Ride with Kim of @downdirtroads: A Pemberton Horseback Experience
Last July, Kim (@downdirtroads) joined us for a Half Day Ride in the Birkenhead. She’s returning this year for a group ride and we wanted to ask her all about why she loves riding, what transitioning to Western riding was like, and why she thinks you should join her for a Full Day Ride this May!
For those who don’t know you yet: who is @DownDirtRoads?
My name is Kim, and I’m a huge fan of nature. I grew up in France, but spent every summer exploring North America’s West in truck campers with my parents, from Utah to Alaska, and fell in love with everything about it. I knew that I wanted to live in BC one day, and here we are. Just like I did with my parents, I still spend a lot of my time exploring, looking for wildlife, and camping on dirt roads, which is where “Downdirtroads” came from.
I’m pretty much always in the mountains, whether I’m hiking, backpacking, backcountry skiing, or riding horses!
I work as a researcher in environmental conservation and Indigenous rights with a Canadian NGO, and more recently, I turned my passion for photography and telling stories into creating content on social media. It has been a wild ride (pun intended), and I am incredibly happy with how things have turned out.
You grew up around horses: what kind of riding did you do before? How did you find the mountain riding experience compared to what you’re used to?
I grew up in Paris, and horses were my biggest source of happiness in a city where I didn’t always feel like I belonged. I was riding almost exclusively French saddle horses and French ponies. The love of my life is a sweet Connemara pony, named Sybelle, and saying goodbye to her was the most difficult part of leaving France 12 years ago.
English riding is pretty much all I knew, but I would also ride Western on vacation with my parents in North America. I loved jumping and eventing, so English felt more fun when I was a teenager.
I got a diploma to teach kids how to ride in France, and I kept teaching when I first moved to Canada for a little bit. I loved sharing that knowledge with children, and loved watching them interact with ponies. If there is one thing riders know, it’s that horses will help you build character, learn patience, perseverance, kindness, and a lot of other very useful life skills!
Now, I look at horses in a very different light, and there are a lot of things that I do not agree with in the horse riding world, English or Western. In a perfect world, I think there are a lot of things English riders could learn from Western riders, and vice versa.
As my passions and interests evolved, and I fell in love with long-distance hiking and exploring wild lands on foot, I think Western riding fits me better.
As a kid and teenager, I would take off the saddle every chance I got. So even now, if I’m being fully honest: please take off that saddle so I can just ride bareback and not think about English vs Western anymore.
You fell in love with your horse, Angus: what was it about him?
Angus was incredibly sweet; a good horse who knows his job and does it well, with a big, big heart. You can feel that.
When he realised the person on his back was not a beginner, I felt his personality showed a little more, and he made me laugh. I’m not sure there is a real reason why I fell in love with him. I just thought he was really fun, and if he could speak, I think he would have been making jokes during that entire ride.
I’m sure he’s not the “best” horse at CCO, if there is such a thing as a “best horse”, but I felt like I could have gone far into the mountains with him, for days and days, and that we would have been a great team, and would not have needed anything else besides each other.
You’re coming back to host your own ride this spring. What are you most excited about?
I think that’s the problem about going on a trail ride with CCO: once you go on one trail ride, you have to go back.
I’m excited to be with the horses again, and the team of amazing people who work and take care of the horses!
But I’m also so excited to meet new people, especially ones who are interested in horses and who love to spend time in the mountains as well! I know it’s going to be an incredibly fun day, and I cannot wait.
Why should people come on our May 23rd ride for a day in the mountains?
If you love horses, you already know why this is going to be the best day of 2026 so far!
And if you don’t know horses but think you love them and are curious about them, this is the perfect opportunity to get introduced to this world!
Any full day trail ride with CCO is a great time, but this one is a little different since we’d be going as a team of people who not only want to be with horses in the mountains, but also want to meet new people and make like-minded friends. I’m also going to be taking lots of photos!
We already have a fun group of a mix of experienced riders and total beginners, so no matter your level, I can’t wait for you to join us! And I can’t wait to see you fall in love with your horse.
RIDE DETAILS
Price: $529 per person (before discount below)
When: May 23rd, from 9:30am to 4:00pm (meet at 9:15am at our trailhead)
Inclusions: Wrangler, Sure-footed horses, and saddle-bag lunch
Ability: All abilities welcome! Beginners will enjoy this ride if they have good balance and general athletic ability.
Hint: Use the code FDR10 for 10% off!
