Caught out in a Storm!

One of our Windwalker adventure guides, Barry, recently relayed the story of a time when he got caught out in the middle of a big storm while out riding with clients. In fact, this was not just a storm, it was a blinding blizzard white out, right in the middle of the desert!

“I had to hold my arm up in front of my face, had to pull my hat down, I remember thinking to myself, ‘I cannot believe this is happening, in the Arizona desert of all places!!’ The group had to just stand still and wait it out, there was nothing else we could do, we could go nowhere, no shelter around to escape to!”

And snow storms are not the only bad weather Barry has dealt with:
“We had another deal this summer with a hail storm – we had to actually get underneath the horses!! If hail starts hitting the horses, they will NOT move.  They will literally turn their butts towards the storm and wait it out. Now this hail on this particular summer storm was hitting so hard, it was hurtin! I got hit hard enough to cut my ear.”  Fortunately, Barry and his group made it back safely after waiting out both of these storms. Barry has the experience to know how to handle situations like this.

In the wild, horses will instinctively do this same thing. Barring shelter to escape to, they will turn away from the oncoming storm and hunker down. This naturally protects them from the worst of the storm and they can wait it out.

It is important to note that getting caught out in storms such as these are fairly rare occurrences. Arizona is sunny and beautiful 90% of the year, and many rainstorms are fairly light and short.  Our guides always do a detailed check of the weather forecast before heading out on expeditions to help make sure our guests have an outstanding experience and adventure on their ride!