Ohio Horseman’s Council, Inc

Member of American Horse Council

ohconline.com

SECRETARY

Ranee Vititoe 740/505-2713 secretary@ohconline.com

TREASURER

Jo Ellen Reikowski 330/806-3146 treasurer@ohconline.com

MEMBERSHIP

Catherine Estill 513/319-2517 membership@ohconline.com

PRESIDENT

Eric Estill 513/266-9823 president@ohconline.com

VICE PRESIDENT

Nancy Strayer 740/694-1007 vicepresident@ohconline.com

OHC COUNTY LINES EDITOR

Martie Ackerman 713/553-9644 countylineeditor@ohconline.com

County Lines

ASHTABULA

Greetings from Ashtabula County. I live in Ohio’s sharpest corner and the largest county in Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie. It is a typical small town, but we have places to ride nearby and we’re not too far from the Allegheny mountains for a getaway camping trip and some great trails.

I have been a member of OHC for 20 plus years and have written for the Corral most of those years. I am passing my pen on to Kathryn Ring (Kat) in January, and I look forward to reading someone else’s news.

We had our November meeting on the first day of the month, so I have some current news. We have the same officers for next year except for vice president, and Kat Ring will be that person. We discussed our calendar for 2023 and will have a scavenger hunt, and the Dice ride. There will be three horse shows with points, and prizes will be presented at the end of the series. Last year they had beautiful belt buckles and some cash awarded, so watch the Corral calendar for the dates of these events and come and join us.

If you want to join our OHC chapter, contact Mallissa Vincent or go to the State website and download a membership form. We have a lot of fun, including excellent food. I think it’s a tie between the food and the trail rides. Meetings are on the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. in Pierpont at The Ducro Funeral Home. If you are a former member, come back and join the fun. Please bring your ideas. We are always willing to try new things.

The Christmas party was on Nov. 12 at Kay’s place this year. It was a fun-filled evening and included a ‘Dirty Santa’ and some great gifts.

‘Til next time, give thanks for the good things and give your horse a hug.

CLARK

Clark County had their fall campout the end of October. Thank you to all who contributed and made it a super fun weekend. Kids and adults enjoyed the obstacles that were set up on a short trail leaving from the campground. It was interesting to see which obstacle provided a challenge for each horse. For some it was walking over a twin size mattress or dragging a snake or even walking through mesh curtains. All riders were successful completing the course and the kids kept getting braver and began jumping the small ‘X’. The little daredevils will soon be running barrels or trying their mounts at eventing. There were lots of prizes for those that found a ghost along the trail and Jessie Macy won the drawing for a $50 Rod’s gift certificate. Chris Price made an ample pot of chili and others contributed sides and plenty of desserts. Chris also brought along a screen and DVD player. Those not enjoying the fire were treated to a showing of ‘Cowgirls and Angels’ along with popcorn. Mark your calendar for next years’ fall campout.

As of this writing it is too early to tell who won the quilt for the 50th anniversary bingo card. I hope everyone enjoyed the new challenges that bingo presented. I was able to get about 30 squares completed and the most fun for me was the obstacle course. My horses, Annie and Easy, were both terrified of the parachute but we will keep trying. The Renaissance Fair was my reenactment choice and I always enjoy the jousting as I get a glimpse into a knight’s life in romantic medievalism. Tempting as it is, I must also not get my friends to try that at home. Most surprising to me is that about 50 percent of the visitors are in full costume, so they’re actually participating in the re-enactment and not just observing. It was also impressive to see on Facebook how many people participated in the Bingo and actually completed most of the card. My goals are still to take an equine emergency course and learn to back up a bumper pull trailer.

Our first meeting of 2023 will be Wednesday, Jan. 14 at The Plattsburg UCC, 1715 S. Urbana Lisbon Road, S. Charleston at 5:30 p.m. Hope to see you there! Come ride with Clark County! ~Jonna

Mattress challenge.

A future eventer.

COLUMBIANA

Hello everyone, it has been a moment since Columbiana County OHC has posted anything even though there has been much going on. Mid-October we had our traditional Halloween event and what a success it was! The park was full, which I haven’t seen for a while. It reminded me of maybe five or ten years ago, when we would fill the park every weekend. Some of the events at our Halloween event were the costume parade with many wonderful costumes, a dinner for all, with Tom Moore heading up a beautifully cooked roast beef, and an evening of trick or treat with a scary haunted trail headed up by Chad Rose and a Chinese auction. Of course, we don’t want to forget the person who organized the whole event, hats off to our own Casey Moore. Thank you Casey, you did a great job! Along with all the events of the day we had beautiful weather to enjoy our many trails and everyone had a great time.

Many improvements have been made on the equine trails at Beaver Creek. Improvements which include clearing of trails, repairing of bridges, planting of trees inside the equine camp site and the big one the re-build of a 100-foot trail on the yellow loop. This 100-foot section of trail was consistently muddy for years regardless of the time of year. I would like to thank Rick and Alice Haldiman, Dave Ward, Ted and Becky Todd, Tom Moore, Aaron Perkins and Eric Dow brought for hauling in tons of back fill and gravel which was used to build up and grade the trail so that the water would not lie standing. The improvements to the trails could not have been made without the hard work of these amazing folks. What a beautiful job they did indeed!

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, also I would like to encourage folks to visit and enjoy the wonderful equine trails we have at Beaver Creek! ~Doug Johnson

COSHOCTON

Hello December! It feels like a month ago I was writing about spring. We had a very good year and wrapped up our last

Coshocton County OHC

Lunch break.

Spring ride.

scheduled ride with our ride and roast on Nov. 5. We held a meeting following the ride as well as a cozy fire to sit around. We also voted on our officers for 2023.

Fallon had a very successful year and I would like to thank everyone who helped maintain the trails, helped with the hog roast, worked the Poker Ride, etc. Despite the attendance for the hog roast being a little less than years past we had a very good auction and made out just as well as the last several years.

We have a few places in mind for our Christmas party and we will not have it until January, but check out our Facebook page for details as we do not have anything booked yet.

Our club, even though very small, believes in giving back and supporting each other and other organizations. As a club, we once again donated a trophy for the Coshocton Fair back in October, donated to the Coshocton animal shelter and purchased a doe packet for the Wild Turkey Federation.

Just a reminder to all, the trails at Fallon close at the end of December for all equine activities.

I hope y’all had a great year and I look forward to seeing you on the trails and at our 2023 events. ~Gigi

CUYAHOGA

Next month many chapters will have new officers or committee heads. Fresh ideas and enthusiasm will recharge our dedication and activities. Let’s all join in that enthusiasm and be of great support and we will all have an exciting 2023.

New officers for Cuyahoga chapter will be President Kathy King, Vice President CJ Abood, Secretary Chris Slavik, and continuing Treasurer is Cathy Rutti. We wish this team of officers our very best! It should be a great year with new faces and new enthusiasm at the helm. I have enjoyed serving as president for so many years and plan to be involved and help as much as needed. I thank you all for the support and friendship you have shared with me.

The weekend events Nov. 5 and 6 were highlighted by the 50th OHC Anniversary Celebration Dinner at the Elks Club in Newark, Ohio, and what a great event it was. Organized and planned by Mary Alice Kuhn and a committee of 10 people, who worked together for a year or so, it was the place to be. There were gold accessories everywhere. Round tables covered with black tablecloths, gold napkins, a gold sprinkled centerpiece placemat with metal pumpkins adorned with twinkle lights and gold wrapped candies sprinkled around the centerpiece. The 50th anniversary banner that had traveled to most or all of the State rides, hung proudly from the balcony.

The beautiful quilt designed and handmade by Diane Joseph featured T-shirts donated by most of the county chapters. It was spectacular as horses were stitched into the quilting. This was truly a work of art lovingly put together. This was the major prize awarded to one of the many members who participated in the ‘Bingo 50 Try Something New’ in 2022. There were so many other prizes awarded it was hard to keep track. Weekend camping, Road to the Horse tickets, gift certificates from Schneiders Tack and Big D’s, Weaver Leather, beautiful handcrafted candle holders made by member Al Sidell and way too many others to mention all of them.

Dinner featured a delicious pasta buffet offering various choices along with salad and rolls and of course, two large cakes decorated with the celebration theme.

Then on to prize drawings throughout the evening and most everyone dancing to their favorite tunes be they rock and roll, romantic, line dancing or some other fun and crazy steps of electric slid or macarena. The singer who played guitar and was the DJ provided something for everyone. He read the crowd well and it was great fun. This was certainly an affair we will all remember fondly.

Of course, it was back to business on the sixth as the State meeting came to order. Many topics of interest were covered and some bylaw changes were approved. This was a well attended meeting, with many counties present, and a full report can probably be found online by the time you read this. These meetings give members from all over the state a great way to see the scope of OHC and learn all that the many committees work on and all they accomplish. If you have never attended one, you should try to attend the next one held again in Newark on March 11. I think you will be amazed how large and effective this group of dedicated horse enthusiasts is. You do not need to be an officer to attend as all members are encouraged to attend. Learn about the many committees that cover things such as trail mile tracking, membership, newsletters, promotions, awards, finance, grants, legal affairs, historical, state rides and so many others. These are all volunteers from all across the state who are dedicated to the success of the equine community. Check it out and take time to look at all that OHC has to offer by looking online at the state OHC website, www.ohconline. com, you will be amazed as you scroll around the site.

Please take time to join OHC or renew your membership. Hopefully online at the site above as that is the best way. But if signing up via computers is not to your liking, please look for the membership forms available on this site under find a chapter, or in your local chapter newsletter. Of course, I hope you join Cuyahoga Chapter as I said above 2023 is going to be an exciting year! ~Penny Passalacqua

DELAWARE

Holiday greetings from your friends in Delaware chapter!

As this year draws to a close, I’ve enjoyed reminiscing Penny with her Piper and Orion.

Trail crew at Cocos Way.

Carole aboard her new horse Wrangler.

about the many fun events and accomplishments that our members took part in and/or achieved this past year. Our chapter is blessed to have some of the most hard-working, dedicated, and fun-loving members any club could hope for!

For example, our trail maintenance volunteers, headed up by trail crew leader, Mary Chmielewski, continue their dedicated work of maintaining the bridle trails of our ‘adopted’ park, Alum Creek State Park. These folks strive to maintain, repair, and improve the trails to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all equestrians. Several major work projects were completed this year including our 2022 matching grant project that involved the re-decking of two high-traffic platforms along Winterhawk west trail. This trail also saw projects completed with the partnership of a landowner whose property borders Alum Creek trails and his company’s volunteer day. Eleven

of his employees spent their volunteer day working alongside our trail crew to accomplish some awesome trail improvements. We look forward to another productive year on behalf of our Alum Creek bridle trails. Why not consider joining us and lending a hand on a Tuesday morning helping maintain our Alum Creek bridle trails? Your participation is needed and much appreciated.

This past year, our chapter members had the opportunity to attend several guest speaker presentations held during our monthly chapter meetings. Topics including saddle fitting, horse trailer safety, and equine first aid. In addition, our chapter held its annual ‘Autumn at Alum’ trail ride and campout which was a resounding success. Black Swan Farm, Ostrander, Ohio, was the location of a ‘trail obstacle fun day’ and leisurely trail ride for members. Delaware members accomplished our chapter’s three community service projects of Adopt-A-Highway litter pickup along our ‘adopted’ stretch of SR 36/37.

Officer elections were held during our November meeting and a big congratulations is extended to our new 2023-chapter officers: Theresa Burke, President, Kim Vorbau, Vice President, Bobbi Arters, Secretary, and Alex Sydney, Treasurer. A sincere thank you is extended to Pat O’Connell, for his tenure serving as our chapter’s treasurer.

Our chapter’s Christmas party is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 2 beginning at 7 p.m. Join us for a potluck dinner and ‘Secret Santa’ gift exchange. Wear your best ugly sweater for a chance to win a holiday surprise!

If you have not already turned in your 2022 trail mileage and saddle hours to Theresa, please do! Deadline for turning in your 2022 trail mileage and saddle hours is Dec. 31, 2022.

In closing, it is the goal of your newly elected chapter officers to support our Delaware chapter members in continuing the momentum of fun and enthusiasm, the spirit of volunteerism and the sense of responsibility as caretakers of the bridle trails at Alum Creek State Park. We enthusiastically welcome new members and encourage our fellow OHC friends to become secondary members of our chapter too. Now is the time to renew your membership in Delaware chapter for 2023. Go to ohconline.com. Come join the fun with us!

Wishing everyone (including your four-legged companions) a blessed holiday! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ~Theresa Burke

ERIE

Greetings from Erie County! Fall riding and driving has been superb. The end of October, Erie County OHC held a club campout at Edison Woods, Smokey Road trailhead. We had a great turnout with day riders and overnighters. A potluck and campfire were shared as the day transitioned to evening. There are a few new horses in our club and Edison Woods is a great place to introduce them to trail riding. Cheryl and Eric brought their new horse, Maverick to the day ride. Maverick is a beautiful, 13-year-old Tennessee Walker gelding. He was able to ride with many of the other more seasoned horses. I think he is beginning to like it! Lynn was pretty excited to bring home her 7-month-old Rocky Mountain filly. Her name is Moxie and she surely is a sweet thing. It was fun being around a little one again. She has such a beautiful face. I can’t wait to see her next spring!

Our ride planning meeting was at the beginning of November. We met at the D&D Winery in Norwalk. We had a fantastic turnout with some great ideas. A big thank you goes out to Beth for bringing pre-printed calendars for everyone to fill out! Great plans are being made for 2023 with some new places to camp. What a fun year we have planned. Our first ride of the year is Jan. 1. We will meet up on the Mason Road trailhead at 1 p.m. I can bring hot chocolate!

December 8 is our annual Christmas party. We will be meeting at The Coupling for a potluck and other festivities. See you there!

Merry Christmas to everyone! May the New Year bring you good health, happiness and time for your horses. Life is better on the trail!

A Sunday ride.

Moxi and Lynn

~Shelley

FULTON

Wow! Who would have thought that the last weekend of October would be so mild and wonderful for riding? We went to Oak Openings Sunday afternoon and the riders’ center was packed! We got the last available parking spot; thank goodness LeRoy pulled his big rig all the way forward in the center so we could park behind him. Otherwise, we would have had to do down around the corner to the staging area in the Maumee State Forest on Route 64. Keep that in mind if that ever happens to you. There is a trail from that staging area to the riders’ center. There could have been a couple Matt and Story the trail horse at Hueston Woods.

more spots if people had parked better at the riders’ center. Please keep that in mind too.

October was wonderful for camping! In addition to the planned trips to Elkins Creek, Van Buren, Hueston Woods and Reed Road, members threw together last-minute adventures at Reed Road and Alum Creek. The unusually warm weekends kept us going longer than expected and it was great. I heard rumors of even more in November. That’ll teach me to wait to take everything out of the camper until we are done for sure for the year! For the first time ever, I did it the day after our last planned trip and then there were more opportunities. Darn it!

The trip to Hueston Woods was unique in that the Tri State Rocky Mountain Horse Club held their Family Fun Day Horseshow while we were there. They allowed all breeds to enter so my husband, Matt entered the trail obstacle class on his Quarter Horse Story. Now, Story is ‘just a trail horse’ and had never been in the show ring that we know of and he placed second! It was fun watching the show and the club was a fun group of people. The campground was very nice and the trails were great. It was definitely a good time for our group.

We held our chapter elections in October and the current officers were re-elected. President Jack

Collins, Vice President Kathy Brown, Secretary Tammy Royer and Treasurer Jo Neeley were nominated to continue their offices in 2023 and ran unopposed. Lisa Line will continue to be our volunteer coordinator/reporter.

Reservations are coming in daily for our Christmas tack swap, shopping and live auction at WB Ranch in Swanton on Dec. 4. We should have a good turnout and there will be some awesome raffle items. Come on out to see us and shop!

If you’d like to know what we’re up to in real time or want more information on our activities, check our website, fcohc.com, Facebook group Fulton County OHC or Facebook page Fulton County Ohio Horseman’s Council. Come see us at our chapter meetings which are usually on the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m. and are currently held in the banquet room at The Bunker Bar in Holland. Anyone and everyone are always welcome.

We hope you all are well and safe and we look forward to seeing you on the trails or at our activities!

~Kathy

GEAUGA

Hello everyone! I hope you were able to enjoy some fall season riding this year. We could not have asked for a more perfect October day to have our regional ride. Over 20 riders were able to take in the beauty of the colors at West Woods and enjoy a delicious potluck dinner. Thanks for sharing good conversation and tasty cuisine.

The tour at Fieldstone Farms included informative discussion of the importance of engaging horses to help individuals, families and communities. What a great facility and it was wonderful meeting all the volunteers and of course the horses.

I am hoping to post some pictures in the next article to include the costume ride at Holbrook Hollows on Oct. 30 Regional ride.

and announce any new committee members from the Nov. 8 chapter voting meeting.

A very special shout out to Ohio Horseman’s Council on celebrating 50 years. We are so proud to be a part of the largest volunteer equine organization in Ohio. Looking forward to what is in store for the future.

“For one to fly, one needs only to take the reins.” Melissa James ~Cec

GREENE

Construction of the campground at Caesar Ford has begun. Last month I mentioned that we’d need to park horse trailers at the main camp for the winter, as they were using the horse trailer parking for staging for the construction, and progress is reportedly going very well. I’m sure the fact that it’s been a dry fall has helped. The plan is to complete 12 pullthrough sites by spring, and if all goes well and it is well used, there will be more added. There is an additional field nearby for any primitive/overflow parking. It won’t be ready in time for 2023, but we’re hoping to move our State ride there in 2024.

Speaking of Caesar Ford, when they have their drive-through Christmas display up, the parking lot will be closed. There is an overflow field that has been mowed, and is available if dry. It’s on New Jasper Station Road (the other side of the park.) Dave has marked the entrance with tape and stakes. If the weather has been at all iffy, you may want to contact Dave, Jeannie, or Devin to make sure before you park there.

We have new officers for 2023! Well, two new ones, anyway. Suzie and I keep trying to give away our positions with no luck. But for next year, Jerry Smith will be our president and Jeannie Nicol will be our vice president. Herb will move to a new position of ‘ambassador’. This is a title created to recognize all of the work he’s done promoting the chapter over the years. Since he’s going to be out and about talking up OHC anyway; he may as well Todd Rider and Diva.

Herb Rider and Dee.

be official while he does it. And he doesn’t need to worry about running the meetings and all of that paperwork anymore, which didn’t hurt his feelings at all!

On Oct. 9, we took six horses to the Dayton Avenue Baptist Church for their festival. An arena was marked off and we had three to four horses at a time in it giving rides to kids. The kids really enjoyed it, while it’s a bit of work for us walking for a couple hours, it’s worth it. Nancy also got a workout, even though she didn’t bring a horse, because my Cooper didn’t seem to like the double mounting block, where she was stationed. This was weird since I use various types of blocks when I get on since I don’t mount from the ground. But Nancy had to move one of them a bit every time we came around. Silly pony, but thankfully she was willing and able to do that. It was Cooper’s first time though and he did pretty well. If he does it again, however, I’m bringing his grazing muzzle, because keeping his head up out of the grass when we were standing still was hard on my shoulder. I’ll include photos from that event this month.

We’ll have our Christmas party Dec. 16, in place of our usual meeting. As I type this, the plan is to go to The Village in Waynesville, as we did last year. Check your newsletter to be sure, in case that would change for some reason.

Happy Holidays, and I hope to see you at the Christmas party. ~Mickie

GUERNSEY

falling and we keep working on the trails. At the moment, the Red Trail has a lot of downed trees on the trail and we are recommending that folks not ride it for the time being. Just a few weeks after you read this our Annual Trail Work will begin. Contact me on our Salt Fork Bridle Trails Facebook page, if you would like to help! We now have 550 members on the page.

My wife Darla and I, along with two other couples in the club, Don and Marcy McIntyre and Bob and Lynn Weary went to Elkins Creek Horse Camp in Pedro, Ohio, in October. To say we had a blast would be an understatement. The weather was heaven sent; perfect for the horses and the riders! We rode all the trails. My favorite was the trail to Balancing Rock. The good folks of Elkins Creek were wonderful hosts and they took good care of us.

In the first photo, the one in front of the cave from left to right is; myself, Lynn and Don. On the camera behind the horse ears is Marcy! The camp had a wonderful campfire for us featuring a local band, and they were great. Front to back in the campfire photo; me, Don, Bob, Lynn, the camp’s neighbor; Dave Armstrong, then Darla and Marcy. Sunday morning, Bob, or rather Pastor Weary, a newly ordained chaplin in the Cowboy Church organization, brought the Sunday message with his wife

Elkins Creek

Lynn leading us in singing. A total of 17 were in attendance.

Speaking of Dave, he’s a really cool guy. He’s a Vietnam Vet and proud of his service (and Dave, so are we!) Dave and his wife spend their free time working on the trails at Elkins Creek.

On Saturday, Marcy’s horse was not feeling well, so Marcy and Don took a short ride, while Lynn and I headed for the picnic area at the one-mile marker on the Main Loop. A couple was leaving just as we rode in. Before we could set down for lunch, eight more riders rode in. They didn’t even get their horses tied up, when over ten more riders joined us. When Lynn and I headed down the trail there were about 25 horses at the picnic table.

PS: Dee Dee’s doing great. As of this writing we have 165 miles together. She’s making a great horse!

See you on the trail! Remember, I’ll be riding a tall black horse this time!

~Lee Randolph

HARRISON

Hello from Harrison County! The year is winding down and we will be starting a new year before we know it!

We had a lovely fall for riding and our members took advantage of the beautiful weather. Members took advantage of riding the nearby trails at Harrison State Forest and Salt Fork, and some just close to home.

Members were reminded to turn in their trail miles to Faye Verhovec and turn in any bingo cards that they have been working on. It will be interesting to see how far everyone came with these challenges!

The chapter met Oct. 22 at the Ranch to Table restaurant and finalized plans for the Second Annual ‘Dorothy’s Ride’. It was a beautiful day and lots of friends and family turned out to remember our dear friend and her love for riding. It was Faye at the beach.

The headless horseman.

a good day of riding and good fellowship that took place during an afternoon potluck meal.

The weather was great for riding this fall in Ohio, but one member had it even better. Faye Verhovec checked one off her bucket list when she went riding along the beach in Palm Coast, Fla. Congratulations to Faye, who made this happen while visiting friends on vacation.

October ended with lots of fun and scary characters. Some members joined in the fun while riding their equine partners at Sally Buffalo’s Trick or Treat at the Big Red Barn Oct. 29 in Cadiz, Ohio.

Penn Walt Equestrian also enjoyed a fun-filled evening at their barn with the kids at their annual Halloween party. Food, games and fellowship were enjoyed by all.

Our members have done so many different things this year with their equine partners, from mountain obstacles, fun shows, dressage shows, and trail rides. I would like to take a minute to mention Mikayla Westlake Nardo, our president’s daughter. Makayla did some awesome showing and hunter jumping at Brave Horse in Delaware, Ohio. If you get a chance, check out her amazing accomplishments and the awesome pictures that her dad took of her. Mark and his wife, Cheri, not only do an awesome job with the Harrison County chapter, but they are also very dedicated parents.

Hope the weather continues folks! But we all know the snow will be here soon. Stay warm and healthy and God Bless! ~Lori Mayher

HOCKING

Fall weather has been perfect this year, so many beautiful days and riding opportunities! Our members have not let grass grow under their feet.

On Oct. 15, The Vacation Vaquera along with Hocking Chapter OHC and Perry Chapter OHC organized and participated in a litter pick up ride at the Hocking State Forest. Donna Shade (The Vacation Vaquera) handed out trash bags and disposable gloves to all riders that were willing to pick up litter. Some of the riders were members of the Hocking and Perry OHC chapters. Other riders were folks who were parked at the State Horseman’s camp. Thank you to everyone who participated. Our hope is to make this an annual event.

October 20-23 was our chapters Halloween camp out. We had a good number of members show up for the weekend at Great Seal. During the weekend there were several contests including, costume, decorated campsite and best dessert. We had a potluck dinner on Saturday evening. The weather was beautiful and we rode every day. All the kids trick or treated including those at the camp who were not part of our group.

This is the time of the year for banquets and awards. Many of our youth received end of the year awards for all their activities throughout the summer through 4-H, FFA and other organizations. Congratulations to all!

Bingo! So many people scrambling at the last minute to get things checked off and submit the cards before the deadline. I think many of our club members really enjoyed this activity!

There is much excitement for the Logan Holiday Parade scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 3. We expect a nice turn out by our members like we had last year. Everyone loves a parade!

The holiday party is the next big thing on the calendar. It is scheduled for Jan. 7 at the Union Hall. We will be having the event catered. Everyone is to bring a gift for the exchange. It is always a good way to break up the winter blahs.

There will be a slight change in our meeting routine. From here forward, we will be eating Litter pick up ride at Hocking.

Halloween riding at Great Seal.

upstairs and then head downstairs for the meeting. It is too difficult to hear each other speak due to the other dining patrons at the Olde Dutch. If you show up for a meeting at 7 p.m. and don’t see anyone, check downstairs.

Our club is very family friendly and meet at the Olde Dutch Restaurant and Banquet Haus (Oak Room), in Logan, the third Sunday of every month at 7 p.m. Come in earlier for dinner and relaxed conversation prior to the meeting.

Watch our Facebook page for more information about our club and upcoming events! ~Donna Shade

HOLMES

First days of October felt like spring. Riding was great. The highlight for us was the weeklong camp at Pine Creek at Hocking Hills. Several of us from Holmes County camped with Wayne members and had a fabulous time. Many thanks to Trudy Schmitt who organized our

Riding at Hocking on the trail to Table Top.

Bruce Hanna, Tom Ames and I at Mohican on a beautiful day.

meals and reservations, and to everyone else who contributed. We certainly ate like kings. Trails were the driest we have seen them for that time of year. Accommodations at Pine Creek were outstanding. Club members also attended the Cowboys for Jesus work weekend on Oct.28 and 29. Bob Pickleseimer puts on a great camp.

Mohican is especially beautiful despite the storm damaged areas. It is very important to respect the areas where the trails are closed. They are well marked. Failure to do so could result in fines and loss of volunteering privileges. Salvageable trees are being removed from the closed areas and they are not safe. A section of the blue trail is closed in the center. Portions of the North and South are still open but are not a complete circuit. Still great rides. Now the good news. The green is open and, hurray, the Orange is now open. The Orange trail is the trail to the Lodge. It is open to the tie-lines. Mohican will be closing for the winter from Nov. 28 to March 31. While this is not ideal, it will allow the Forestry Department to further address the damage and plan for next year.

Several members attended the Horseman’s Mission seminars and demos. Member Lisa Jamison brought her mule to the mule clinic there, and a very handsome mule he is.

The State meeting and the 50th anniversary party are now history. I would have liked to attend but had other things that had to be done.

We made several trips to Columbus to watch our son Doug show at Quarter Horse Congress. Bruce and his riding buddies squeezed in a short trip to Hocking and finished up the month with a trip to Benezette, Pa., to see the Elk. Member Wayne Yoder Jenna Jamison and mule at the Horseman’s Mission

also went. Despite some chilly mornings, they had I great time, and I guess it is never too cold for ice cream. We’ve had some very nice rides at Mohican, some with member Tom Ames and his good Colorado Ranger Horse. Paso and Bucky have coats like bears and we keep an eye on them when riding in this warm weather.

Wishing everyone Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! ~Bev Hanna

KNOX

For humans, 50 years is a powerful long time. As I sit down to write this, we are about to go to OHC’s 50th year celebration. In my opinion, OHC is great organization to belong to. Any large group like OHC has diversity in its members, some call it drama, but this difference of opinion generates good idea’s if we listen. Like the horses we ride, some are fast, some are big, some are small, some don’t like other horses coming too close. But, the combined power of OHC gets things done! Ohio has more horse friendly parks and forests than most any other state to which OHC had a big hand in bringing to pass. Let’s all work together to make this last!

In the past month and throughout the summer, Knox County riders have been riding, a lot. If you watch Facebook, you see members in Benezette, Pa., Eminence, Mo., Shawnee, Hocking, Malabar, Mohican, Zaleski, basically all over. Hope you renew your membership so we can continue to ride the trails OHC has generated and I hope you all continue to help maintain our 50-year tradition. I have included a couple of pictures of Knox County’s most recent adventures.

The tie-line at the gas station in Kilbourne was down the last time we stopped there so Knox County OHC voted to provide a Alum

Tar Hollow

replacement at our last meeting. We met Barbie Arter at Alum and relayed our intent to the Delaware chapter so as not to have duplicate effort.

Knox County OHC would like to thank Misty McDonald for stepping up and serving as our president for 2022 and we wish her the best as she seeks other options. We were disappointed when she announced she would not be seeking the office for 2023. We certainly thank the individuals who agreed to remain in office for 2023—Kathy Shoemaker, our very active and efficient secretary and Barbara Stevens, our treasurer, who has served for many years in a most responsible position. We are still begging our Trail Master Phil Rauch to continue to lead us in fun activities for 2023. Thank you Dava Bryant for stepping up to take the vice president position for 2023.

Debbie Cole will serve as Knox County OHC Trail Miles reporter for 2023. Reporting your trail miles is very important, please fill out your 2022 trail miles report and send it by Jan. 5, 2023 to Debbie Cole, 14293 Gilchrist Road, Mt. Vernon, OH 43050 or email to coledl@kenyon.edu. We look forwards to recognizing our top riders again this coming year at our annual Winter Bash.

Plans for activities for 2023 are already taking shape. Dava Bryant has secured the church activity center in Centerburg for our Jan. 14, 2023 Winter Bash. This we do in place of a Christmas gathering as many have heavy schedules and travel during the traditional holiday season.

Terry Baker has secured the Martinsburg Activity Center for Feb. 25, 2023 where we will be having our annual tack auction. Details will follow at a later date. We are relying on our volunteers to step up as done in past years.

We meet the third Monday of the month at 7 p.m. currently at Donato’s Pizza on South Main in Mt. Vernon. Watch our Facebook site for any updates.

Come on over to Knox County where the gates are wide open, the grass is greener, the horses leaner, as we do ride them, and everyone is welcome. ~Terry L. Baker

LAKE

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Our Lake OHC members can ride through the holidays in snow, in sunshine, and in something called ‘grapple’. My horse, Hannah’s Halloween costume is right in line with holiday cheer.

In October we elected a new president, Barbara Jurgens. She says she is hoping for a really good year in 2023, and is planning new activities for our chapter. Our Vice President remains Donna Kautz, our Treasurer Rosemary Morgan, our Secretary Michelle Henderson. Barbara attended the 50th anniversary celebration along with Michelle Sheliga, Rosemary Morgan, and myself in Newark the weekend of Nov. 5 and 6.

December 3 we will be having our own OHC holiday celebration at The Firehouse Grille in Willoughby Hills at 1:15 p.m. We invite other OHC chapter members to attend. Please send your trail miles and saddle hours to Ricki Binkin before Jan. 1.

Happy holidays and happy riding to all!

~Rayneen

LICKING

Hello fellow horse people. As I’m writing this, I just got back from a fabulous trail ride in one of our local parks here in Licking County—Lobdell Reserve in Alexandria. It is so beautiful with its water crossings, wooded trails and open prairie views as well. You get about everything a rider can dream of there. We all love it and even have a volunteer group called the Trail Troopers to keep

The best view on a beautiful fall day!

the trails clear and they are doing a great job. Thank you to the park district and our volunteers. A combined event between our chapter and the Licking County Park District will have happened already by the time you read this. The moonlight ride at Taft Reserve South on Nov. 6. If it was a success, and I’m sure it will have been, we might have more night rides like that next year.

Tomorrow I’m getting ready to head over to the 50th celebration of our Ohio Horseman’s Council and hope to see many of you there. But of course, by the time you read this we already know that. I’m sure, we all had a great time celebrating!

As of news from Licking County chapter I can report that we had our elections at our October meeting. All the positions remain the same. Everybody has agreed to serve another term. I think that means that we all did a good job and were on our best behavior or they may have not felt that way. Just a little joke on the side! I really think that our officers have done an amazing job to keep our chapter running. Officers are as follows: President Charlene Santee, Vice President Paul Wilson, Treasurer Sandy Belt, Secretary Terry Drummond. Thank you for serving another year. Also, the heads of our committees have done an outstanding job this past year! Let’s do it again in 2023!

I hope to see everybody at our Christmas party on Dec. 10. We’ll see how many of us are duped into wearing ugly sweaters by our beloved Deb Sheka this year (haha-ha) or in this case, I should say ho-ho-ho...Merry Christmas! ~Sigrid Batten

LOGAN

What a beautiful fall it has been. I hope everyone has been able to get out and take advantage of the dry trails and spectacular foliage colors! I hosted my Logan County OHC chapter ride at our farm on Oct. 23. I had a great turnout this year, seven members and three guests showed up. We had a yummy potluck followed by a two-hour ride through the hills of Logan County.

Two Logan County OHC members, John and Becky Porter, and two Champaign County members, anet Roop and Pam Caudill, spent a week in Benezette, Pa. They enjoyed the beautiful fall foliage and shared the trails and campsites with some huge elk.

Linda Imke, a secondary member of Logan County OHC spent a week with a friend down at Big Salt Fork in Tennessee, her pictures were spectacular to say the least. It looks as though I might have to add this place to my bucket list.

Logan County OHC was well represented at both the 50th anniversary celebration and the Ohio Horse Council State meeting.

Logan County ride

~Cynthia Orr

LORAIN

The wind is howling outside and the holidays are just around the corner. I’m thankful for our warm house. I’ll bet our horses are surely thankful for the shelter of their stalls, as well. Our December calendar sponsor is Dundee Automotive Inc. Lorain County OHC sincerely appreciates your sponsorship.

We had a fantastic turn-out for our Hocking Hills campout at Hocking Hills potluck, Pine Creek Horse Camp.

Pine Creek. The weather was spectacular with sunny blue skies and colorful leaves on the trees. Most of the trails were relatively dry with just a few exceptions. Our Saturday potluck dinner was so delicious and included a great variety of choices such that I, for one, had to fill up my plate multiple times. We’d like to thank Jim Wallace for organizing this ride.

The Halloween ride was quite fun with a ghost, pumpkins, a mummy, a clown and medieval royalty to name a few attending. Vince and Sue Mollica provided the refreshments afterwards and we thank you for your time.

Some of our members attended the Horseman’s Mission at the Holmes County Fairgrounds in October. This event was well attended.

This month we have no organized rides, it’s a perfect time to tally up your 2022 trail miles and send them to Brenda Lang as soon as you know you don’t plan to trail ride any more this year. Please do not combine your trail miles with other members in the same family and be sure to list the trail miles by location as listed on the back page of our calendar. You may either use the postal service or email them to Brenda Lang no later than Jan. 15, 2023. Brenda’s address is located on our December calendar page in red.

We have started our 2023 membership drive. Every 2022 primary member will have received a pre-filled 2023 membership form in the mail from State OHC. You can use this form or renew online at ohconline. com selecting the renew box on the home page. If joining for the first time, select the join box. Applications can be found at our website, loraincountyohc.net. Paper applications for primary and secondary memberships will also be available at the membership meetings. Costs for a 2023 membership to Lorain County OHC are as follows: The ‘basic’ membership (this is without Equine Excess Liability Horseman’s Mission, Holmes County Fairgrounds.

Insurance): Individual (18 years and up) is $35; youth (under 18) is $2; and family (includes spouse/partner/other and/or dependents) is $45. The ‘Plus’ membership (includes the Equine Excess Liability Insurance): An individual (18 years and up) is $55; a family membership (includes spouse/partner/other and/or dependents) is $85. Secondary memberships: An individual is $13 and for a family is $15. The associate membership charge is $50. Lara Monyak suggested that, if possible, you should file your membership online for your local chapter, otherwise or you can send it with a check made out to ‘Lorain County OHC’ to her address. You will find her address on our Lorain County OHC website on the home page. It is advised, if you haven’t done so, to get your 2023 membership applications in before the end of the year so as not to interrupt your Liability Insurance (optional) and the Corral and State newsletter. Additionally, if you plan on putting your name in for the Hocking Hills Campout Lottery that is held at our January meeting you must be a current member of Lorain County OHC. If you already are an OHC member in another county, double your fun by becoming a Lorain County OHC secondary member by filling out a multiple chapter (secondary) application and send it with the application fee to Lara Monyak whose address is on our Lorain County OHC website page. We will welcome you with open arms! If you would like to join as a secondary member in another chapter, you will need to send your secondary membership form to the particular chapter you wish to join. Sandy Shudy will have all paid for membership packets that were not handed out at the Christmas party to distribute at the January meeting. After that they will be mailed out.

Please be aware that in December, our only scheduled

Holly, Holloween Ride.

event is our Dec. 3 Christmas party for our LCOHC members. We will not be having a membership meeting Dec. 19.

We would like to recognize the following individuals who have volunteered their time and talent as our Lorain County OHC officers this year: President Jim Wallace, Vice President Sherry Hoover, Secretary Karen Norton and Treasurer Lara Monyak. Our Lorain Council members really appreciate all that you have done for the betterment of our chapter and we applaud your dedication, commitment and sincerely thank you! Our 2023 officers will include: President Jim Wallace, Vice President Karen Norton, Secretary Wendy Pugh and Treasurer Lara Monyak. We are very grateful for your willingness to accept these positions for next year! In addition, we would like to thank all of our 2022 committee members including: Laura Wallace 50/50 raffle, Kathy Duncan Corral Reporter, Cheryl Muhek Emails, Rachel Wheeler LCOHC Facebook, Ken Cornish Lorain County Metro-Parks Liaison, Sandy Shudy membership, Sue Mollica Refreshments, Jonathan Field and Laura Wallace Sunshine and Vince Mollica website and Karen Norton Parades. Last but not least, thank you to all who volunteered to help with trail maintenance, event contacts, and refreshments or in any other way not already mentioned. We are blessed to have an amazing chapter because of all of your contributions!

Our hope is that each of you may have wonderful holiday celebrations with your family and friends during his season of great joy, love and peace. ~Kathy Duncan

MADISON

Fall has been a weather blessing; temperate and dry, which makes for great riding of any sort without the pesky biting insects (but do still watch for ticks!) Madison County members have been enjoying the opportunities to get on the trails to ride and to complete the clearing of Deer Creek State Park. Please come and enjoy them with us! We have been chopping and mowing all summer long. We are also adding mounting blocks in the horse camping area to make life better for all. If you see something that needs to be addressed, please contact us via the Madison County link on the ohconline.com website. We can’t fix what we don’t know about!

Our Gymkhana series ended in October, with a great turnout of 65 participants. High point prizes were awarded in all age groups, with buckles for the first place winners. We look forward to offering this opportunity again in 2023 with five monthly events starting in May at the Madison County Fairgrounds in London, Ohio. Please come join us, even if you have never participated before. We welcome riders and horses of all abilities, and cheer you on as you increase confidence. We have classes for youth through 40-plus, so there is a place for you in this fun event. Come try something new!

The presentation at our October meeting was on pulsed electromagnetic therapy for horses (and humans.) This is said to stimulate cell metabolism, increase oxygenation, and reduce inflammation for improvement of health without side effects. Jennifer Hunter brought her unit and did the demonstration for us. What an unusual and interesting concept that helped us all to learn about something new in the medical arena. Thanks to Jennifer for educating us!

November was our election of officers for 2023, and December will feature our annual Christmas party with a ‘keep it or steal it’ gift exchange along with a potluck of delicious food. We look forward to horsing around until it is too darned cold or snowy and also to planning for rides in the next year.

We welcome all to come to our meetings, which are held on the second Thursday at the West Jefferson Community Center in West Jefferson, Ohio, at 6:30 p.m. with a light supper at 6 p.m. Feel free to reach out to us at the Madison County link at ohconline.com. Happy trails, ~Lisa Reynolds

MEDINA

How the year has flown by! The days will grow shorter, but our intrepid riders will take any weather advantage to shake off the winter doldrums. We look forward to the coming year with some new officers and more fun events. Maureen Mizerak is our new president, Raydeen Ryden is our vice president, Amy O’Neil is our secretary, and Rosemary Young is treasurer-for-life.

We had a cozy meeting at the Hinckley and were joined by Cuyahoga and Summit Chapter members. Cuyahoga is our other sister chapter. We are so lucky to have a kind of extended family in the OHC. We help each other out with events and trail work and enjoy each other’s company. Here’s an example; Marietta Tromp from Summit chapter has been working with the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Conservancy on the history of Medina’s commitment to the bridle trails in the park. Now she and other members are working on a short video of park visitor interaction with horses and their riders. How to approach a horse, what not to do (like wave your hiking stick, or tell Aunt Emma to take flash photography of you jumping in front of a horse.) Much is common sense, but necessary rules of equine etiquette that will keep you, the horse, and the rider safe. When completed it will be shown at the Visitors Center.

Plans are underway for our combined banquet with Summit Chapter on Jan. 21 at the Masonic lodge in beautiful downtown Richfield. No kidding, this is a beautiful old building with lots of room and fits us sister chapter to a tee. We had such a good time last year we decided to do a doover. Of course, there will be good food, awards, prizes and other fun stuff. Contact Rosemary Young (440/382-7980) or rosemary4medinaohc@gmail.com or Molly Eastwood (330/6030820 or mollyeastwood@aol.com) for information and reservations.

Remember, we have no general membership meetings in January or February. The rest of the winter monthly meetings (March-May) will be will be back at the Hinckley town hall at the SW corner of Ridge Road (SR3) and Route 303. Have a holly, jolly down-in-the-valley kind of Christmas!

~Rosemary

MORROW

Greetings from Morrow County OHC chapter where the green of summer is now faded to brown as most row crops have been sown and horses have consumed most of the pastures of remaining growth. To keep the herd happy, the stored winter hay has been tapped for distribution from a supply that is hopefully sufficient for the herd of 12 until May 2023. Other chapter members report adequate hay for the winter with chapter President Floyd having excess hay after a 50 percent herd reduction. He now has one mule after selling a recently acquired horse which proved to be an unsatisfactory mount for him. He is now searching for a bombproof trail horse but no success as of this writing. Floyd did ride his mule at Mohican as did Byron and Cheryl on their horses after improved health issues. Floyd also successfully completed an Alum Creek dayride with a friend also riding a long ear mount. Ted recently rode for the first time this year after health issues had kept him grounded for several months and rode with 33 other riders at the October Buckeye State Mounted Deputies fall ride/meeting.

Joe and Susan assisted their grandchildren with mounts to ride in the Delaware All Horse Parade to represent Morrow OHC while this writer canceled plans to ride due to rain forecast (as did some other groups.) However, rain never developed during the parade so will have to try again in 2023. Founding Morrow County chapter member Suzzane Allen did not participate in/attend the 2022 parade with her last ride being in 2017 at age 80 riding her 30-year-old paint gelding, Justin. Her longtime riding steed died the following winter, and she vowed it was her last ride although she did ride a 4-H cart in the parade for 2018. Our other remaining founding member, Karen Sharp, passed this fall after being confined to a care facility for several years due to broken bone complications from a fall in her home. Although Karen rode extensively during the first 24 years I knew her,

she had not ridden a few years before her death. She served as a non-riding chapter president for several years before her fall.

Although no chapter members have ridden the Mount Gilead State Park trails, the park reports the massive summer storm damage to the trails has been cleared as of early October. Trail mats have been installed thanks to the OHC central region financial grant and chapter members have done some tree branch clipping to make the trails more visible.

Our annual chapter Christmas party is planned for Friday, Dec. 2 at the Edison Depot restaurant location. It will serve as our December regular meeting with winter weather doldrums nixing 2023 January/February regular monthly meeting until hopefully spring like weather arrives in March.

Although this report continues to sound like a stuck phonograph record (which younger readers may have never experienced), but repeating the words of encouragement from previous reports still remains true. Members who can navigate to the barn may enjoy the benefits of equine therapy without riding, via grooming and feeding plus whispering horse/ human conversations like Dr. Dolittle. The smell/touch/sounds associated with such equine activities can be a spirit lifter despite not being able to ride. It allows some of us senior citizens to visualize the dramatic sight of Ghost Riders in the Sky as sung by Frankie Lane.

Until the next report in 2023, keep your chin up and strive to provide the best care possible for your horses who will provide you the opportunity to enjoy some great riding. I wish happy trails to you. Also stay safe in the saddle/on your horse if you do have an opportunity to ride before the next report and I hope to see some readers on the trail in 2023.

~DOC

PERRY

Riding season has pretty much ended, now onto the holiday stuff. But before we go there, let’s talk turkey (pardon the pun as I write this, we’re a few weeks out from Thanksgiving) about the fabulous fall riding weather! I’ve included a few pictures like the orange group which was myself, Brian and sis Brenda who showed up for a day ride at Hocking all wearing orange shirts. Now what are the chances of that happening? Then we have Jason Owings, who just had hand surgery days before the Great Seal campout with Hocking OHC, trying to get the campfire going. I just couldn’t resist sneaking in a photo as he was blowing smoke and might I add he did it quite well! Jason enjoyed some vacation time after that campout as his wife, Laura, traveled down to South Carolina to participate in the annual American Heart Association ride. And then Heather Stengle who bundled up on her best pal Buddy as we rode on a lovely fall weekend at Alum Creek. Everyone loved her beautiful poncho.

The club had a great turnout at the Hocking group camp in October just prior to Halloween. Dare I say the campfire smack talk was a bit scary, or perhaps, horrifying?! Almost a dozen folks camped and several others came out to day ride. We also participated in a trash pickup organized by Donna Shade and the Hocking club. Many of us are secondary members to each club. We also camped at Alum Creek and what a great time we had. The trails were in amazing shape, the views outstanding, and the trip to the brewery was lots of fun for all, except for Ben, who had to depart early and ride back to camp solo because he kept getting called into work.

We checked out the trails at Strouds Run in Athens. They were in good shape as well. Other members rode there earlier in the season but it had been years since I been down there. It did not disappoint. Trails were marked better than I remembered and the rock formations were really pretty cool. Now that we understand the trails a little better, I’d like to go back and ride the long loop, for three hours of riding isn’t quite enough for this cowgirl.

We have new club T-shirts. Next issue I’ll preview one for all to see as they have not yet been distributed. I think we’ll be ordering some long-sleeved T-shirts and sweatshirts this winter assuming we’re happy with the new design.

Officers have not yet been elected for 2023, stay tuned for that although right now it looks like I don’t have any takers for the president’s spot.

Next month with rides for 2022 behind us I’ll take some space to look back on the year and showcase some plans for 2023 which looks like will include a change in meeting venues.

‘Til then, keep your horse warm and happy. ~Marianne Patton

Blowing smoke.

Orange riders at Hocking.

SANDUSKY

Hello and Merry Christmas horse family and friends! I hope you are enjoying the season, and hopefully it comes with pretty snow. Maybe we’ll have some snow on Christmas morning? I bet many of the clubs including ours will be having a get together to celebrate the holiday season by sharing a meal together, a few gifts, and many laughs. I know our little club never has a shortage of laughs or food!

During this time of year, I like Beautiful fall day at Alum Creek.

Hay rides for the kids.

to reflect back on the time I’ve shared with the club. Rides we’ve had, camp outs, work sessions, as well as a few mishaps that we never let the person live down. I think about how our club isn’t about riches or who has the best horse or truck, it’s about this little family helping and being there for each other no matter what the situation may be. Perhaps it’s lending a horse or riding with someone who is nervous. I seem to make a few new friends every year while riding or camping with other groups. I am by nature a very shy person until I get to know you and everyone is always so welcoming.

We had a great turn out at Creek Bend farm in October. We had some great horses and walkers giving people of all ages a short ride on a horse. It brings so many smiles every year that we love doing it for ODNR. Thank you to everyone who donated most of their Saturday walking in circles for hours! It might mean the world to someone who would otherwise never get a chance to ride a horse.

There was a great turn out at Bob and Sue’s party barn! It was a perfect night for eating, a short meeting, lawn mower rides for the kids, and a huge fire for s’mores!

At our last meeting, we passed a motion to give Chuck a $100 gas card for mowing at our trails. It takes him a lot of valuable hours and gas to mow our trails, thanks, Chuck!

Our meetings are the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. at the First Brethren Church in Fremont. We usually meet for supper at 5:45 p.m. Visit our Facebook page under Sandusky County Horseman’s Council for up-to-date information. Check out the state web page, ohconline.com

Give your beautiful four-legged partner a good scratch on the neck, a little Christmas carrot, life is good.

~Marla Sidell

STARK

Why are some people born with a love for horses and others aren’t? What makes us so special? I believe this special love has been bestowed on us for a reason. Having an equine as a part of our lives gives us a destination or purpose in our lives.

Ever since I was a young child I dreamed of horses. As I became older and began thinking about the rest of my life and what I wanted to accomplish, my goals became learning how to play the piano and owning a horse. The horse came first. I have found with horses the learning experience is never ending and you can never know enough. It is enjoyable to see and learn what the horse can teach you.

We are fortunate to have so many opportunities to learn more about our special love from rodeos, Equine Affaire, Road to the Horse, numerous clinics, etc.

One local event I attended in October was The Horseman’s Mission. This was my third year of attending and every year it has become a special event for me. Their mission is ‘Fulfilling our dream with God’s Creation, our Equine Friend, the horse.’ This event is held yearly at the Holmes County Fairgrounds at Harvest Ridge in Millersburg. In addition to the colt starting competition where three colts along with three trainers spend three days competing for wonderful prizes. Two evening performances featured performances that were very enjoyable and you never know who will show up. This year it was Guy McLean plus several well-known trainers. You might want to plan on attending next year.

Best wishes for an enjoyable Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

~Jo Ellen

SUMMIT

By now you should be acclimated to the year-end scourge of ‘Fall Back’. Be home by dark now means by 4-5 p.m. It is the depressing climax to autumn’s spectacular scenery and the inevitability of trees going au natural until spring. The oaks win the modesty award for clinging to their last leaf until late February. An even dozen brave souls showed up to celebrate Ghouls’ Night out at Wolf Creek Winery in October. The tall pines swayed and moaned in the biting cold winds and darkness as we scurried in from parking in the foreboding back 40. Catharine Matonis was accompanied by Jack O’Lantern with his penetrating evil orange eyes, deceptive grin and spiky Mohawk of caramelized bacon strips protruding from his head. And we wonder why no guys come to these meetings. Severed hands down, Jack won the costume contest but it was a close call with all the rest of us all coming as ourselves. The food was plentiful and varied; thankfully no disgusting eyeball or appendage look-a-likes found their way in. However, a few really scary things actually did, like carefully disguised GMO’s, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated fats, and sodium that slipped by the food police. Their sinister presence could have been the only explanation for all the cackling and general mayhem coming from our secluded corner. At least that’s our story and we are sticking to it.

Sonny the Wonder Horse managed to delight and entertain all the kids and kids at heart at the Trick or Treat event held at Richfield Heritage Preserve. Of course, Molly Eastwood and A carrot for me.

Sonny’s entourage were there to hand out the goodies while he focused on being our equine good will ambassador. Mother Nature cooperated and seasonal weather brought out a large crowd of mini perspective OHC members of the future.

With all the nice weather, members made every effort to ride and/or camp with other OHC chapters. Very popular these last few months were Pleasant Hill, Malabar and Mohican where trails were cleared and deemed safe enough to ride after the tornado that struck the area this summer. All of us wish to thank all the volunteers who worked on our behalf to give us the opportunity to enjoy what we may have taken for granted.

It is that time again for our end of the year and awards banquet which is held normally in January. Enter Covid with cancellations and delays, pushing it back for what seemed forever. The Medina Chapter OHC members agreed to join us and co-celebrate the occasion. Everyone who attended last year’s soiree agreed we could declare a truce for one night if it was held on neutral ground and close to a police station. (Competition for members is really tough in this area.) The committee is already at work to make sure this event will be the talk of the town which wishes to remain anonymous at this writing.

Oh, for all of you waiting to come back to meetings again, the slate of officers has been filled by one brave volunteer for President, C. Matonis, and the rest of us who will probably collapse from old age and expire in our traces. Yes, that also means me writing this article for another year too. ~Joann Ulichney

TUSCARAWAS

Run Lake White Sulpher

side? Is it a character flaw wherein satisfaction appears to be short-lived or non-existent? In the ‘horse world’, every aspect of the realm related to equine oriented lives seems to be affected by new goals to achieve, and higher standards of credibility. We traveled to Quarter Horse Congress in October, often overwhelmed with the seduction of the industry and yet, six months later, return to wander the fairgrounds during the Equine Affaire’s extravaganza, awed by the demonstrations, exhibits, trade show and breed defined experiences. A yearning deep in our soul responds to ‘my kingdom for a horse’ and all of the tapestry relative to his existence.

I am a primitive camper, fortunately. My trailer and camping necessities are minimal. Although, warmth, safety and efficiency still produce searches for resources of improvement. Recently, a four-hour trek to Ben’s Happy Trails, prodded me to secure more comfortable sleeping accommodations. Mere days before our departure, Amazon became my targeted research process, with the knowledge that delivery would not be a hindrance. A hammock caught my eye. Easy to set up and with plenty of room to add a sleeping bag. I placed the order, and it arrived in a timely manner. As the hammock is a simple contraption, who would have guessed it would actually serve me more comfortably

Kentucky trails. Zoe and Bowie enjoying the autumn weather.

Debbie Strayton and Ray Smalley at Alum Creek State Park. Riders on Helge Buflod obstacle course.

The Hitchhikers performing Friday night.

than a queen-size foam mattress (queue memories from my former Fifth Wheel trailer.) Thus, when finally, the distant chatter of camp, along with the alluring bacon and coffee flavors wafted my way (disturbing the comfort of slumber,) I was horrified to discover...I had overslept!

Since the hammock was a success story, I chose to allow it another opportunity for success. October found my trusty steed, Zeke, and Rylan, my Aussie companion, bound for Kentucky again. Deep in the Kentucky wilderness, Alice and I chose to camp at White Sulpher’s primitive campground. Following Cave Run Lake’s pattern with sunshine and mild temperatures typical of Indian Summer blessed us with a leisurely afternoon ride. We returned to camp before dark and indulged ourselves with steak and potatoes carefully cooked within the depths of the red-hot coals. There is nothing more satisfying than relaxing around the campfire, following an exploration of scenic trailways, lulled by the contented munching of our weary equine treasures picketed nearby. As the temperature dropped, we huddled near the fire and shared hearty conversation and plenty of laughter. You can imagine my surprise the next morning, when frost peppered the ground. Yikes! Note to self, buy a new sleeping bag rated for below zero degrees. Plan your adventure, research the area, and just do it! Happiness is hitting the trails… go for it!

Tuscarawas County OHC meets the second Monday of the month for a dinner meeting. The venue may change. Contact a member or the undersigned for information. We welcome new members! Happy Trails, ~Holly Waldenmyer

UNION

Howdy, everyone. Sadly, the autumn riding season has come and gone like the leaves from the trees. Time to prepare for winter and make plans for spring. Hopefully everyone had the chance to get in a few rides. My horses definitely enjoyed the warm autumn weather.

The Karen Getz-Holland Memorial Ride was held at Alum Creek State Park in October. We rode the Hunter’s Hollow trail, Karen’s favorite trail. It was a beautiful autumn day to celebrate Karen’s life. Thank you, Theresa Burke for organizing the ride.

By the time you read this the 50th Anniversary Celebration will have also come and gone. I completed 27 squares on my Bingo 50 Card and had a lot of fun doing it. Stay tuned, more details on the 50th Anniversary Celebration next month. Happy trails, ~Debbie Strayton

WARREN

The Over the Hill Gang has wrapped it up for the year. We had our last work day Nov. 2, as we knock off for the holidays. If trees come down, feel free to still report them to Roger, Harold, Paul, or me and we’ll try to get it taken care of if we can, but there won’t be anything formal until Jan. 4. We’ll start then if Mother Nature agrees. We have several projects already in the planning stages.

So you can plan ahead, we’ll again be hosting our New Year’s Day ride at 1 p.m. at Caesar Creek horse camp. We usually have a good crowd, though of course the weather decides a lot of that.

As I type this, our plans are to have a post-holiday party at Miami Valley Gaming on Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. Watch your newsletter just in case there’s a change, but that’s the plan at the moment. This will be our normal winter Member Appreciation Dinner, which we have had previously at the Bell-Wood Country Club in February. The possibility of a Christmas party was raised, but it was decided that people tend to be busier at that time, so we opted for the Member Appreciation Dinner just being a bit earlier. We always have a good time, so hopefully we’ll see some new faces there.

I’m including photos this month from our State ride. Thanks to Ramona Auyeung for these. If anyone else has some from the event, feel free to send them to me. With little going on in the winter, it’s always nice to have extra photos to use.

We have our elections the week after I’m submitting this, so I’ll report on that next month. Happy holidays! ~Mickie

WASHINGTON

Hello OHC friends and neighbors, it is great to be starting a new year. In Washington County we are really excited because of what is happening at the Kinderhook trailhead of Wayne National Forest. As you know, that is our home trail, and we do the maintenance and such in conjunction with Wayne National Forest management. This winter they are doing a complete renovation of the trail head and fixing a trail washout that has kept a portion of the trail closed for more than four years. We know there will be a new SST (sweet smelling toilet) and a separate parking area for non-horse folks such as hikers. We have long fought hikers’ blocking our tie lines and nonhorse campers making the horse areas completely inaccessible. We are hopeful that this renovation will solve these problems. We are confident that Ranger Reed understands the situation and will make sure to work it out for all those who wish to use these great facilities, while maintaining the integrity of the equine community that has helped design, build, and maintain the trailhead and trails for going on 40 years. We will let you know when it is good to come ride with us there!

We held the election of officers at our November meeting. Brent DeWees was elected for another year as president, Darrell McKay was elected as vice president, Melody Crawford was elected secretary, Debbie Johnson was elected treasurer, and Rita Schultheis was once again appointed to write the Corral reports for the new 2023 year. Darrell McKay volunteered to find someone willing to do a program at the January meeting, and Melody Crawford will arrange a speaker for the February meeting.

As the new year begins, we are also excited about a new direction the club seems to be going. We have long been a riding club and have logged more miles than any other club for many years and we’ve had as many as six of the top 10 riders in the state upon occasion. As age is more of an issue with many of our members, we are now looking to do a few more social events in addition to riding. These are not new for us, but we have not pursued them much in the last few years and 2023 will mark a return. First, we are planning on participating in more parades. We have some beautiful horses and would like to

show them off to the community, this will also make us more visible to the horse community and hopefully drive new members to join. The second direction will be group trips. We can see several bus trips in our future to both equine and non-equine venues. Because of this travel, we will most probably begin to investigate fundraising opportunities again which will not only help finance our travels, but will also allow us to help fellow clubs and horse organizations as needs arise. After all, Horsemen Helping Horsemen is our motto! It has been several years since we have actively held fundraising activities, hopefully we will have good participation from all members!

Finally, we begin the year optimistic about the ability to get out and ride, socialize and carry-on like we did before the pandemic. Horses are an expensive and time-consuming habit, or obsession, as some might call it. An organization like OHC provides a wealth of knowledge when hard times and sickness hit our equine partners, it allows a common goal of working together to help the horse community, and it brings us together as friends and neighbors to share our lives together. Many friendships made in OHC last the lifetime! We are devoted to growing our club, supporting the State OHC, and racking up those trail miles as always! ~Rita V. Schultheis

WAYNE

What a great fall it has been! Heritage Days at Malabar Farms was beautiful. Our annual pony ride fundraiser was a great success. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped all weekend with side walking and bringing their horses. Although there were some high winds that blew over our canopy and caused some general excitement, for the most part the horses stood like champs while it was fixed. The look of joy on faces of the children as they get to ride makes it all worthwhile.

The club annual camp out at Pine Creek Horseman’s Camp the first week of October was a huge success. We had 20 plus rigs there from our club and Holmes County’s club. The trails were in great shape as it has been very dry there this fall. The food was amazing. Thanks to all the groups that helped with the suppers. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Wayne County camp out without our community Pine Creek camp out.

Heather and Gus

breakfast. Thanks to all who contributed. We did have a bit of excitement however, when Elsie Zuercher, fell backwards off her horse while ascending a very difficult trail. There were four emergency response teams on the scene to get her off the trail. It was very interesting to see how they were able to do that with their UTVs and a cot trailer. I am happy to say that except for some very painful muscle spasms, after an evening in the Licking Community ER, Elsie was discharged with a clean bill of health. Pretty impressive for a 72-year-old!

Malabar is completely open for trail riding and with Mohican still partially closed, it has been very busy. Many of our members took advantage of the trails up north in the Summit Metro Parks and Cuyahoga National Park system and rode Brecksville, Wetmore, Hinckley, and Silver Creek trails. They are all very well maintained and beautiful trails. Kim Scarborough has been taking advantage of the Marshallville section of the Wayne County Rails to Trails system that is near her home. It is a lovely seven-mile round trip out and back. They have opened the gate on the trails, so we don’t have to navigate the slippery hill around it and once your horse figures out that the buffalo on one of the farms next to the trail won’t bother them, it is clear sailing. Just a friendly reminder to park in the horse trailer parking area and pick up any manure your horse leaves in that area as a courtesy to others that use the trail.

Heather Kinney took her annual trip to Missouri for a weeklong trail ride with friends. We love her posts and live vicariously through her pictures. Her young horse Gus did fantastic, especially coming off a stressful week at the Wayne County Fair where he and Taran had such success. Talk about an all-round horse!

Tom Ashby had his young horse Axel out on the trails at Mohican for Axel’s first trail ride. He did well and the picture is worth a thousand words as to how proud Tom is of this young horse’s progress. Speaking of new beginnings, we wish Pam Miller well in her new house in Doylestown. She and her horse Bubby have a lovely home and barn to start the new year. Marline and Dave Smalley also have a new beginning as they added a beautiful golden retriever puppy, Katie, to their family. Jim and I hope they will bring her camping next year so Reno can have a playmat to run with as Alina, Dave and Trudy’s dog had surgery on her leg and her activity remains restricted.

I am happy to say that just this week, Mohican Forest manager has opened the Green and Orange Trails all the way to the Lodge. Please remember that the trails are closed from Nov. 28, 2022, until April 1, 2023. Please let everyone, especially non OHC members, that they cannot ride there during this period even if they live adjacent to the forest. We must respect the forest management as they work on our trails during this period if we want to continue to have the privilege of riding in this beautiful forest. Not only that, but it is also dangerous to ride there when they are working and logging and during hunting season. Thank you everyone for your cooperation and for spreading the word.

We at Wayne County OHC wish everyone a Merry Christmas and blessed holiday season. ~Susan E. Baker

Tom on Axel.

WOOD

We are now down to day rides and weatherizing our trailers. It is a sad but good feeling as I love to camp. I’m looking forward to sitting in my warm house watching the snow fly.

At our November meeting we discussed 2023 ride prospects and planning the December Christmas party. Our December meeting will be included at the party, so more camping talk will resume at that time. Diane took count for the 2023 chapter calendar. All our officers volunteered for another year. You are much appreciated!

Don’t forget to renew your OHC membership, and in December get your ride miles and trail work hour’s tallied up to turn in at the January meeting.

Wishing all Happy Holidays. ~Barb O.

John and the dogs at Hobo Stew doggie parade.

Tina