American River Ride

["Julie Herrera" <julielh@lasercom.net>]

It seems that ,as with every other aspect of our sport, this is not a black
and white issue.  Yes the ride manager should have dealt with the situation
ahead of time.  And yes, the "raid" appears to have been extreme in it's
execution.  So the big question is how to avoid this in the future.

A ride manager knows the variety of camping arrangements that riders use.
This should be discussed with whoever is in charge of a base camp area
whether it be private owner or public use land.  If the various methods of
camping do not meet the approval of the proprietor and no compromise can be
met then the ride should not be held there.

As a horseperson it is impossible to fathom why others would ever have a
problem  with me riding across their land, or camping with my horse <bg>
But face it, some people who have never experienced the joy of sharing the
weekend with a horse ( and have no desire to)  just don't get it.  It is up
to us to be good ambassadors for our activities and not act like it is our
god-given right to be there.

I know that in this situation it was held in a public park and we are the
tax payers for this park and therefore it is our land to use. (BLAH BLAH
BLAH)  We have hired the park rangers to care for this land and for whatever
reason they deemed this area  for day use or self-contained campers only.  I
personally don't fully understand that but it was the rule and the RM knew
it.

I guess I probably haven't said any thing new here but any way that is my
opinion.

Julie
PS