What a great turn out for our 2nd Trails Advocacy meeting in Missouri Valley Sunday March 22!! I counted 40 + people in attendance and all very enthusiastic I might ad. Thank you all for coming! A very special thanks to the Cyndi and the Junction Cafe for allowing us the use of their room. Thank you Mary Hansen for leading the group and helping us start with the organization process.
We had folks from Kearney, Sioux City, Carrol, Griswold, Logan, Lincoln, Gretna, Mondamin, Bonson, Lawton, Elk Horn Iowa and Nebraska, Harlan, Council Bluffs, Blair and Mo Valley. A Very large geographical area to say the least, with many saddle clubs, and over 15 horse club affiliations present. Rather than reinvent the wheel we plan to continue to work closely with the Nebraska and Iowa Horse Council Trails committees and bring focus to our parts of the states. We identified the need to utilize the many talents available and formed a Marketing Committee, Contact Committee, Advocacy Committee and Trails Work and Development committee. Discussion from the floor about Macy Nebraska and possibility of wanting to develop more trails there and also Lake of 3 Fires. We had people volunteer to followup with these locations and see how we could help. Margine Henry reported on t he Wabash and requested assistance with up keep of the trails there.
We had folks from Kearney, Sioux City, Carrol, Griswold, Logan, Lincoln, Gretna, Mondamin, Bonson, Lawton, Elk Horn Iowa and Nebraska, Harlan, Council Bluffs, Blair and Mo Valley. A Very large geographical area to say the least, with many saddle clubs, and over 15 horse club affiliations present. Rather than reinvent the wheel we plan to continue to work closely with the Nebraska and Iowa Horse Council Trails committees and bring focus to our parts of the states. We identified the need to utilize the many talents available and formed a Marketing Committee, Contact Committee, Advocacy Committee and Trails Work and Development committee. Discussion from the floor about Macy Nebraska and possibility of wanting to develop more trails there and also Lake of 3 Fires. We had people volunteer to followup with these locations and see how we could help. Margine Henry reported on t he Wabash and requested assistance with up keep of the trails there.
There were several handouts distributed. Mary requested we save the dates of Sept 13,14,15 for the Nebraska Trails Conference at Ponca State Park in Ponca Neb. The National Animal Identification System ( NAIS) and what it could me to each of us owning animals was discussed and a flyer distributed. The N.A.I.S will require detailed information about the property and identify all animals . For more information go to ht tp://farmandranchfreedom.org/. The Iowa Horse Fair will be April 3,4,5 in Des Moines. Randie Hawkins handed out a list of best places to ride in South West Iowa.
Maddie Brown has graciously volunteered to give a BIG boost to communications by setting up a website/blogspot for the group. She already has some websites and link information that will be valuable to the group.
Some folks brought samples of trail ride books and materials that they had helped assemble in other states (Wisconsin and Illinois) and these would be wonderful to develop for Iowa ! Doats from the Iowa Horse Council Newsletter will be covering our activities and giving us some publicity statewide.
Our sign up sheets were full with Trails work and Development and offers of labor, materials, chainsaws, tractors, brush hogs, any work within a reasonable distance! Wow, isn't that awesome?
We will continue to send out emails to the group to update meeting dates, advances in communication and trail development. Talk of having a work day/ trail ride/camping weekend are in the process now the weather is getting nice. I think it would be great to visit the different places we can ride in Western Iowa and see what we can do help out and keep our trails and hopefully gain some more.
Please contact me or Mary Hanson if you have any questions or concerns. I hope someone will forward me some of t he pictures from yesterday since I forgot my camera! Thank you all for coming and volunteering in your own very special ways! I believe we have started a great group and we will all benefit tremendously!!
Sue Maiwald
Posts
Maddie thank you so much for putting this together. I hope everyone will make use of this site - it will serve as a great way to communicate about our trails in Western Iowa and to update others. Are you having a trails cleaning day at your favorite ride spot? Let everyone know. Do you need help with finding a great place to ride, or help for your favorite equestrian trail? Post it!
ReplyDeleteI rode Smithland today with a group and had a great time. The trails are very well groomed and easy to follow. Beautiful ridges and lovely ponds. Very Scenic and in the Loess Hills. I wanted to talk to the Officer in Charge and see if they are going to allow camping with horses. Maybe he could use some help with the project.