Clare Tone

Trail Riding Skills: it’s all about ATTITUDE

Trail News /

By Randy Winter Trail riding with horses, like many other ways people enjoy being with their horse, is a skilled discipline not to be taken lightly. Some of the trail skills for your horse are: trailering, obstacle negotiation, control of spook response, maneuverability, gait control, sure footedness and group manners. These are all equine-specific skills to be worked on and improved upon to enjoy time out on the trail. There are also trail riding skills for the rider, such as riding posture, tack suitability, group manners and clothing choice. But in this article, I’d like to specifically emphasize a rider skill that is often forgotten but extremely important, and that is Attitude! As a middle school teacher I learned the importance of controlling my attitude in the classroom and had this poem by Charles Swindoll on the wall by my desk for about 20 years: “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.  It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we […]

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The New Grindstone Quarry Trail at Heil Valley Ranch

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By Randy Winter There were lots of smiles all around at the grand opening of the Grindstone Quarry Trail at Heil Valley Ranch on October 9th. This is a 1.4 mile pedestrian/equestrian only trail beautifully winding it’s way up the east side of Geer Canyon Road. In addition, there are four horse trailer parking spaces at the new Corral Trailhead ready and waiting to be used. The Corral Trailhead is just a few tenths of a mile after you turn off Lefthand Canyon Road. My wife, Cheryl, and I checked out the trail last Sunday. The weather was perfect. Bright sunshine, cool temperature and a slight breeze at times. Saddling up, our horses were aware of the Sunday commotion of others preparing to enjoy the day as we were. We could see eyes looking our way with smiles and as Ranger Kevin Bradley passed by he shouted a “glad to see equestrians out here” greeting. The horses with their growing winter coats approached the trail with eagerness and ears pricked forward. A few well configured steps going down and up, across a dry creek bed quickly diverted our horses attention to the trail and the task ahead. We continued up a path well constructed with switchbacks supported by quarried layers of rock. Thanks to all those who volunteered and were part of the County work crew to create such a welcoming trail. A few bluebird boxes could be seen waiting for occupants next spring. Families with children were the major obstacle along the trail as we

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BCHA Awards its Two Youth Scholarships

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Congratulations Maddie and Liz! When the BCHA Youth Club formed three years ago, one of its primary objectives was to raise money for two new youth equestrian scholarships. The BCHA board is pleased to announce the names of our first two recipients: Madeline “Maddie” Williams $750 Collegiate Scholarship Awardee Maddie spends almost all of her spare time either riding, training, or taking care of horses. Her special interests include natural horsemanship, ranch versatility, and reining. She has shown horses through 4-H at the Boulder County Fair and in St. Vrain shows, but she has also honed her equine evaluation skills as part of St Vrain’s Horse Judging Career Development Event Team. Her last year earning was 4th Place at the 2018 National FFA competition. Maddie also takes pride in her dairy cattle showmanship and judging skills. She will be attending Aims Community College this fall, and will graduate in two years with an Animal Science Associates Degree, after which she intends to transfer to CSU in Ft. Collins, to study Equine Veterinary Sciences. “I plan to beome a holistic equine veterinarian,” says Maddie, explaining that she wants to help horses using all kinds of healing techniques, including acupuncture, equine dentistry, farriering, chiropractic treatment, herbal remedies, and laser therapy. Liz French $250 Teen Scholarship Awardee Liz first sat on a horse at the tender age of two, this was also the age she first fell off a horse—she reports with a smile.From then on she was hooked. Liz recounts how her first pony, Lucky, taught her about getting back

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Maria Wasson of West Winds Farm

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By Ann Hayes Photos by: Pat Jarvis ©2019 How do posture and balance contribute to excellence in horsemanship? Ask Maria Wasson who, with her husband Stephen Miller, built West Winds Farm in Longmont on 40 magnificent acres at the base of the Colorado Rockies. West Winds Farm is not only Maria and Stephen’s home but  also a productive hay farm. Moreover it is home to “West Winds Center for Equestrian Arts” which comprises a large central barn and two full-sized riding arenas. There are pastures, ponds and satellite sheds for the horses that live on the property. This is Maria’s domain. Here she trains horses and educates riders in a unique style—a style that draws on many disciplines but is very much her own. Maria grew up in the Denver area and was drawn to horses early in life. A whiz-bang rider from the get-go, she became an A-rated United States Pony Club (USPC) rider, the highest rank attainable in that program. During a year abroad in college, she attended the University of Sevilla in Southern Spain learning Spanish and riding a multitude of horses in different disciplines from Grand Prix Dressage and Doma Vaquera to race horses and parade horses. Returning home, she undertook serious dressage competition, winning RMDS and FEI championships on her own horses Andiamo and Orcas. A strong mastery of principles of dressage underlies her riding and teaching. Maria has a passion for understanding how learning happens in herself and others. Armed with a graduate degree in Education from the University of

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A Call to Action: Prairie Dog Management Practices

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On Tuesday May 7th at 6:00 PM the City of Boulder Open Space Board of Trustees will be presenting their recommendations to Boulder City Council on prairie dog (PD) management. We are asking our members to please consider taking the time to attend this meeting, or to write a letter to all City Council members (e-mails below), and to support the OSBT’s recommendations (see attached). Boulder County has a rich agricultural heritage, which began in the late 1860s and the future of agriculture in Boulder County and the health of our grasslands should be of concern for all citizens. The mission of Boulder County Open Space is to preserve and protect the natural environment and land resources that characterize Boulder. We foster appreciation and uses that sustain the natural values of the land for current and future generations. The proper stewardship of our grasslands, includes maintaining a healthy balance for all species and should not favor one component to the detriment of others. Continuing to protect agriculture as way of life, and the farmers that lease and care for the open space agricultural properties also needs to be protected. The voice of private property owners and the concerns they have about adjoining open space land management practices also needs to be heard as escalating numbers of colonies are destroying their lands. No one denies that prairie dogs (PD) are important to the ecosystem, but when one species numbers causes the destruction of another through lack of natural predation, and destroys grasslands then they must be managed, and all

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Trailering 101: What an Informative and Fun Clinic!

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We would like to thank Christy Jemail and all our participants for coming out to Boulder Valley Ranch for the Trailering 101 clinic. What a beautiful day to be outside with Christy Jamail and all that attended our first Spring clinic! We were able to present three horses for Christy to work with, and also had three different trailer types at hand. For our demonstration we offered a: Bumber pull, two horse slant, Gooseneck, living quarters slant with a ramp and back tack room, and Two horse gooseneck slant with a back tack room The three horses at hand are boarded at Boulder Valley Ranch. Max, an Arabian had not loaded in some time; Moon, a mustang, had slight backing issues; and Nico, an Azteca, had bolting out issues. Christy started out with Max, and she quickly surmised that Max needed some ground work before she even thought about loading. Christy spent a good 30 minutes or more getting this geldings attention on her, while watching for him to relax and accept her as the leader. One of the things Max did was to throw his shoulder into her, so she worked on moving him away from her until he began to give her more respect. As the group watched, we had time for questions, learned ground techniques, and grew to understand the connection you need to establish with any horse before loading them into a trailer. When Christy felt that Max was ready she approached the ramp trailer. Max had never used one and it had

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What is Happening to Our OSMP Agricultural Lands and Open Space

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All Boulder County Horse Owners, Agricultural Property Owners and Lease Holders, and Open Space and Mountain Parks Users should be concerned about the detrimental effects of having too many prairie dogs on our Open Space properties. We encourage you to get active now. That means getting out to attending City Council and Open Space and Mountain Parks meetings as much as you can in the next few weeks. Decisions are now being made about the forthcoming Grassland and OSMP Agricultural Land Management Plans that will affect us all. For starters, we will be seeing a 30% decrease in funding for OSMP management over the next few years. So what is the “prairie dog problem?” Over the last few years, many of our agricultural lands and open space properties have been dramatically and negatively affected by an over population of prairie dogs, which is the result of a lack of predators, fragmented land parcels, and current management policies. Essentially, the prairie dog problem is one of density and overgrazing, which has led to destruction of our agricultural land, diminished economic value, and a decline in ecological diversity. Although Boulder County authorities once believed that, “the presence of prairie dog colonies…leads to …overall species richness in the grassland prairie,”1 today’s increased density and size of the colonies has resulted in the opposite effect. Ranchers who have been leasing and managing open space lands are pulling out of their leases. Why? Because production yields of hay and grazing acres have been so depleted by the over grazing of prairie dogs. This

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The 2019 BCHA Youth Scholarships

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The Boulder County Horse Association is pleased to announce that we are offering, two new youth scholarships for  Boulder County youth equestrians. Our equestrian scholarships are awarded to applicants who demonstrate the highest standards of character in community support, educational achievements and equestrian dedication. There are two scholarships for which you can apply: Collegiate $750 and/or Teen Scholarship $250. Both scholarships require the applicant to be a resident of Boulder County. You may apply for both scholarships if you meet the individual requirements; however, you can only be awarded one scholarship. For more information and to download the 2019 Youth Scholarship Application, please visit our Youth Scholarships page. Good Luck!

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Gunbarrel Hill Open Space

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What is the future of our open space properties? By Linda Parks I had the opportunity to attend the first Gunbarrel Hill Open Space meeting in January hosted by Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park (OSMP) where OSMP has started asking for the community’s help in realizing the vision of this open space (many of us who ride this area may know it as Heatherwood). This area currently appears to be a healthy and balanced wildlife habitat, it is also an enjoyable recreational area for hikes and horseback riding. The Gunbarrel Hill open space is bordered west to east by 75th and 95th Streets, and north to south from Lookout Road to the White Rocks area. I affords one with spectacular views of the front range and the snow capped Longs Peak, along with rolling grasslands, songbirds and great footing for a lovely canter. The evening opened with an informative presentation about the history of the area, the work OSMP did on restoring it, and the ecosystem it created along the way. The reseeding of grasses to restore the fields (one of the longest prairie restoration projects in OSMP’s history), has assisted in the return of ground nesting birds, like the endangered grasshopper sparrow, which will only nest in healthy prairie grassland, to a species of butterfly that will only lay its eggs on two types of grass, and our beautiful meadowlarks. After the presentations concluded there was a Q + A period. I voiced my concerns to OSMP and asked if they had a defined plan to maintain the prairie

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BCHA Announces Retirement of Longtime Board Member Suzanne Webel

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Suzanne Webel has been a BCHA member almost since its inception in 1971. She spent more than 24 years on the BCHA Board, including several stints as President as well as in many other roles, including Secretary, Treasurer and External Vice President. She has advocated tirelessly for equestrians with a focus on trails, zoning, public land management, and agriculture. When she’s not volunteering on nonprofit boards, she actively manages her family’s 80-acre boarding and hay farm in central Boulder County. BCHA was Suzanne’s passion and she has truly given her heart and soul to this organization and to its mission. In recognition of her extraordinary commitment and accomplishments, the BCHA Board awarded her the BCHA Achievement Award in 1998, and the BCHA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Suzanne has now moved on to other pursuits, including her responsibilities as President of the Boulder Area Trails Coalition (BATCO). She will, of course, continue to advocate for horses and horse people in Boulder County. BCHA thanks Suzanne for her many years of service and dedication to the horse community of Boulder County.

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