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[RC] deadly bicyclist/ - Ridecamp GuestPlease Reply to: Joanne Mahon mahonconst@xxxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================== What a tragic story. I had a similar situation happen where a Mountain Bicyclist came around a blind corner going fast down hill. Horse and I both panic'd and barely managed not to go off a 100' drop off. Fortuneately we lived. Yes, we have to share trails. And Mountain Bicyclists out number equestrians that use the same trails. Couldn't agree with you more about being non compatible and introducing an element of danger especially for the horse and rider. What can you do? [RC] deadly bicyclist - Ridecamp Guest -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please Reply to: Tammy TakeBackOurTrails@xxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================== 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 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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