Clare Tone – Page 2 – Boulder County Horse Association

Dr. Mark Fitch recognized with 2023 Appreciation Award (posthumously)

news-community-education-nonprofits / November 21, 2023

~By BCHA Board President, Clare Tone Authors Note: At the Annual Fun Show on Oct 22nd, 2023, the Recognition Award was presented to Dr. Fitch’s daughter, Lindsay Fitch. Before he was Dr. Fitch, Mark grew up on a cattle ranch outside of Gillette, WY where his passion for horses budded through participation in 4-H and rodeo throughout his childhood. While attending the University of Wyoming, Mark continued to rodeo, while earning a degree in veterinary sciences. He went on to graduate in 1976 from Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and completed an internship at Littleton Large Animal Hospital in 1977. Dr. Fitch established his practice, Quality Equine Services in Boulder County that same year and practiced equine veterinary medicine for 46 years in the Boulder County region. The practice he established 46 years ago continues to thrive to this day. Sadly, our community lost an equine friend and hero on Nov 9th 2022. In addition to dentistry and expertise in lameness, Dr. Fitch’s standout skill and passion was in behavioral counseling. He was passionate about presenting–to fellow equine professionals and horse owners alike–on horse behavior and handling. He filled his spare time with training horses, team roping and, especially, spending time with his daughter, Lyndsay. So here’s a little known fact which speaks volumes about his character: in 1969 Dr. Fitch was featured in Sports Illustrated magazine, ‘faces in the crowd’ column. He was starting as a freshman at the University of Wyoming, coming off of an impressive high school athletic […]

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Kudos and Achievements

archives, Archives-BCHA history / February 7, 2023

In 2022 We Have: Grown and stabilized our leadership team coming out of the Covid Pandemic era by welcoming Jonas Balloga to the Board as Secretary and Jodi Fowler as Chair of our newly formed Emergency Preparedness Committee. Hosted our first Emergency Preparedness Clinic alongside Boulder County Mounted Search and Rescue, Boulder County Animal Control and the Boulder County Fairgrounds. Fundraised for and awarded two youth scholarships Provided education on how to interact with horses on shared trails to over 215 mountain bikers in collaboration with the City of Boulder OSMP, Boulder Mountainbike Alliance and the Singletrack Mountain Bike Alliance. Gathered for a trail ride up at Caribou Ranch, with picnic and guest speakers. Held a fun and successful Fun Show in October with broad support from key community business partners and dedicated member volunteers. Engaged with Boulder County in key areas of impact to equestrians including evolving rules & regulations around e-bikes and firearms/shooting. Established a strong Facebook presence thanks to our hard-working social media team. Started updating our website to ensure a lasting and easy-to-manage presence that will span into the future. Held board meetings and sent out newsletters every month through 2022 to keep the work of the organization moving forward! If you are glad we did any of the above, or if you have an idea of how you could do it better, WE WELCOME YOUR HELP!

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A Tribute to Jay Hearst

Archives-Our Community / December 30, 2022

Jay and his horse Sonny, up Niwot Ridge in 2000. Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Webel JAY W. HEARST (1931-2021) A belated tribute to longtime BCHA member and Board member Jay Hearst by Suzanne Webel I met Jay in about 1998 when he called me to announce, “We’ve never met but I ‘m calling to tell you I bet you’re glad we are not going to become neighbors!” I had no idea what the heck this complete stranger was talking about, but less than a couple of minutes in to the conversation it was clear we were going to be good friends. It turned out that Jay was shopping for land to establish Colorado Horse Rescue’s new facility somewhere in Boulder County. The landlocked tract just east of ours was for sale, but the only legal access was along a very narrow strip of land that passed uncomfortably close to the front of our house. Physical access for a busy outfit like CHR would be long, expensive and fraught. But the final death knell for the deal was that Jay and his Realtor got hopelessly mired in the mud during their attempt to view the property and had to get towed out. So, instead, he found and purchased the much more appropriate property on 65th Street that people know of today as CHR. Did you know that Jay was behind the CHR purchase, its multiple building construction projects, and its move to Boulder from Arvada? Did you also know that Jay was behind two big

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Lily Thomas is Awarded the 2022 BCHA Youth Scholarship!

archives, Archives-Youth / July 16, 2022

Lily and her colt Westley from the AQHA young horse development program My name is Lily, I have been riding pretty much my whole life but started showing when I was eight! I have been so blessed to get to learn to ride and care for horses as a youth and get to continue on to college! I ride all around locally and show in versatility ranch horse. I love the strong community Boulder County has given me to grow up in! I’m super excited to start my next chapter at Texas Tech where I will major in Agricultural Business and minor in Agricultural Communications. I am also very passionate about horse judging and will continue to learn and develop skills for judging in college. I’m furthering my equestrian experience by not only being on Tech’s Judging Team (and hopefully Ranch Horse Team), but I want to work in the equine industry. I would love to be a show manager. I’ve grown up in the industry and have loved showing, being a show manager, and working on getting people to my series as well as working with organizations like AQHA, PTHA, and APHA to get shows sanctioned. I’ve had horses my whole life. My family moved out on land when I was only a few months old, and horses followed. I rode for the first time when I was three. The horse was three also and he spun and bucked me off right away. There was nowhere to go but up! At eight I joined 4-H

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Removing Recreational Sport Shooting from National Forest Land Along the Northern Front Range

Advocacy-public lands-resources / March 23, 2022

By Brittany Steffensen What if sport shooting was eliminated on US Forest Service (USFS) land in Boulder County and neighboring counties to the north and south? As equestrians who escape into the mountains for fun filled weekend trail rides, how would this impact your visits to the Front Range? With the rapid population growth and recreational use along the Front Range, recreational sport shooting on National Forest lands has become increasingly popular, bringing with it rising concerns about safety of all persons enjoying these lands. A collaborative, interagency solution has been in the works for many years through the efforts of the Northern Front Range Recreational Sport Shooting Management Partnership (NFRRSSMP). Their goal is to provide safe, responsible, and accessible recreational sport shooting opportunities while addressing conflicts between multiple recreational users on USFS lands across the northern Colorado Front Range. On February 8th, the board of directors of BCHA had the pleasure to sit down and hear from Mr. Gary Sanfacon, the Project Coordinator for the NFRRSSMP. As a Boulder County native, Sanfacon is honored to serve as the point person for this partnership between Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, and Larimer counties, in addition to the U.S. Forest Service, Northeast region of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forest, and Pawnee National Grassland. Sanfacon, too, has been impacted by sport shooting in the mountains of Boulder County. He shared that the ultimate goal for NFRRSSMP is to remove sport shooting (not permitted hunting) on Boulder County’s national forest land by providing a public

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Galloping Into 2022

Archives-Our Community / January 2, 2022

For BCHA, 2021 was a great year of promoting, protecting and advocating for the equestrian community of Boulder County. We are galloping into 2022 with new energy and enthusiasm, but let’s do a half-halt and recap what we have accomplished: BCHA grew our Board of Directors and retained important committee leadership! Want to collaborate with a great group of board and committee members? Please reach out to Clare Tone to see how you can help us accomplish more in 2022. BCHA re-upped our educational offerings by pivoting to monthly guest presentations via Zoom. We are fortunate to have so many knowledgeable folks who are so generous in sharing what they know with our horse community. Have something to offer our community in 2022? Reach out to Brittany Steffensen BCHA worked with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) to make available the H.O.O.F. Livestock Operation Find Form. Filling out and submitting your information allows the BCSO to maintain a central livestock database, and enables them to quickly contact you during an emergency. Find out more, fill out the H.O.O.F Form today! BCHA awarded two Youth Scholarships in June. Spread the word. We are accepting rolling applications through April 2022. Find out more. Your BCHA Board of Directors attended a retreat in July at Broken Arrow Ranch to clarify goals and cement relationships. BCHA expertise was sought out numerous times throughout the year for insights on equestrian trail access from community partners. These included the City and County of Boulder. We are grateful for our long legacy of leadership

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Boulder County Horse Association Celebrated 50 Years of Service with their Community

Archives-BCHA history / November 24, 2021

By Brittany Steffensen, BCHA Community Offerings It’s not every day you get to celebrate a 50th year of service as one of Boulder County’s most impactful and long lasting nonprofit organizations, but we did it this year with all of you. On the evening of September 26th the Boulder County Horse Association (BCHA), with its supportive and fun community, gathered at the Longmont Museum Swan Atrium to celebrate. It was a long awaited special event, with the joy and comradery seen and felt amongst the new and familiar faces. The 50th Anniversary & Annual Gathering was a sight to behold. Centerpieces made of horse snacks caught your eye with their bright colors, mouthwatering hor d’oeuvres floated throughout the crowd while everyone sipped from their complimentary BCHA glasses and the tunes from a lone guitarist sounded throughout the space. The room was filled with In-kind donated gifts from local artists and business owners that instigated some friendly silent bidding in support of BCHA. From paintings and jewelry to handmade goods and professional equine services and learning opportunities, we had it all. Not only were the silent auction items unforgettable, so was the special guest speaker Dr. Tamar McKee, PhD. A local of Boulder, Colorado, Tamar had us all captivated with her presentation; Horse Empowered: how equines help us hold space in times of historic and ecological change. You could hear a pin drop in the room as she so eloquently spoke to the group. Through a mixture of storytelling and historical analysis, McKee created a cinematic view of the

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BCHA Bike/Horse Educational Presentations

archives, Archives-Advocacy & public lands / November 1, 2021

Randy Winter, BCHA Trail Advisor On September 28, 2021, Randy and Cheryl Winter, along with their horse, Ellie, met up with a few cyclists from the Boulder High School Mountain Biking Team. Randy, BCHAs Trails Committee Advisor, and his herd mates have provided bike-horse interaction presentations to multi-trail user groups for quite a long time. As Cheryl described, “their horse Ellie had her early in-hand training days at trailheads. Bikers helped us train her to accept bikes by giving her cookies when she did well. So when Ellie saw the onslaught of bikes coming at her she had visions of cookies dancing in her little red head.” The day (pictured here) was the fourth consecutive session covering a total of 130 high school students. These presentations were about 30 minutes, and seemed to be well received. Afterwards, attendees were invited to come meet Ellie and give her a cookie. WEEEELLLLL, Ellie sure charmed them all and she was soon swarmed over by students. Some were petting and laying over her back because she was “so soft”, others were taking selfies with her. For many it was their first up-close and personal time with a horse. While others who had ridden before said the experience made them want to start riding again. Whichever way you took it, Ellie was there to help. Needless to say she was a star and helped get the bike/horse world off better connected! [divider style=”solid” color=”#cccccc” opacity=”1″ icon_color=”#666666″ icon_size=”15″ placement=”equal”]To arrange a bike/horse educational presentation with your group please contact Randy Winter

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Planning to trail ride on National Forest?

Advocacy-public lands-resources / September 12, 2021

By Clare Tone Download the free U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Motor Vehicle Use Maps first! The USFS has established official Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM) for the Roosevelt and Arapaho National Forests. These National Forests include some great horseback riding trails in Western Boulder County. The MVUM displays National Forest routes, roads and trails open to legal motorized travel (4WD, ATVs/UTVs, motorbikes, etc). Importantly, routes not shown on the MVUM are not open to motor vehicles. It’s not enough for vehicles to rely on signs to indicate where they can ride on the National Forest. It is the vehicle user’s responsibility to refer to the MVUM to ensure they are riding on legally designated routes. What does this mean for horseback riders? We can use the MVUM to plan our rides on USFS lands to minimize potentially dangerous run-ins with vehicles. The maps can be printed directly from the USFS website. Even better, download the FREE map onto your smartphone from the Avenza App store. The App does not require internet/cell reception to display map features and your location in real time. Below are the links to the areas covered by the Boulder Ranger District. You can also find other MVUM areas in the Avenza store as well! Roosevelt National Forest: North Half Roosevelt National Forest: South Half What should you do if you encounter vehicles on undesignated routes? As always it’s best to demonstrate good trail etiquette and communication. Often it’s a chance to educate others about safe interaction between horses and vehicles. When we

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