County Lines Let’s network a bit, if you have a horse to sell or rehome, if you are looking for a new horse or trailer or perhaps a used saddle, let us know. How about horse property to buy or sell, a member might be in the market. There are so many members in OHC that we can help each other in many ways. No question is too silly to ask among friends and that is what we are. Send the information to neregionalmentor@ohconline.com Cuyahoga Chapter was awarded two grants for 2020-trail work. The money was used in South Chagrin Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks for a painted crosswalk and bright yellow signage warning of horses crossing. One set of signs was put about 100 feet from the crossing on both sides of the road to alert drivers and another set went right at the crossing and crosswalk. This is a huge safety item for Cleveland Metroparks riders crossing busy Solon Road to access the trails that lead to Geauga Park Holbrook Hollow bridle trails. This is a newly dedicated connection between these two parks. The second grant was used to improve a very muddy section of trail on the Brecksville Connector Trail. A bridge was built over a creek and trail tread was improved for several hundred feet on both ends of the bridge. This nine-mile trail is still being developed and hopefully this summer will be completed. One mile at a time we are getting it done. Keep in touch with Cuyahoga OHC by joining us or at least looking at our website, Cuyahogacountyohc.com. Here you will find all our contact information and many photos along with our new plans as soon as they can be posted We sure would like to get to know you! ~Penny Passalacqua DELAWARE Greetings from Delaware chapter! By the time this issue reaches you, Groundhog Day, or Feb. 2, will likely have come and gone. I sure hope we can expect an early spring! Despite the winter weather, I hope everyone has had the opportunity to get outdoors riding and/or driving. Many horseback riders, including myself, managed to fulfill the tradition of riding on the last day of the year and on the first day of the new year. Happily, 44
First ride of 2021 with Prada. the rain held off where I board, and Prada and I were able to accomplish this small feat for ‘good luck’ into 2021. Our chapter welcomes our new treasurer, Pat O’Connell, who is taking over the task from Lora Taylor. Thank you and great job to Lora for serving as our past treasurer. Welcome aboard Pat! Our 2021 slate of officers is completed by President Theresa Burke, Vice President Kathy Sweeney-Kerr, and Secretary Bobbi Arters. Bearing in mind the restrictions/ guidelines in place due to COVID-19, our chapter still plans to pursue an informative and entertaining series of horserelated educational programs and speakers for 2021. Like last year, we plan to resume our in-person monthly meetings at the Alum Creek horsemen’s campground as soon as warmer weather arrives. Members are encouraged to share any suggestions for program topics and/or other social activities with any club officer. Due to social distancing restrictions, we do not anticipate our meetings returning to our usual fire station location until sometime later in the year perhaps. We are planning on holding additional chapter rides in 2021 with the first spring ride hopefully occurring sometime in April, weather permitting. We also hope to organize a group overnight camping adventure or two either at Alum Creek or another location such as Pleasant Hill Lake State Park for late summer and early fall. In September, our club holds its traditional ‘Autumn at Alum’ trail ride and campout. Additional activities will be added as we move forward into the year. As of the writing of this article, our chapter is still awaiting the final decision on whether we were awarded an OHC grant for our 2021 proposal involving a complete reconstruction of the
‘white pipe’ platform/crossing on Maple Glen trail, close to the Flats. We are keeping our fingers crossed. Our trail maintenance crew has continued to work on the trails throughout the winter months, weather permitting. Last year saw our crew accomplish close to 2,000 hours of trail work! One crew member, Carole Bosich, personally donates countless hours trimming the bridle trails. She and her grass trimmer can be spotted along the trail on almost any given day! This year, the club has plans to work on sprucing up the horsemen’s campground on Howard Road including trimming back overgrowth around the periphery, tidying up highline areas and possibly renumbering the sites and tightening the highlines, for example. Some of the tasks can be accomplished by our crew while other tasks are beyond our scope and will require the help and support of the park management. Remember, if you have not yet renewed your 2021 membership, please do so soon! Signing up online is quick and easy. Go to ohconline.com to get started. You do not want to miss out on all the fun! Our next Corral article will appear in the April issue, not March. In place of the OHC County Line section, the March issue of the Horsemen’s Corral magazine will feature the OHC State newsletter, Horse Power. Do not forget to record and turn in your monthly trail mileage and/or saddle hours to Theresa Burke. You may either call, text, or email Theresa with your stats. Wishing everyone, including our four-legged friends, a safe and healthy February! Happy Trails! ~Theresa Burke ERIE Greetings from Erie County! The month of December turned out to be pretty good weather. The temperatures were up and down as we were preparing for winter to arrive. Lynn and Tim had a chance to ride Mohican. The day was sunny and 50 degrees, just perfect to ride with winter coats. The temps finally dropped enough for Joyce’s roller skating rink to freeze! I heard she seized the moment with joy as Bill’s hard work paid off. The snow arrived just in time for the holidays. Ed and
HORSEMEN’S CORRAL
Dawn Meyers took advantage of the snow and hooked up their sleigh. A sleigh ride on a white Christmas, sounds like a perfect day to me! How much has changed since last year! Our New Years Day ride this year was cancelled due to rain and sleet. But some of us decided it wasn’t going to stop us. Many of us seized the opportunity that day to ride our four-legged friends bareback around our farms and arenas. Staying at home can be a lot of fun! Jim, Lorna and the mules are staying at home in Florida for a month, maybe three, Lorna hinted. A winter home with 65 degrees, lots of trails, grassy paddocks and stalls sound pretty good to me right now. I think I am going to start planning for next year. Life is better on the trail! Make time for your loved ones, whether they are two legged or four. It’s already Valentines Day and spring is around the corner! ~Shelley GREENE Not much news this month. Work has been ongoing at Caesar Ford, as weather and time allow. We are making plans for our State Ride the second weekend of June as usual. There’s no way to tell yet if we will be able to hold it, it will depend on whether the parks are issuing special event permits. Of course we’ll only do it if we can do it safely. We’re trying to think positively and hoping for the best. I’ll be sidelined after a knee replacement so won’t have much contact with anyone (even less than what was dictated by the pandemic!). If anyone has stories or photos, send them to me at akela83@att.net. Happy New Year! ~Mickie GUERNSEY Since the early spring of 2017 it’s rained all year until sometime in July! Then, following all that rain there has been a four week drought every year. All that rain, for four solid years, has wreaked havoc on all the horse trails, not just at Salt Fork, but across the state. Now, add to that; all the dead ash trees, it spells trail maintenance is never done! At Guernsey OHC we start our annual trail maintenance this month. Generally, we meet February 2021