Experience the Excitement of the Mexican Country Side on Horse Back!

• Chema will select your horse and a route based on the experience of the rider.

• Tours include walking the old paths of farms and villages near El Roble, or even to the foothills for more experienced riders.

• Rides last 2 to 3 hours.  A special sunset ride can be arranged in advance.

• Chema & his family have lived in the area for many generations and so he knows many of the locals and a great deal about the area.

• A "rest stop" at the local cantina with ice cold Pacifico is included in the cost of the trip.

• The tour is $30 per person.

• For an additional $10 per person, Chema's wife Dahlia will prepare a traditional "comida".  Her specialties include chili relleno, pollo a la plaza, and arranchara.

Chema speaks English fluently. 
To make reservations, Chema can be reached by
cell phone 044 669 122 60 48
home 963 5202.

Reservations can be made for any day of the week for up to 4 people. 

Please make sure tell Chema if you want Dahlia to cook one of her famous home cooked meals and if there are any special diet restrictions.

Rides can be arranged to start at any hour, but its best to leave before 11am, so you should leave Mazatlan by 10.

Shorts are OK, but you will be more comfortable in blue jeans.

Wear sneakers or boots - please no sandals.  

Its a good idea to bring a hat and sunscreen.

Weight limit is 100 kilos.

Bathrooms are available.

Take highway 15 past the airport into the town of Villa Union.  In town, turn left at the sign that says Siqueros.  This will put you heading north towards the town of El Roble.  Drive 3.6 miles (6 km) and turn right at the sign for Roble - this is a new paved street.  After the pavement ends (just past the Escula Tomas on your right), go 2 blocks more and turn left.  Head up the hill to the "Super El Paraiso" and turn right.  Go 4 blocks and turn left (this is the 1st left after you pass Tortillaria Laguaca).  Look for a yellow sign that says "Floreria" - that's Dahlia's shop and the entrance to their home.

If you get lost, just ask anyone in town for the Panteon (cemetery) or Chema & Dahlia's casa con caballos y flores.  The ride is 45 minutes from Mazatlan.

For an additional $25 (US), Chema can arrange roundtrip transportation from Mazatlan to his home.

One  Experience

A beautiful day for a ride…………………………….

We arrive in El Roble with Chema, Dahlia and Chemita all greeting us with smiles of welcome.  What happened to the little short chubby boy I knew in less than a year?  Chemita is now a 13-year-old tall slender guapo young man…. To me it feels like coming home.

Aahhhhhhhhhh horses, the smell, the look, the dirt at my feet, I love it all!  Solito, the horse I like to ride is just waiting for my silla (saddle) that I’ve used for 32 years.  Healthy, calm and beautiful are the horses at Chema’s. 

Neck surgery prevented me from riding for a year so I am ready!  We are up and on our way for the ride. Enjoying completely the feel of being one with Solito. On our left we ride past a large pond full of ducks.  Country air, country quiet. The few people we do encounter give us their beautiful smiles and wave. Loose horse on the way near a cervasa tienda that seems to be out in the middle of no where.  Chema tells us the horse is in it’s late 30’s and he is still used everyday by the farmer who owns him to work. 

Fields of chilies.   A very big Ficus tree of some sort on our left with a lizard almost but not quite camouflaged. Many hands are picking one field.  The workers smile and wave.  Looking at the tall truck bed it’s almost full.  A very large hombre way up at the top, supervising maybe?  More smiles as he poses for a photo.

Riding through a few small Pueblos.  Very, very clean, gorgeous flowers, roosters crowing, dogs barking and many tall trees provide a welcome relief of shade.  You can tell these people take pride in their little spot of paradise!  A large Banyon tree with roots growing in and around a small shed.  A unique, unlikely sight you will ever see again. 

The locals all seem to know Chema and give him their greetings along with some teasing in their way.  A tree with the largest trunk that I have ever seen! It is huge.  The man who lives there tells us it must be several hundred years old.  He climbed and played in it many times in his youth.  We continue to ride and with the rhythm of Solito, I feel at peace. At peace with the world, at peace with myself.  Therapy for my soul. 

I do not have any idea how long we ride, but we come to “almost” the end of our journey for the day at the only bar in El Roble.  Chemita rides on up the hill, as he is not allowed…  The bar to me seems quite large. Some covered areas.  Many tables and chairs are spread around the area. We tie our horses to the trees that provide shade to the property and converge on a table under a thatched roof.  Out comes a bucket with ice cold, chica Pacifico bottles delivered by a smiling young lady.  A bit of teasing in Spanish from Chema with her. 

I asked Chema why the bar was so large?  He said, “Cindi think! There are many pueblos throughout this area.  Rather than go to Villa Union they come here”.  Other people ride in as on horses, by foot and a few arrive in a vehicle as we sit enjoying our time of relaxation.  The Pacifico flowed fast.  The perfect drink for a dry mouth after riding.  We finished two buckets with I’m not sure how many bottles, saying thank you and adios to the locals with regret.

We head just up the road a short way to Chema and Dahlia’s. We unsaddle and put away the horses but our day is not over.  Dahlia who has a touch of the gripe has been working it seems, the whole time we have been gone.  Not only is she preparing flowers for a 15-year-old young lady’s quincinera, she has set up a table for us in their beautiful backyard. 

We are asked to sit and do.  Promptly, Chema and Dahlia bring plates brimming with food.  Carne Asada, frijoles, chili rellenos, a dish of zucchini casserole, tortillas and we are offered something to drink.  The meal is absolutely delicious.  Cookies bought that day for our desert melt in our mouths.  We are told you have to eat them the day you buy them fresh or the next day they are not good anymore.  A restaurant’s “Mexican Plate” could never compare to this meal!

With stomachs full, feeling good about all, spending time with wonderful people our day at Chema and Dahlia’s is now over.  I know that I leave with regret.  The drive back to Mazatlan seems to take minutes.  I know I will be out to El Roble again, soon.  If not by myself, then with others I can share this different and fun experience.  I arrive at my home happy and pleasantly tired.  Shower and soon to bed.  Sleep comes easy, as I feel totally rejuvenated in heart and soul.