ELCR joins coalition launching nationwide trail etiquette campaign

Courtesy of ELCR.org

Any recreational trail user will tell you there are more people on the trails than ever before. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, automated counters at trail systems around the country recorded four times as many users compared to the same time frame in 2019.

The Twin Oaks Valley Equestrian Association in conjunction with the Horse Heritage Conservancy brought together current — and future — equestrians to the 15th Annual Ride & Stride Oct. 17 at Walnut Grove Park in San Marcos. The event encouraged the “two-legged” contingent to join in and bring their other best friend to stride a three-mile loop through the valley on City of San Marcos trails. Participation in this event helped the Walnut Grove Equestrian Park, a rare gem in the heart of the Twin Oaks Valley.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Two business groups with different visions for the 40-acre Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park made respective public presentations Sept. 21 to the City Council, as ongoing discussions continued toward the beautiful facility’s future.

Stay abreast — or ahead — of environmental rules

By Jamie Cohen Wallace / courtesy ELCR.org

In recent years, Best Management Practices (BMPs) have essentially become standard for horse farms/facilities across the country. Meant to protect the ground and surface waters, BMPs are excellent management practices that should be utilized by every horse farm and facility to stay in compliance, regardless of legislation.

Let’s remind our neighbors — horsey and non-horsey — of the benefits for all

By Equine Land Conservation Resource

While most horse people can easily explain the benefits our equine friends have on our lives, we should also be aware that they have a strong positive impact on our communities. Horse business and industry can be a significant economic driver, creating tourism and cottage industry for communities. Horses also have a positive impact on human health and local ecology.

The economic benefit of horses is hard to deny. According to the American Horse Council 2005 National Economic Impact of the U.S. Horse Industry Study the equine industry accounted for 460,000 full-time jobs with an annual impact of $39 billion annually to our economy, generating $1.9 billion in taxes.

Horses require many professionals, from vets to hay growers and from farriers to trainers. A community that is open and receptive to horses will find that the economic impact of these cottage industries far outweighs the cost of providing municipal services for them. A well-maintained and equine friendly fair ground or trail system will also lead to horse tourism, a great advantage for local businesses, hotels and restaurants.

In addition to the economic benefits horses have on communities, they have an amazing impact on human health. According to research conducted by the University of Brighton and Plumpton College on behalf of The British Horse Society, horse activity can be classified as a moderate intensity exercise.ii This is especially important when coupled with the information that horseback riding appeals to traditionally underserved populations like the physically disabled and older women.

Therapy programs have also shown that horses have a positive impact on our emotional and mental well-being. Programs exist for mentally disabled individuals, children with learning disabilities, those suffering with PTSD and even prison inmates. These programs are typically provided by local nonprofit groups and have a great impact on the lives of those who need it most.

Horses also have a very positive impact on an area’s ecology. Well managed horse facilities protect groundwater and water ways, reduce brush load, lowering the instance of wildfires; conserve soil; and encourage biodiversity. View sheds are also a benefit of having horses in your community. A large sprawling field with healthy horses grazing has been believed to increase real estate sales and tourism.

Knowing about the benefits that horses have on communities as a whole is vital to ensuring that horses maintain their place in our local communities. Whether it be planning and zoning commissions, city councils, park commissions or community groups, non-horse people make decisions that impact us all. Educating them that horses are important, not to just to a small group of recreationists, but to the economic, physical, emotional, and environmental well-being of the entire community, helps keep horse lands at the forefront of the conversation.

ELCR has recently introduced a new section to its website: Benefits of Horses to Our Communities. The new section includes information on all the positive impacts horses make on our communities. Arming yourself and your equine group with this information could make all the difference when you are advocating for your local horse facilities.

More online: http://bit.ly/horsebenefits

Rancho Cucamonga

Once a rural area known for grapevines and agriculture, Rancho Cucamonga is located about 40 miles east of Los Angeles. Alta Loma is a subsection of Rancho Cucamonga that is home to most of the area’s equestrian-zoned properties as well as several large boarding/training facilities. Natalie Beechler, president of the Alta Loma Riding Club, submitted this account to “Close To Home” — sharing her community’s challenges and the tactics required to preserve the area’s horse heritage.

I want to share some stories of what has been our strategies in our quest to maintain an area that is overrun with developers attempting to rezone our historically preserved equestrian overlay that the founders of the city put into place many decades ago.

Equestrians, working together and allied with supportive partners, make a difference in perpetuating riding trails. Here are some tips — and some easy-to-access online resources from ELCR.org

By Denise O’Meara / for Equine Land Conservation Resource

Here’s a question that you may ask yourself every time that you load up your horses to trailer to the nearest equestrian accessible trail — wouldn’t it be nice to ride out my back gate, get on a local trail and head out to the park, the woods, the shore or anywhere that didn’t involve a fill-up or two? Some of you are very lucky and have that situation. The vast majority of us are not.

Community Planning — Are You In or Are You Out?

Urban and suburban community members need to see and understand horses and their riders. Unless they learn how joyful and useful horses are to humans, and how they can interact safely with non-equestrians, these folks can help deny horseback access to trails and other equine facilities.

ELCR Vision

A future in which horse lands have been conserved so that America’s equine heritage lives on and the emotional, physical and economic benefits of mankind’s bond with the horse remain accessible to all.

The Issues

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the U.S. is losing 6,000 acres of open land every day. Large open spaces and contiguous tracts of land are critical to providing the space we need to support our nation’s equestrian heritage and economy. With the current rate of loss we may not have enough land to support our horses and equestrian-related activities in as little as 15 years.

Upcoming monthly ELCR Topics in California Horsetrader

1. Planning for horses in your community
2. Conservation tools for horse lands
3. Equine access to public lands
4. Equine access to private lands
5. Best management practices and the benefits of horses in communities

Access the organization’s information, resources and tools that help horse people take action: http://elcr.org

ELCR Impact:

Since 2007, ELCR has assisted in the protection of more than 200,000 acres of land and more than 1,200 miles of trails. American Horse Publications and Pfizer selected ELCR as the 2012 Equine Industry Vision Award recipient.

Is your club or community organizing an effort to preserve its horse heritage? Let us know! Send your info to communities@horsetrader.com

San Juan Capistrano

The Non Profit San Juan Capistrano Equestrian Coalition is fighting to advocate and keep horses in SJC as well as Southern California generally. The SJCEC has launched the 100 Horsemen challenge, and it seeks another group to pair with in the fight at state and federal levels in regards to water run-off and other issues: https://sanjuanequestrian.org/100-horsemen-strong

Also check our the great maps, directory and events: http://sanjuanhorses.com

Lynn Brown leaves a legacy of horses in our communities

Special to the Horsetrader

LOS ANGELES – Lynn Brown, whose public advocacy for horse interests in Southern California and beyond was unparalleled, died Jan. 1 after a brief illness.

A lifelong rider with a relentless passion to protect equestrian rights, the choice for an equestrian lifestyle, and the right of horseback riders to the peaceful enjoyment of public trails, Lynn passed away at home with her son, Christopher, at her side.

Lynn was the only child of J. Woodson Brown, a Texas businessman and cattle rancher, and Genevieve Brewster, a Southern Belle. She was raised in Southern Colorado on a cattle ranch. From the time she could walk, she rode.

An accomplished horsewoman, Lynn trained and rode several horses over the years throughout Griffith Park. Some of her most memorable were Nikki, her mustang; Cleo, her Tennessee Walker; and Nova, her magnificent Andalusian.

For anyone who knew or worked with Lynn, she was unsurpassed in her advocacy, working tirelessly for 25 years to keep Griffith Park safe for equestrians and hikers, trail runners and birdwatchers.

During a three-year period from 1999 to 2002, Lynn engaged a coalition of community leaders, neighborhood councils, environmental organizations and horseback riders to protect the heritage horse and hiking trails within the Park. In a room of 200 angry and concerned equestrians, she started what would become a citywide effort to maintain L.A. Parks safe for its Western Heritage. In the process she became a true ally to the Sierra Club, Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils surrounding the Park, activists from Committee to Save Elysian Park, riders from the Burbank and Glendale Rancho communities and other local groups and organizations.

When Los Angeles City Planning once again revised its Bicycle Element, Lynn, as Deputy National Trail Coordinator for Equestrian Trails, Inc. (ETI), secured critical amendments to preserve historic dirt trails for safe riding experiences, again working with coalitions from prior battles.

Her success relied on four principles: seeking allies (locally and across California); writing fine advocacy articles and letters (her much beloved “talking points”); listening to others; and acting strategically. She could commandeer an army of advocates. A friend once remarked that she was “an army of one.”

To this day, the peaceful enjoyment of Historic Griffith Park and its Trails are due directly to the diligence and skills of Lynn Brown.

Beginning in 2005, she became a member of the Griffith Park Working Group, which was set up by the L.A. Recreation and Parks Department. Over the next several years came guiding influences, including A Vision for Griffith Park, Urban Wilderness Identity that champions the Park for its bio-diversity, native species, unstructured aesthetic and continued emphasis on the wilderness values as exemplified by equestrian uses in the park. Approximately 2,000 horses board adjacent to the Park, either in backyards or in boarding stables, as well as in horseback rental stables. Vision recognized the significant Park use by either owners or guardians on a daily basis.

In February 2009, Lynn worked with the late Councilman Tom LaBonge to accomplish a milestone in the city of Los Angeles: the official creation by the L.A. City Council of the Los Angeles Equestrian Advisory Committee, a 16-member citizen committee representing equestrians from all Council districts and the Mayor’s Office. Convened and managed by the L.A. Recreation and Parks Department, the LA-EAC soon began serving riders from South L.A., the Valley, the Westside — every Council District, and representing the diverse populations of the city who shared a common love for horseback riding. She helped raise funds for the Compton Junior Posse, now the Compton Cowboys. She arranged a carriage/team for Councilman La Bonge in the Toluca Lake Christmas Parade. She was thrilled to see the growing representation of Black Cowboys in the MLK Parades in 2018 and 2019. She brought back to prominence the recognition of the Day of the Horse at the Los Angeles City Council.

Without her diplomatic and persistent skills, the important representation of the horse community would not exist today.

She assisted the Rancho residents of Glendale and Burbank, and the Atwater community of Los Angeles, as a practiced voice in opposition to bad development and in support of good development. a few weeks before her death Jan. 1, 2021, she was instrumental in educating and securing opposition from local elected Burbank officials over a “proposal” for an aerial tram that would tear out the only public riding arena, Martinez Arena, in Griffith Park.

She was a polished and accomplished writer and frequently contributed articles to Western Horseman and California Horsetrader on a range of issues: Griffith Park, the Ranchos of Burbank and Glendale, how to make friends with a bureaucrat. As a consummate communicator, her candor and advice were sought and effective. She made many friends over the years with General Managers, Superintendents, Park Rangers and the much-beloved maintenance staff. Every year, she provided flowering bulbs, Honeybaked Hams and personal notes and cards to them.

Lynn is survived by her son, Christopher and daughter Feather. And the many friends she made from all walks life who shared her passion and love for the healing power of a horse. A Celebration of Her Life will be announced at a later date.