By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: March.1, 2012
Squamish Valley Equestrian Association (SVEA) members are disappointed the district didn’t talk to them before it decided to block horses from a Brackendale trail.
SVEA member recently discovered that a sign barring horses from the Ray Peters Trail seems to have suddenly sprung up at the entrance of the trail.
Yasmine Jodrey, SVEA member and chair of the Backcountry Horsemen of B.C., said she saw the sign while walking on the trail.
It rang an alarm bell.
Jodrey said she noticed the footing of the trail also had a different kind of gravel, she said.
“It’s quite obvious they don’t want horses there,” she said.
Follwing that, SVEA wrote a letter to the district, asking that notice be given in written form to the club when trail usage has been changed.
“A consultation with the SVEA would have been highly appreciated,” wrote andra Haffey, secretary of the association.
SVEA member are also waiting to hear back from the district on a new narrow Carpenter’s son bridge in Valleycliffe.
The new bridge, which crosses over Ring Creek, is too narrow to ride a horse.
“It’s very dangerous now for our user group and we are waiting to hear from the district,” Jodrey added.
Jodrey said horses are a rich part of Squamish history, and a lot of historical trails were created by the equestrian community.
“We are almost grandfathered because we created a lot of these trails and trail system,” she noted
At the same time, SVEA wants to respect the right of other user groups.
“We have to respect other user groups as we are a minority group now, even though we were the ones who built the trail,” she added.
Jodrey said she hopes the district would consult them before making any decisions about barring horses from the trails.
“It would be nice to have a conversation about it, to be part of the discussion,” she said.
Muriel Shephard says
I’m curious: which trails did SVEA build? Surely not the Ray Peters.
Jeannie Bardach says
Excuse me, but i always thought it was quite arrogant of Ray Peters (I can hear the gasps, now!) to tell me not to ride beside the hwy as he and a couple of people he knew were planning on upgrading it for running. All the trails in there were game trails and we rode them, people occasionally walked them but mostly it was the horseback riders that used them. In fact I recall seeing people riding alongside the hwy in the ’70s before i even had a horse. The “Ray Peters” trail was in existance long before he came along so that’s heritage enough for me! I will continue to ride the Ray Peters trail, but don’t worry, if it’s too narrow for a person to walk around it, I will boot my horses fertilizer off the trail. I will slow down and walk as I approach you and exchange a friendly “hi”, but make sure you get your facts straight before you surmise that because Ray Peters improved on an already existing trail gives you the right to imply condemnation on another user group! Sincerely Jeannie Bardach
Muriel Shephard says
I was only curious. I haven’t seen horses on the section I walk. I know the District is wanting to make some trails accessible and safe for older people (like myself), young mums with small children, as well as other users. Walking is the best form of exercise when one gets older… One can choose to walk the forest trails, with caution, but after a point, trails such as the Ray Peters, being close to a road, wider and smoother than most of the (bike) trails becomes the sensible choice.
Jeannie Bardach says
Fair enough, guess I just get tired of hearing people surmise that because they see people working on a trail they built it. I’ve done my share of trail work, one in particular is the trail that went up to the highlands from the golf course called 7up (or was it 8 ball?). It wa a very faint game trail and my friend Cory Ellen & I blazed it out, rerouted sections of it ’round downfalls and rode it for probably 3 years before the mtn bikers found it and claimed it as theirs. Now years later that area is riddled with trails, yes the mtn bikers did most of them but the area was originally opened by game, and in my mind is there for all to use and enjoy. There really are other trails the horse community has ridden & worked on, but many (equestrians) have moved away, feeling they have been pushed out of the community as other user groups appear to have taken priority with the district rating in importance
to appease.