BCCTRA Training Ride - March 27

By Joanne Schneider

Four members of BCCTRA participated in the 2 – 2.25 hour ride on Sunday March 27. There were challenges for both rider and horse. The first hour of the ride was through more wider trails giving both riders and horses a chance to settle in. Still in that first hour we went under a train tressle, through a creek , up a long gradual road where we took the opportunity to do some trotting, we crossed two foot bridges, past a large culvert and went through a muddy goey scarry large puddle. All the horses were great. After following more trails through the bush we crossed out onto the logging road and began the second half of the ride – which in my opinion was the funnest part. Mostly uphill , cross a nice clear shallow stream, up a bank and then up and up. Weaving through trees, watching our knees, ducking around low limbs, up a long 1.5’ wide trail along side a steep bank (many thanks to the dirt bikers who built a lot of the trail we were now covering!). Emerging at the top of a forested hill was a clearing surrounding by Arbutus trees and containing a large compound made with saplings tied together for wind buffers, a fire pit in the middle (I’m sure for seasonal use), and of course a blue tarped lean to -- which just happened to flap when the last rider – Kerri Lynne on her young 5 year old was just going past ! We all heard it and held our breaths. He was a trooper and didn’t react. After taking a breather and taking in the surroundings, we carried on down a trail to an old forestry road, then back around and up another winding trail I have jokingly nicknamed “The Crime Scene Trail” - as there is lots of the yellow tape strung across wrong turns or loose banks. There are tight turns and a mossy rock face to cross bringing us back to the compound. From there we retraced our steps back – so down hill now and down the long steep narrow trail - back to the main logging road (at this point a light rain started to fall) . We used the last kilometer of road as a cool down before arriving at the horsetrailers. We were all too busy riding to take photos, but on the cooldown managed to snap a couple photos.

Equine Educators conference - BCCTRA comments

By Nicole Vaugeois

The Equine Educators conference was held Jan 21-23 in Kelowna. Tammy Mercer, Peter Reid and I all attended from BCCTRA and were able to share some of our unique needs with respect to trail access. Peter and I participated at the Trails Roundtable on Saturday where about 20 land managers and different equine trail user groups discussed their needs or position on trail use for horses. The event was a great success as folks were able to share their perspectives in a respectful way to understand each other. I am sure that the outcomes will be positive and am hoping we can continue this sort of dialogue in years to come. Congrats to Horse Council BC for pulling this together and inviting us to participate.

I was asked to speak about the needs of competitive trail user groups, which included input from Endurance, competitive trail and TREC. The following are some comments shared:

• We have unique usage needs for trails in that we use them frequently for training and require numerous miles of varied terrain;


• We require access to trails for training and competition as we seek permission for each mile we use in competition;


• We have experienced challenges with respect to access, particularly from private forest companies where permit fees and delays in approvals has impacted events;


• We are seeking to develop stronger working relationships with land managers so that they understand our sport, our usage patterns and see us as partners in land management;


• Our competition requires travel and overnight camping. Further enhancements to travel with horses such as pull outs, ferry knowledge about horses, signage and camp facilities are needed throughout the province. Camp facilities that are accessible and accommodating of horses are needed, particularly sites that can accommodate numerous large rigs for competitions.

Since the event, I have already been communicating with Rod Bealing, who represents private timber companies in BC and he has been helpful in linking me with the right people that we can communicate with about things such as annual permits and partnership. Similarly, Connie Faulk in Barriere, who was also on the roundtable has emailed me to say she is keen to have a BCCTRA event in their region as they have the trails and facilities we need for our events. Similarly, Chilko Ranch is keen to have a BCCTRA event this year and there is some interest in having a schooling ride on the Sunshine Coast.

All in all, this type of exposure for our sport was invaluable. We need to be understood with other horse groups and with land managers in order to move toward the goals in our strategic plan. I believe this event helped and we can build upon it by using the contacts made.

BC Trails Roundtable - Kelowna January 22

Competitive trail riders need access to trails for their miles of smiles.  Whether training or competing, riders throughout the province spend hours in the saddle on trails owned by a variety of land managers such as provincial parks, regional districts, timber companies and private owners. 

BCCTRA is committed to play an active role in enhancing trail access for equestrians.  One of our members, Nicole Vaugeois, sits on the Joint Trails Access committee with HCBC and is joined by reps from other organizations such as Endurance riders and Backcountry horsemen. Together these three organizations represent the three types of user groups for equestrian trails - competitive and recreational.

Unfortunately, access to trails has been a growing issue for equestrians in BC.  Urban sprawl, private land development, arduous permit processes and restrictions or prohibitive fees from Timber companies are some of the factors that have precipitated this issue.

HCBC is organizing an Equestrian Education Conference in Kelowna on January 22-23.  At this event, a trails roundtable is being organized to allow for better dialogue and enhanced relationships between trail user groups and land managers.  The roundtable promises to be a positive evolution for BCCTRA and Nicole Vaugeois and Tammy Mercer are attending on behalf of BCCTRA to bring our specific trail needs to the table.  Members will hear more about the outcome of the conference later on.

In the meantime - if you have specific trail related concerns or better yet - solutions - send them to Nicole to have represented at the conference.