Well we are smack dab in the middle of summer. Most of us have already been out riding a time or two (sadly the fires are slowing a lot of us down). I even got a chance to go riding with my wife a few days ago. For those of you that know us, you know what a huge deal that was knowing our busy schedules and still ending up with a Saturday off together and a sunny Saturday at that. So, we were at the trail head saddling up when this single gal rode up to the trailer next to ours. I exchanged greetings and asked how the trail was, etc. You know the normal old trail head chit chat then she did the one thing I truly hate….She got in her trailer and shoveled all the manure out onto the ground, I mean scraped it clean. This just pisses me off! This is the one thing that bugs me even more than bringing a herd of unleashed poorly trained dogs on the trail. At least I can shoot the dogs. I said what are you doing? She said cleaning out my trailer. She wasn’t even the least bit concerned about this pile of crap left behind. She said it’s all natural it will break down and be gone before anyone sees it. I told her I sure can see it, and it looks horrible. You understand she says it’s part of horse ownership. No, I don’t understand, and I own way more horses and mules than most. I have never understood cleaning out your trailer at the trail head. It gives all horse owners a bad name. And another thing I sleep on the ground next to my trailer all summer long, and I don’t want to sleep in your horses $***! Do us all a favor, clean that trailer out at home, keep the trail head clean before there are even more restrictions put on us.
Happy Trails,
Andy
Lori says...
It truly amazes me that people can still be that stupid in this day and age! 20 years ago – maybe. No excuse anymore!
September 02, 2015
Jason Ridlon says...
Good point Andy i totally argree its one thing to kick a lone pile loose at a hitching rail, and another to unload your trailer. Here is another controversial subject we deal with here in Washington at popular trail heads. Is hikers parking in the stock parking lot, making it at times hard to get turned around and unloaded. This is what I witnessed a few weeks ago at a popular trail head. This trail head has signs clearly saying horse trailer parking. When I rounded the corner into the trailer parking lot I find two hiker vehilces parking in the stock parking lot. These cars where completely out of the way at this time causing no issues to stock trailers. I personally don’t like, and have at times been really frustrated with cars in stock parking lots. Then in pulls another stock trailer this trailer ties up the parking lot by not pulling to the forward most parking spot and clearly parked out away from the edge of the parking lot. This stockwoman gets out of her truck madder that you know what about these two cars. Procceds to write nasty notes and put them in the wipers of these cars? How would I have handled this?? I like a face to face conversation with people had the cars pulled into the lot to park I would have very nicely explaind there was another parking lot for cars. And left it at that. By putting an impersonal nasty note in there wiper blade in my mind screamed stupid!!! I have to leave my trailer unprotected at the trail head while I enjoy the high country. These hikers might have been dealing with a full parking lot when they arrived to hike so chose to park in a totally open lot of the stock trailer parking lot? Who knows who cares? Just saying if you cannot have the conversation in person don’t have it! Leave it to the Forest Service to be the bad guy? Second part of this issue is that a number of stock users are very poor at backing and moving a trailer around! They need a Football field to turn around and park? And more than once I have been tacking up at a trailhead in the stock parking lot and watched other stock users come into the parking lot and totally tie up the whole parking lot with one trailer. And trust me I have the tough conversations with them. Just saying if we are going to survive poor stock sediment we really need to clean up our act on all fronts?
September 02, 2015