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.

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.

City of L.A. sought input from its equine advisory council when L.A. Zoo planned expansion near Griffith Park trails.

Special to the Horsetrader

LOS ANGELES—When the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department recently wanted a horse person’s perspective on a Los Angeles Zoo expansion plan in Griffith Park, it turned to a familiar voice—Lynn Brown.

Brown’s resume reads like a Who’s Who in equestrian advocacy, having served as National Trail Coordinator for Equestrian Trails, Inc. for 20 years and more recently as a 10-year Vice President of the L.A. Equine Advisory Committee. If you aren’t familiar with the LAEAC but you are a civic-minded equestrian, you might become familiar with it. It’s a model for effective representation in City Hall for horsepeople, created by L.A. City Council in 2009. It was a historic first, as equestrians had never had an official voice to the city. Each city councilperson appoints one member to sit on the LAEAC, which reports directly back to council on the issues.

Stephanie Abronson, Monte Nido
When I had the opportunity to ride in the Mammoth Lakes area with a close friend, I jumped at the chance. Debbie DiMascio and her Quarter Horse, Jake, joined me and Polina, my Welsh Cob mare, to find the Red Cones trail. A super experienced parklands Mounted Volunteer Patrol member, Debbie and Jake were the ideal riding partners. Two different rides were planned, both in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in the Inyo National Forest. First was to find the Red Cones. Debbie hadn’t yet been there.

Ever one to chat up any person I met along the trail, I always would ask directions or tips, expecting that generally they were more experienced than I. As Debbie and I began a descent to find the mid-slope trail to the Cones we had a spectacular view that opened up stretching a long way across the San Joaquin River to Yosemite. The view was due to a previous forest fire that the previous winters had strewn the burnt pines and firs about like giant pick-up sticks. As we turned onto the correct mid-slope, the Red Cones soon came into view.

Our next excursion was a lovely loop ride for lunch at McCloud Lake. I think that the photo tells the whole story.

Back country riders make it from Norco to Bishop—retrace their journey!

From Horsetrader staff reports

After months of planning—and training—Mike Williams and Rebekah Wan completed a 320-plus mile trek from Norco to Bishop.

Day 20: Made it!…we arrived in Bishop!
Wednesday, May 22 • 20.2 miles
We made it! 320-plus miles in 19 days through mountain ranges, desert, flood plains, aqueducts, streams, train tracks, trestles, wind, rain, heat … and patience. All the horses are showing the wear-and-tear, as are the riders, but they all made it! No more midnight waterings, 4 a.m. feedings, 7-8 a.m. starts in the saddle, and riding from dawn to dusk.

Day 19: It’s the homestretch
Tuesday, May 21 • 14.5 miles
We trailered out to Taboose to pick up the trail Mike and Rebekah left yesterday.