were camping even went into Benson once to use the showers at a truck stop.

And the variety of riding opportunities! Five rides or so were offered daily, so we could choose our speed and distance. I took along several tubes of the calming paste for Alegro, but never had to use it. I guess he’s weathered enough big group rides now that he’s decided to relax and enjoy them.

It didn’t hurt that Terry’s Peruvian Paso mare, Isabella, was along. Well, the honest truth is that Alegro and Isabella were inseparable at Tierra Bella, so Terry and I decided we’d have a better time if we rode on the same trail ride each day.

I was sorry I missed the “entertainment” offered by several riders, whereupon a few women didn’t manage to dodge tree branches quite well enough to avoid ripping their clothes; one unlucky rider had no alternative but to ride back to camp in her sports bra. A few horses managed to ditch their riders; the most serious incident required a participant to be evacuated by helicopter to a Tucson hospital. Fortunately, her injuries weren’t life-threatening.

The most disconcerting sight was that of empty water jugs and abandoned clothes littering the trails closer to the highway — signs of the illegal immigrants who pass from Mexico into the United States. Such immigrants use the ranch country to make their way up to the big cities. (We riders agreed: No matter what opinion you hold of illegal immigration, it’s depressing to see signs of people trying to survive this perilous journey.)

Although it’s the Tucson Saddle Club, I was amazed at how many people from outside Tucson pay to join our club just to come to Tierra Bella. In fact, in 2004, about half the riders were from out of town. Tierra Bella has become so popular that the maximum capacity of attendees was reached four months in advance of the ride. You can bet that Alegro and I will be among the first to sign up for 2005.

Jule Drown is a freelance writer based in Tucson, Arizona. To pay for her horse habit, she works as a nonprofit agency executive. She may be reached at juledrown@juno com