"What that means is that out on the trail, with new riders, they're less likely to be nervous about seeing things like rocks and trees or going through a stream. Quarter horses also have a smooth gait, which makes them comfortable to ride."

The horse got its name from the fact that it is recognized for its instant speed from the start and through the quarter mile. What it lacks is high-speed endurance past the quarter mile.

That said, it becomes the duty of the wrangler to match riders and horses as best they can. That is, new riders with easy-riding horses and more experienced riders with more spirited mounts.

Each ride begins with an instructional class, starting with a little background on the quarter horse, followed by lessons in neck reining or turning a horse, starting and stopping and riding etiquette on the trail.

"You'd be surprised at how many people thank us for this information. They tell us they learned things they didn't know before. And they tell us they feel a lot more comfortable riding," said Fryer.

He also noted that he limits the number of riders on each ride to help ensure a positive experience.

Currently, Red Cliffs offers only two scheduled trail rides each day — one in the morning and the second in the late afternoon when temperatures start to cool. Rides last about three hours.

The ride at Red Cliffs is, as Fryer pointed out, not simply a matter of sitting on a horse and holding on "but a real Western ride through some of the most spectacular country in the area. It's private, so it's remote and rugged. We take riders up hills and down, through streams and into the trees. In the end they know they've been on a real ride."

Fryer is currently in the process of building a high-mountain camp in the nearby LaSal Mountains and plans to offer overnight rides among the pines and aspens next summer.

He is also planning to offer riders the opportunity to participate in an actual cattle drive.

"We run a couple of hundred head of cattle. For about one month in the spring we'll give people the opportunity to actually go out and round up the cattle off the desert and move them to the ranch," he said.

"Then, for about six weeks in the fall, we'll offer three- and four-day packages to help bring the cattle off the mountain range and move them to the winter range in the desert. This is something the movie 'City Slickers' (the movie was shot in country located near the ranch) brought to the attention of the public, and something we are getting a lot of requests for. I think this is a Western experience that is going to be very popular."

The country the riders travel into now is, in fact, red-rock country made famous by Western movies and commercials.