Wet Trails

Wet Trails
By Laura Vonk

Yes, I fully admit it! This is one of my Soapbox issues.

One of the most damaging things that can be done to a trail is to ride it when it is really wet.
During the spring, we're all chomping at the bit to get out there and ride, however, in some
cases this is the worst time to be on the trails. Spring rains often make the trails boggy in
different areas, and the horses try to go around the bog. This makes the trail wider and more
unsightly. Try not to trail ride your horse after it has rained heavily for 3 days. If you do,
train your horse to ride right through the middle of a boggy area to keep from making the trail
any worse than it already is.

There are other options if the trails are saturated. One is, if you have an arena or an good
place at home to work, work on perfecting a skill that your horse needs to develop further.
There are a lot of places you can road ride this time of the year. Several Conservation Areas
allow road riding, and any road within the Mark Twain National Forest is open to riding.
There's about 2000 miles, give or take, of that available. Lastly, many of the trails in the
southern Ozark area of the state have bedrock based trails that can withstand the riding
better than the trails in the northern half of the state.

If the trails at your house are too wet to ride, then the trails at your local State Park,
Conservation Area, or National Forest are probably too wet to ride too and you need to
think carefully about where you decide to ride.

Two state parks up north, Crowder State Park and Rock Bridge State Park, close their
trails when it's too wet and muddy. You have to contact them daily to find out the trail status
and whether or not they're open to ride. Check out the Trail Status section of my website to
get the phone numbers that you have to call.

Riding the trails when they are too wet is one of the things that has caused the most
frustration with land managers and other trail users. Using common courtesy and common
sense about this situation will go along way in improving our image as responsible trail riders,
as well as protect the trails so we have them to ride on for many years to come.

Soapbox Alert!