Trail building equestrians of New Mexico

[Una Smith <una.smith AT att.net>]

Quoted to TREQ-NM by request:

Jacquelyn Williams <jax AT cybermesa.com> wrote:
>Hi Una,
>
>Deb Spikerman from Back Country Horsemen gave me your email.  I want to join.
> I have a wonderful Peruvian Paso horse who is boarded in Lamy, near 
> Eldorado.
> Although I belong to BCH, NNMHA, etc.  I have been unable to attend most
>trail rides because I do not have a trailer.  Most of the club people have a
>husband, wife or steady riding partner, and no trailer room.
>
>I wish to make new horsey friends.  I can ride almost anywhere with my horse,
>have done horse camping, done adventures and spent nights at "horse motels"
>and have taken natural horsemanship clinics when I lived in Colorado.  My
>horse has a sweet and willing disposition and exhibits no bad manners.  She's
>great!
>
>Please tell me more about what you do, and connect me with riders in my
>general area if you can.  And feel free to give out my contact info. Thank 
>you
>very much.
>
>Jacquelyn Williams
>jax AT cybermesa.com

Hi Jacquelyn,

I can relate to the no trailer situation.  I had a horse for almost
a year before a trailer and vehicle to tow it.

Re BCH, I recommend going to their trail work parties without your
horse.  You will get to know them, and also get to know the trails
better.  Usually, groups are slow getting started on the trail, so
you can walk ahead to wherever the the group going to do their trail 
work and/or lunch.

Another thing you could do is host a riding party, eg on the Santa
Fe Rail Trail.  The major trail work to be done there, from an
equestrian point of view, is assessment of problem spots (where
there is too little room, too short sight lines, etc.  Santa Fe
County has a big pot of money to spend on developing recreational
trail use along the railroad, all the way from the Santa Fe
Railyard to Lamy, and the project is still in the planning phase.
This is the time when users have the most influence on what gets
built.  At this time, the only stretch lacking some kind of trail
is from the highway grade crossing at US 285 to the Lamy station.

I was at Lamy a couple of weeks ago, meeting the Amtrak train.  Some
riders came down overland from the north, tied their horses at the
hitching rail under the shade trees just east of the picnic tables,
bought some salads for lunch from the dining car, and ate at a picnic
table while waiting for the train.  This was a despooking ride for
a couple of their horses;  others handled the arrival of the Amtrak
train with total poise.   The lead rider told me other riders say
they have ridden on the tracks from 285 to Lamy, but he thinks that
it unsafe.  I agree, and it is illegal trespassing too.  At this
time, the main option for horse riders on the Santa Fe Rail Trail,
and mountain bike riders too, is to detour south on the shoulder of
285 to the turnoff to Lamy, and ride along that road to the Lamy
station.  That would make the distance from Santa Fe to Lamy almost
20 miles one way.  It would make for an easy round trip ride from
Eldorado, where there is parking at several public trailheads.

        Una Smith
        Los Alamos