Hikers & Motorcycles

In Bakersfield, we are blessed with a good variety of trails - some hills, river trail, and lots of open land. Since this is not a wilderness area, or a park, we do share our trails with hikers, dogs, bicycles and lots of motorcycles. We have found that if we all have a positive attitude though, sharing the trails is no big deal. Last January I found out how important sharing trails can be!

We decided to ride our "big" loop last January - it was my new mare's first long trail ride. Since things had gone great all day and she was handling things well, we decided to take "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride." This is a popular canyon that is approximately three to four feet wide with VERY narrow corners and vertical walls (20 feet high Approx.). It is a popular canyon with the motorcycles and mountain bikers. As we started down the canyon (I was in the lead) a terrible sound greeted us. At a blind corner, we heard a motorcycle coming straight up at us. My riding partner (Marci Cunningham) and I both began to yell VERY loudly but of course over the roar of the bike, we weren't heard.

The canyon is so narrow, neither of us could turn around. My mare was quivering and shaking with nowhere to go. When the bike came blasting around the corner we were right in his path. The motorcyclist saw us and was forced to "lay his bike down" in order to stop. In an absolute panic, my mare reared, trying to scale the walls of the canyon. Needless to say, I tumbled off underneath her and saw hooves flashing. By some freak of nature, she spun around and SQUEEZED past Marci and bolted. As I hit the ground, all I saw were hooves and was sure that I would be trampled in her haste to get the heck out of there.

The motorcyclist leaped off his bike apologizing and checking to see if I was okay. Marci headed after my mare and the motorcyclist (who had his son on a bike behind him) insisted on following me on foot back to the mouth of the canyon to see if we could find my horse. As he continued to apologize, I pointed out that none of this was his fault and that I should have hung on better!

When my horse was nowhere to be seen (nor Marci!) the motorcyclist insisted on getting his bike and his son to help me look for her! We spent a good hour combing hills in search of my horse. He drove me to several motorcycle groups asking if they'd seen a loose horse. The whole motorcycle group pitched in pointing out where they'd last seen her. After a bit more searching, we did find her several miles away in the hands of a very nice person.

After making sure that I was alright again, the motorcyclist offered to find Marci and tell her that I was okay and that I would meet her back home!

This experience showed me how important it is that we maintain good relationships with those who use the trails in different ways. This gentleman and his son both left with a positive view of horse people - something we need to foster.

There were a lot of other people who responded to my little accident; the lady who found my horse and called 911, the sheriff's office who was making preparations to search for me, and other folks who were concerned about my well being and responded to the situation without my even knowing about it. I think that these people were so willing to help because we have tried hard to share trails and to maintain friendly and communicative attitudes with the members of our community.

(p.s. we understood that the rule for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was that everyone should come DOWN it - not up! We don't ride that particular trail anymore!)

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