A horse cut in half is a strange name for a hollow in a cliff, but Abrigo del Medio Caballo is what the shelter is called, and the likely reason is that the painted figure on its wall is partial, or that the rock itself makes a profile. They belong to the body of rock art that UNESCO protects as the Mediterranean arc of the Iberian Peninsula.
Albarracín has a long past. Before the Christians arrived it was a Muslim stronghold, and then for much of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries an independent lordship belonging to the Azagra family, who sat between the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile and played one against the other until Aragon absorbed it. Its walls, which crawl up the ridge like a stone dragon, date from various periods, and if you walk up to the tower at the top you can see the whole sandstone landscape spread out below.
On a bike the plateau is a joy in early summer. The road up from Teruel climbs gradually, with gentle bends and long views, and the temperature falls as you rise. Forest tracks leave the main road at several points, but most are unpaved and best left to walkers, and the paved lane from town to the rodeno woods is narrow with the occasional sand drift. Autumn brings cold mornings and the bright yellow of aspen leaves, and from November the chance of snow and ice rises sharply.
Albarracín's population is barely above a thousand, so the services are limited. There is no major fuel station nearby, which makes Teruel, twenty-five kilometres off, your stop. On the other hand there is excellent food, from cured ham to the local lamb stews. A bottle of water and sun cream are sensible for any forest walk, because the exposed sandstone gives off a great deal of heat from midday.