In June my husband Bert and I were invited to stay with our friends David and Allison Haynes at their lovely seaside vacation home in San Carlos. This quaint village is tucked between the shores of the Sea of Cortez and the Sonoran desert of Mexico. Knowing about my horse crazy tendencies, Allison promised a memorable trail ride with the local equestrian stable.



Astrid Roosli is a treasure and her stable of trusty steeds is a real find in the Sonoran desert for riders of all levels. Astrid came to her business in a roundabout fashion. Growing up in Switzerland, this blue-eyed blonde only got to ride horses once a year during the holidays. At the age of 23 she joined Club Med as a cashier and thus began her life of travel and adventure.
When Astrid was sent to the San Carlos Club Med in 1996 she’d been promoted to administration manager and spent every free moment riding. After five years the resort closed in 2001 and Astrid jumped on the opportunity to subcontract the horse part of the business from the new owners, Hotel Paradiso.
Astrid calls her barn “El Rancho del Desierto” and it’s a low-key place that feels like family. Joel is the farrier and handyman and Cesar keeps the barn running and the 15 horses fed and happy. Astrid offers just the right amount of guidance to keep riders in the saddle without making them feel silly. Her bubbly and cheerful demeanor brings a smile to everyone.
Our group of four arrives and Astrid greets David and Allison like old friends. They’ve brought many visitors to the barn. Up we go onto our mounts; David riding Rambo, Allison on Frijole, Bert on Machete and me on Tequila, who is fondly referred to as “opinionated.” Tequila and Frijole are buddies but Machete prefers to be on his own in the lead. Astrid casually points out all these tendencies as we get organized on the trail.
We strike out into an area of the Sonoran desert made famous 30 years ago by the movie Catch 22 where a military base and airstrip were fashioned from scratch for filming. Wandering through a forest of cactus (the movie crews moved them all into bunches to make room for the airstrip) we come upon an imposing bull with massive horns. Our horses are a touch worried, but Astrid leads the way and the bull ignores us.
The ride takes us through the desert and into a fishing village settled right on the beach. We’ll be coming back here later for cervezas and fantastic fish tacos. Ah… Mexico!
We finish our ride with a relaxing walk on the beach. Allison can see from the silly grin on my face that I’m in heaven and she books another ride for us in two days. This one will be at sunset.
On our second ride Astrid lets us do a bit of galloping along a wide trail in the desert. With the sun just beginning to set over the mountains and the wind in our hair we agree this is some serious fun!
Then onto a white sand beach that seems to go on forever. As we walk into the crystal blue surf I feel like I’m in my own movie; the sunset turns the sky pink and orange and the sound of the sea is like a lullaby. I’m riding Tequila again and he’s a great horse, spirited and spunky with good sound training. I can’t wait to come back and do it again.
For more information, contact Astrid at astridranch@hotmail.com or via her website at www.astridranch.com.