This message is from: "Vanessa N. Weber" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I totally agree. Thanks for the testing suggestions too. I think there must be some silly reason behind this, and that it's not just the horse poop. I think they may be hiding something else behind that. I will be finding out more at the end of the week when our local horse club and members of the Horse Council meet with the DEP. I was scheduled to fly to St Louis for an important dog show, but am now considering cancelling because of this. Vanessa -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tamarack Lamb & Wool Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2007 3:02 PM To: fjordhorse@angus.mystery.com; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: re:Despair This message is from: "Tamarack Lamb & Wool" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> re: the rational behind closing trails to horses....contamination of waterways with manure is NOT a legitamate reason. There have been studies in Minnesota that have found that there is far more wildlife manure contaminating streams than there is manure run off from farms (and there still are farms which have run off direct into small streams and ditches that eventually run into rivers which is much more significant that horse manure on the trail). Knowing that the amount of wildlife manure is NORMAL the itsy bitsy bit contributed by horses along a trail (often far from the stream and river crossings), is totally insignificant. IF they are trying to claim horse manure is a genuine problem, ask for PROOF. There are ways to measure this (studies where water is sampled and a count on species specific ecoli is done). Make sure these measurements are taken over an entire year's time, not just on one day or one month and to include wildlife as well as horses. Hikers might be legitamately upset by mud or erosion. If so then establish separate albeit parallel trails or repair the damage. We have this in some areas in MN where horse, hiking, and ATV trails travel in the same general area, but are separate to avoid conflicts. It does not take much distance for the second trail to be totally unobservable, so it does not ruin the experience for the other users. Erosion can be repaired. Example are steps (see our photos page www.tamaracksheep.com ) filled with wood chips. Travel by horse back is a part of our history as much as travelling by foot. It is wrong to disallow horse back riding, not to mention the special circumstances in this case where land was sold for the purpose of developing horseback riding trails. Janet -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
