Trail riding season is upon us and what better place to live than Jefferson County with our vast Open Space Park system!  Of our thirty two Open Space parks, thirty of them include horseback riding as part of their multi-use standard, while White Ranch and Reynolds Park has even provided equestrian friendly campsites.   Jefferson County’s website offers detailed information about each park including maps, history, use schedules, planning tips and other important information.  With hikers, bikers and equestrians all enjoying our trail systems, two groups have come out of the desire to take care of our parks and to serve as representatives for different trail uses; The Jefferson County Volunteer Patrollers and the Jeffco Trail Users Forum.

The Jefferson County Volunteer Patrollers serve as ambassadors within the Jeffco Open Space Parks.  Of the over one hundred and fifty patrollers, about fifteen of these are equestrian patrollers, fifty are bikers and the remaining are hikers or seasonally cross country skiers.  As with each patroller group, equestrian patrollers provide services to park visitors and look to add more each year to serve in their group.  The patrollers utilize their training to alleviate park visitor conflicts through patrol and peer education.  They do this by using their training to work independently with first aid, emergency response, education, and resource protection.  This training includes CPR, dog on leash education (our number one park issue), flora and fauna identification and care, fire awareness, and equestrian (or otherwise) specific skills.  While the volunteer patrollers directly serve the visitors and parks; the Trail Users Forum works as a liaison with the county and other users.

The Trail Users Forum was originally created in 1995 to facilitate the increased park attendance and different types of trail users.  The forum is made up of volunteer citizens from the majority user groups – equestrians, hikers and mountain bikers, as well as Open Space Advisory Committee representatives and Open Space Staff representatives.  The purpose of the forum is to take ideas, compliments and concerns from the different user groups and then make recommendations to improve trail use experience for all users to enjoy a safe, quality experience while they also consider the protection of the natural resource.  There are eight Equestrian and Hiking Representatives and seven Biking Representatives. 

The Trail Users Forum improved the horse trailer parking at Centennial Cone as well as implemented the alternating use schedule for hikers and bikers.  The schedule is as follows:  equestrian use is allowed everyday; weekdays are multi-use and weekends allow bikers on even days and hikers on odd days.  This way, equestrians that do not wish to encounter bikes can plan accordingly.  In March 2010, the forum implemented changes at Apex Park once it was learned that equestrians had nearly stopped using the trail because the speed of bikers was a safety issue with the horses.  Now the park strictly enforces that on odd days, bikes are only allowed to travel one way to allow a safer speed for bikes and horses to interact.

Get out and enjoy the many trails in our Jefferson County Open Space Parks this summer with your friends and horses!  Remember the folks who volunteer to protect the trails, users and our natural resources and maybe even consider serving along with them as a patroller or on the forum.   If you are looking to trail ride with local horse people, email me to be added to The Colorado Corral trail ride list or   Buffalo Bill Saddle Club at bbscgolden.org is another active local trail riding group.  Happy Trails!

For more information on these two groups go to co.jefferson.co.us/openspace and search for the group name.  The Trail Users Forum Equestrian Representatives have a FaceBook page at “Jeffco Colorado Open Space Equestrians”.

Questions or Comments?  Let me hear from you!  Do you know someone or something in our horse community you want to know more about?  Give me your suggestions at heather@coloradocorral.com.  To learn more about our local horse community go to www.coloradocorral.com.