No Horses on Trails

[connie B Berto <cberto@juno.com>]

Just catching up with my Ridecamps, and as AERC Trails Chair I will get a
letter off to John Oliver, the secretary of DCNR (what does that stand
for??) in PA, about keeping horses on trails in Pennsylvania.    It's too
bad that some hikers have this tiresome fixation on manure.   How
childish, when there are so many beauties of nature all around them.    
     Here are some economic, social, and physical  benefits (both direct
and indirect) of having horses in your area, given  in no particular
order:
     Stables, riding lessons, showing, judges, coaches, publications,
videos, printers, production studies.   Trucks, trailers, hitches,
welders, electricians, tires, gasoline, license plates.  Grooming aids,
gifts, art, apparel, acessories, leatherworkers, catalog sales, tack
stores.  Labor, grounds keepers, concessions, jockeys, trainers, tracks,
fairgrounds.  Delivery vehicles, fertilizer, weed and pest control, farm
equipment, apple and carrot farmers, grain growners, hay and alfalfa
growers, feed stores.   Toy stores with model horses, bookstores with
horsebooks, libraries with books about horses. 
        Sales and auctions, imports, exports,  education, associations,
breed organizations, health care, stallion sevices, veterinarians,
universities/colleges with vet. medicine departments.  Summer camps,
schools, events, travel,  airlines,  trail rides, sleigh rides, rent
strings, 4H, Pony Clubs, Riding for the Handicapped facilities,  trophy
and ribbon shops, vacations.  Footing, stalls, fencing, engineers,
architects, farm and stable equipment, barns, ranches, outbuildings. 
Salespeople, computer services, software, professional services,
directories, employment services, and banking.    (And I'm not even
mentioning that horses can take the place of a psychiatrist!)
     I've probably left a few out, and feel free to add to the list.   
Ridecampers,  please keep this list in mind whenever  you meet up with
the "No Horses Here" mentality.    It should give you plenty of
ammunition for the letter(s) I hope you will write....Regards,    Connie
Berto 

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