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[RC] deadly bicyclist - Ridecamp Guest

Please Reply to: Tammy TakeBackOurTrails@xxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Hello,
My name is Tammy Maramonte. I live in Montecito California, just outside of 
Santa Barbara on the coast. While I am not an endurance rider, I am an avid 
trail rider. I have been riding horses for the past 21 years and have spent 
much of that time working with them professionally.
I am hoping the story I am about to tell you will find it's way onto your 
website.
On October 30th, I went for a trail ride on one of our local trails here in 
Montecito. Since they are only 10 minutes away by horse, we ride them quite 
regularly. Our horses have been on these trails consistently for the past 4 
years. There was nothing new or different about this ride.
I was on my husbands Spotted Saddle Horse, Rocket. He was the type of horse 
that would put up with anything or go anywhere, regardless. He trusted us as 
much as we trusted him.
Everything went as usual. I was about a mile from the trail head headed up the 
mountain. We where on a part of the trail that had a steep drop to our left and 
a mountain up to our right. 5 to 10 feet in front of us, a mountain biker came 
around a blind corner. Caught completely off guard and with no warning, Rocket 
spun to the left. He went down the embankment. I bailed off of him about 15 
feet down and clung on to the side of the mountain while I watched Rocket 
struggle for footing without success. He continued down the embankment about 60 
feet where he came to rest on a tree.
The mountain biker had stopped and pulled me up onto the trail. As I stood 
there in disbelief, I watched with horror as the tree gave and Rocket fell from 
sight.
I ran back down the trail until I found an old trail that had been washed away. 
I hurried down it as fast as possible, reached the creek and began climbing 
over boulders, trees and through water to get to my horse.
I found him laying in the creek, struggling to get up. I uncinched his saddle 
and tried to encourage him to move. To no avail.
Rocket died 3 horrifying hours later due to hyperthermia and exhaustion. He was 
unable to stand due to a broken back.
Something has to be done to make our trails safe again. I know that this is not 
an isolated case and I am begging for support from our horse community, 
especially the trail riding community, to fight this ever growing problem. 
While I agree that everyone has a right to enjoy these trails, I do not agree 
that anyone has the right to make them unsafe, and in this case deadly to other 
trail users.
Please e-mail me with your thoughts on this. I urge you to support this cause 
to "Take Back Our Trails".
Best Regards,
Tammy Maramonte
Please send similar stories or comments to:
?Take Back Our Trails?
1026 Coast Village Road
Suite #18
Santa Barbara, Ca. 93108
TakeBackOurTrails@xxxxxxx


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