Personally, I don’t like the idea of alternate use
days on these trails. IMO, it’s too restrictive and you’ll have
both equine and bike riders bitter about not being able to ride there when they
have a day off, or it’s finally a sunny day after 3 weeks of rain. Education and
courtesy is more important than restrictions. And enforcement of the current
laws and regulations regarding the dogs would be helpful. I’ve heard
rangers tell people that it’s okay to let your dog loose after you get
down the trails a couple miles!
Loose dogs, even friendly dogs, are dangerous unless they
are next to their owner. I’ve had dogs barreling down a hillside of brush
scaring the holy $@#! out of my horse. A friend’s sister ended up with a
broken back when loose dogs stormed out of a hillside of brush while she was
riding at Folsom. I don’t know if they were friendly or not, it didn’t
really matter at that point. Some will say the horses should be better
trained because we have to deal with wildlife, however, it is rare that wild
animals will jump under the legs of a horse.
I ride at Driver’s Flat often, I don’t usually
go on the weekends when the bikers will be out in force, but sometimes I do. I’ve
only had one problem, when the biker was looking at the ground and didn’t
see us in front of him, so I just started yelling VERY LOUDLY “riders
ahead” which he heard and was able to brake in time and apologized
profusely. When I go around blind turns, I proceed with caution. Honestly, the
most riders that I’ve encountered on a busy weekend on the 10 mile loop
was maybe 8, most in groups of 2, and all were very aware of the
unpredictability of horses, all stopped to let us pass, and were friendly and
courteous.
