Crazy for Adventure Travel

Saddle Up

Insane: Barrel Racing
When she was 6, Dolli Lautaret was kicked in the face by a horse. Reconstructive surgery followed, but it didn't stop her from riding in professional barrel-racing competitions. Neither did two bouts with cancer. "I competed a month after surgery to remove a brain tumor," says the Kingman, Arizona, resident, now 60.

Barrel racing is a speed sport: Riders zip around three barrels set out to form a triangle, and between the velocity and turns, horses can easily fall. Lautaret isn't worried, however. Her cowgirl philosophy: "You can sit around, or you can wear yourself out. I intend to wear myself out."

Interested? Experienced riders can take barrel-racing lessons at the Josey Ranch in Karnack, Texas.Or check out the Cody Stampede Rodeo in Cody, Wyoming (where rodeo is the state sport), July 1 through 4.

Sane: Horseback Riding
See our first national park from horseback: In Yellowstone, tours depart from Mammoth Hot Springs, Canyon Village, and Roosevelt Lodge. In New York's Catskill Mountains, families and riders of all levels saddle up at Rocking Horse Ranch.

Tame: Merry-go-rounding
Take a ride on the mild side: The historic carousel in Riverfront Park in Spokane, Washington, has been twirling customers for a century. Eldridge Park in Elmira, New York, claims to have the world's fastest; the merry-go-round at Tilden Park in Berkeley, California, dates from 1911.

Next: The ultimate ski lift. »