As a trail rider, I’m always aware of the possibility of trail user conflict. However, my 30 years of riding experience has taught me the vast majority of trail users try to be courteous. We equestrians have a few things that make us the most difficult user type to interact with. Our mode of transport, for example, has its own brain and encounters with horses on trails can be few and far between. The standard trail courtesy messaging can be confusing. Think about those tiny triangular signs, with many arrows pointing in all directions, or the demanding ‘STOP! STAND! SPEAK!’ signs. A couple of years ago I participated in an American Trails webinar with the Trail Partners Foundation, where they introduced their successful “Slow and Say Hello” program. The program was a collaboration between a bicycle coalition, a local horse council and a conservation league, all of which were located in high traffic trails in Marin County, California. The overall message of “Slow & Say Hello” was trail safety and resource protection, and that resonated with me. I contacted the Trails Partners Foundation and was connected to a volunteer named Curt Kruger. He provided names of several Canadian parks that had successfully adopted the program and offered to speak at a Back Country Horsemen of BC (BCHBC) Provincial Board meeting. He explained that all the use of the graphics, brochure and artwork was free and available to be duplicated and edited for anyone to adopt. I decided to try this idea out at my local level first and, as the local BCHBC equestrian contact for the Regional District Parks Department, I contacted them first. They willingly shared their contacts for the local running group and the cycling coalition. Equipped with my laptop and some printed information, we met for coffee. Everyone liked the idea and we thought a joint banner would be a good start. A local company created a banner using the free artwork noted above, plus our three logos. Our groups held two collaborative events in our largest regional multi-use park.
We brought horses, and each club had literature to hand out. We approached (i.e. gently accosted) trail users at the main intersection of the multi-user loop. We explained this simple idea – that ALL trail users should slow enough to say hello. We offered a gift card draw, and handed out lots of Horse Council BC brochures, pins, ribbons and unicorn duckies. (HCBC now offers grants for Trailhead events like this.)
The main message conveyed was please slow down and call out a simple “Hello” – from one trail user to another. The word hello is enough for a horse to realize that’s a friendly human. And “hello” certainly sounds better than “on your right” or, no greeting at all. We explained how horses are individuals, like humans, and some may need more time or space. And we conveyed the importance of using only one earbud when on a multi- use trail. A very important part of a successful safe trail use lies with us – the riders. We can get our horses accustomed to bicycles by having a friend on a bike ride along with us. We can practice canine encounters by having a friend with their dog on a leash walk with us and intermittently pulling them off the trail out of sight. (Say, hello!) And we can practice how to deal with fast-paced joggers by having someone run towards and away from us with us when we ride. Finally, we should also set a good example for others and stop to say hello- because this is a shared responsibility.
Submitted by Sharon Pickthorne North Vancouver Island Chapter
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