NO HORSIN’ AROUND HERE

Enchantment Equitreks – Edgewood, NM

Justyn Vogel places a gray blanket across the back of her horse, a sleek-looking, 29-year-old off-track thoroughbred named Cash. She hefts a saddle and slides it into place atop the blanket on the top of the predominately chestnut-colored steed with the midnight mane. Then Vogel gently but firmly pulls a strap – the cinch – across the belly of her horse, tightening the saddle. She and her wrangler repeat the process with several other horses in preparation for leading a ride through the canyon country in the East Mountains.

Vogel co-owns and operates Enchantment Equitreks with her mother, Mel Graham, presenting an immersive riding, ranching, and living New Mexico experience. “The diversity of New Mexico,” Vogel says in explaining what makes the state the perfect site for her company. “What we love, especially about this area in New Mexico, is that one day you’re going to be in the mountains. The next day we’re going to be in the desert. The next day we’re going to be on the river, and every place we ride, every place we go has a little bit of everything for everyone.”

New Mexico, she says, presents the best of the neighboring states all in one easily accessible area. “If you want to see Arizona’s deserts, we have that,” Vogel says. “If you want to see Colorado aspens, we have that. If you want to see Texas prairies, we have that. So we have everything, and a little bit is all concentrated just right here.”

On this day, she led a small group of veteran riders, some from the other side of the country and one from Albuquerque, on a trek through the Golden Open Space area, a relatively flat mesa dotted by scrub juniper, sage, and a plethora of wildflowers – predominately Paintbrush, or Prairie Fire. A short loop trail winds easily for almost 2.5 miles, with the rugged Ortiz Mountains jutting across the view to the northeast. At a scenic overlook, the Arroyo Seco Valley opens up, with a trail that switchbacks down the side of the canyon, eventually reaching the sporadic San Pedro Creek.

HOME STATE RANCH HAND

A native of Ruidoso, Vogel’s life is a true New Mexico tale with a worldly panache of experience to add just the right touch that seems to draw in folks like, well, horses to the feedbag.

“My mom and I have been in the horse industry for generations,” she says. “My mom came here in the ‘70s with racehorses. And then she and I were just in different industries between racehorses and ranching. My stepdad’s family had a generational ranch in northern New Mexico and Chama. Over the last few years, my mom and I both became flight attendants for Southwest Airlines. So we would start doing big vacations all over the world. We would start doing these riding vacations. So we rode in Ireland, Australia, and Africa.”

At one point while Down Under, it occurred to them that they actually lived in the perfect place to do a similar thing, especially when coupled with the Walkin N Circles Ranch, which houses a horse-rescue program that was near and dear to both of their hearts.

“And we were also working at the rescue, and also with a shelter, training and working with rescues,” Vogel says. “One day, we were riding in Australia. And we’re like, ‘We could do this. We could do this kind of thing, and we could use our rescue horses.’ So it took us a couple more years to formulate a plan to get the ranch to study things like that. That’s kind of how we wanted to start. We wanted to bring in the idea of adventure riding, but with the Southwest flair.”

Outside of the virus lockdown, it has been a fairly steady uphill climb in business. “It’s been great,” she says. “Last year, we were so busy, we couldn’t keep our heads on straight. We’ve had a couple of articles written about us through Horse Illustrated, a Canadian magazine. We’re starting to get our name out there. We’re working with some major tour companies to start bringing in a lot of European and outside influence here to New Mexico. This year is a little less; just, I think, because everybody doesn’t have the money to travel? But we’re still getting lots of interest. We have a lot of return riders, which is great. We have a lot of people who have been coming to us for years now. And we’re their destination to come and vacation.”

For one rider, Debbie Paden from upstate New York, the trip to New Mexico has been a revelation. “I thought it would be more like just desert,” she says. “I didn’t realize that there are more mountains than desert. It’s more varied than I expected. For me, it’s about mountains and forests, like pine forests.”

So New Mexico and Equitreks have surpassed expectations. “This has been really nice,” Paden says. “This is what I was hoping this would be. For me, it’s like an all-inclusive vacation. And it’s very nice.”

WELCOME TO THE OLD WEST

It is no secret that the Old West is a draw across the pond for many travelers, but those expecting to find a dude ranch situation will be somewhat disappointed. Enchanted Equitreks is set in the eastern Sandia foothills outside of Edgewood, and the team strives to find the perfect ride for those experienced in the saddle to neophytes holding the reins for the first time.

“We have a lot of European riders that come and want to see the Southwest, but they want that feeling of real adventure and being out there, not the nose-to-tail dude ranch kind of situation,” she says. That’s exactly what Equitreks tries to provide, tailoring their services to highlight what is uniquely New Mexico.

“We also do a movie night where we showcase some great documentaries about New Mexico and about horses,” Vogel says. “Our food is the star of what we do. We talk about calabacitas, which is a local dish you’re not going to get anywhere else. And it comes from the Three Sisters of the Pueblo Indians: corn, squash, and beans, and we add onions and those kinds of things. And, of course, you can’t have New Mexico without red and green chile.And we put it in everything. We even put it in our ice cream. Our featured is green chili ice cream.”

It certainly wouldn’t be New Mexico if chile wasn’t a big part of the meal, and Equitreks has a couple of other favorites that guests are sure to encounter. “Two main features is we do a green chile chicken tortilla soup,” Vogel says with a smile as if she can taste it at that moment. “And then my mom is famous for her green and red enchilada, New Mexico style, stacked with an egg.”

But it even goes beyond that as the state and everything it represents becomes the beacon, the draw, and the focus as Vogel promotes a more immersive experience where visitors can stay at a small and quaint nearby lodging BnB just down the road but get to be involved in evening meals featuring the homegrown cuisine. That is all a part of explaining and even showing off the state and its culture and its ideals for people who may not know a lot about what makes New Mexico and New Mexicans tick.

Here, where the Sandias provide an effective block of the Albuquerque lights to the west, it becomes a virtual dark sky oasis as the stars glitter in stark relief against the inky and endless horizon and the Milky Way explodes in a breathtaking swath above.

“People don’t know what makes New Mexico; we’re kind of the forgotten state,” Vogel says. “No one knows what New Mexico is. They think we’re Arizona, they think we’re this thing or we’re that. And they get here, and we’re not at all what they expected. And so it’s not just the food, the culture, or the terrain. It’s the feel. And when you get here, you can feel why it’s called the Land of Enchantment.”

Going beyond simply riding horses, presenting the state and all its attributes has become a mission, she says.

“We also have many cultures here. We have the Native American influence between the Pueblo Indians, especially in this area of Albuquerque. We have the Spanish influence. And then we also have the Western pioneer influence, all which kind of builds every little piece of the state from the food to the agriculture to the architecture. And the language is all very different from northern to central to southern New Mexico. We try and show that in the food that we showcase. A lot of our foods have that New Mexico flair to it.”

So even the meals represent that, she says, as the goal is to use local as much as possible.

“We sourced some of our stuff, and a lot of it is family style that is done with our staff. My mom and I are the main chefs, and we do most of the cooking, so we’re very small,” Vogel notes. “We invite our guests to sit on our patio and eat dinner with us. So it’s not like they are removed and over there, and it’s not like a dude ranch over there. They’re with us in our home, at our place. So when they’re with us they feel they’re riding with friends and family.” And what do friends like to do with out-of-town guests? Show off, of course. “We also visit many different New Mexico towns and museums and we build a lot of our rides around New Mexico,” she says. “We have a great one around the Balloon Fiesta, which is in October. And we have rodeos that we go to. We go to the Powwows and the Native American Jewelry Fair up in Santa Fe. We go to Madrid on our day off or we’ll go to Santa Fe. So we really get a feel for that culture and that unique feel and enchantment that New Mexico has.”

HORSEBACK AS HEALTH INSTIGATOR

Riding has been shown to not only be relaxing and intoxicating, but therapeutic, as well. Further, in New Mexico, it is a chance to step back in time and experience a different way of looking at things. “You can hike these places, you can bike these places, but it’s completely different riding a horse and seeing these areas from a horse, it makes a difference. You’re with an equine companion and a trail horse,” Vogel says. “They are working with you and they can take you places sometimes you can’t get to where you get to sit and enjoy the landscape. And then you have that idea that you’re still riding in places that the Native Americans rode or the Conquistadors rode or the pioneers rode. So your horse is walking in the same footprints of horses before you. That’s pretty cool.”

Working on the mind-body experience also is a big part of what Equitreks does, creating a unique blend of heart and soul experiences. “We also run yoga retreats. A few times a year I run an equine yoga program where we’re learning about rider and body awareness through yoga,” Vogel says. “We do yoga before we ride, we do yoga on the horses, we do go with the horses. And so again, they’re very immersive learning about how we can become better partners for our equine.”

As a matter of fact, Equitreks is a dedicated believer in working to better the lives of the horses, as well. Cash, for instance, was a rescue from Walkin N Circles and has been there from the beginning of the startup. “He has been with us for 12 years,” Vogel says. “He helped us start the business and is still taking out clients.”

Then there is Mia, a red dun mare who came from The Horse Shelter in Cerrillos. “She has had some type of trauma around her head, with scarring on her nose, ears, mouth and tongue,” she says. “She has been with us for seven years. We call her My Little Pony because of her pretty looks.”

Rehabilitating the horses and giving them purpose again is a worthy extension of what Equitreks is all about, Vogel says. “They come to us not only with malnourished bodies but broken spirits,” according to the company’s website. “Our ranch horses have been through a training program that utilizes a natural training method, a philosophy of working with horses based on the horse’s natural instincts and methods of communication, with the understanding that horses learn from pressure and the release of pressure. It concentrates on slowly rebuilding the horse physically and mentally through a relationship built on trust, respect, and understanding. Such a method creates healthy and happy horses who love their job.”

To further guests’ understanding of this aspect of equine reality, visits to local rescue shelters is usually on the agenda. “We visit some of the rescues, like Walkin N Circles Ranch and The Horse Shelter, that we have worked with to build our herd and talk with some of the trainers about their methods and training philosophies,” the website continues. “Our goal is to help educate the equine community about rescue horses.”

Photos by Roberto E. Rosales Photography Editorial by Glen Rosales

Enchantment Equitreks – Edgewood, NM