Look at the tooling and silver work on this leather picture…amazing:
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thrift store coughed up this child’s belt a few years ago for $3.99 & the horses came home with me.
was going to flip it until I spotted the name and did some research, then the wife spotted it.
Al Stohlman been hangin here ever since
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That belt is amazing! It reminds me of Wesley Dennis illustrations and Marguerite Henry books.
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when it 1st found me this video interview of Ann & Al Stohlman came up it my search.
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Powerful horse with a powerful girl!
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I’m linking another Arizona Highways article from the January issue for all the horse, mule, and Grand Canyon lovers on here. It’s about the lead wrangler, Remy Kelbel, for the mule rides at Grand Canyon National Park (South Rim). It’s interesting because it’s not only about her journey in becoming a wrangler, but also about what the rides are like into the canyon. I think a couple years ago we were discussing whether they were still even doing the mule rides (I think they paused them during covid), but they definitely are. It also piqued my interest, because she mentioned as a 6-year-old being put on the lead horse for trail rides at Lost Valley Ranch in CO. My mom, sister, and I took a week vacation there back in the mid '80s. They catered to all levels of riders, but were especially known as being a good place for experienced horse people.
Enjoy!!
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This is a pretty heartwarmimg story, complete with highly entertaining video.
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That’s amazing, and I choked up reading it and watching the videos. He actually looks like he’s enjoying himself in the second one. He’s looking around like, “wow! I’m finally getting out of here” 
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Wow, great articles @Ziacat @OrbitOrange ! Years ago (before Covid) we road the mules down the Grand Canyon to Roaring Springs…I can tell you riding on a mule is totally different (scarier) than hiking, which we did when we were younger. Don and I ended up riding drag since we were the only ones with riding experience. I don’t know if this is common with all mules, but these guys we rode did not flex! They’d walk to the very edge of the trail, then make a sharp 90 degree turn. You don’t neck rein or use your legs…they just do what they do without any rider interaction. After the long climb out of the canyon, Don asked when the mules were rested; he was told: “at the end of the season”
. But these mules were in excellent condition.
I’m so happy Mouse was found. Years ago my husband and a couple friends were packing in the mountains. When they stopped for a brief rest, his friend hobbled his horses so they could graze. Don doesn’t use hobbles, he always puts up a high line or ties to a tree. His friend’s mare had the pack saddle. She went under a tree with a hanging branch, catching the pack saddle on the branch. The branch broke with a loud snap and the mare bolted up the trail with the hobbles and loaded pack saddle on. They attempted to find her for several days, but never did. I always hope someone found her, but hate not knowing. I guess the moral here is that horses can gallop very well with hobbles on. I’m always sad telling this story…the Mouse story is wonderful.
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I can imagine riding the mules would be different, and it would drive me nuts to have them not bend well around the corners. I bet it was fun to ride them, but my husband is not a horse person by any stretch, and I actually wanted to hike down, so we did that back in the day. When my mom took her train trip across the country in the mid-40s, she and my grandma rode the mules down. Somewhere we’ve got a photo of them all lined up for a posed picture on the trail. After reading the article I’m wondering if it was taken by the Kolb brothers. I have looked everywhere and can’t find it; I suspect it’s in all my brothers things that we haven’t gone through yet. My sister has a book about them that is signed by one of the brothers.
As I think about it, I remember my mom saying how nerve-racking it was going around the corners, because it seemed like the mules necks stuck right out into thin air as they went around the bends in the trail 
What a sad story about your husband’s friend’s horse 
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That is Zia…at a turn, their little muley tippy toes were on the edge with their head and neck straight out over the rim! Then they’d do a quick turn without flexing their neck! They also have a fairly choppy stiff gait, not at all what I’m used to. But, since we survived, I’m glad we had the experience
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Yes, I’m glad you survived it! And it sounds like from the article they are much safer beasts on the trail than horses would be.
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This morning, I was on Boot Barn’s website and couldn’t stop looking at this photo. The horse, the rider. What a great shot.
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Thanks again to @Steve, here’s the full, unobstructed photograph.
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