The W is for Wuppertal. The year sticker is just like on your car's license plate, and you can see I have never renewed. 3268 is number they call in if you break a rule like leaving a pile of horse poop on a trail, or going off trail.
Thankfully where we live no no one enforces this but I still keep Baasha's in case I need to renew them for Mag and make him truly legal on trails.
I always found it wrong that bicylists don't have to wear registration plates, but horses do, and we all use the same trails.
4 comments:
We also have membership tags for the trails here, and they are useful when a horse gets loose. It’s happened so many times that we have added the rider cell phone on the tag. Safety first.
Bikes can’t run away so easy. But I do agree that all trail users should have some form of governance.
ND, I forgot to say, horse riders have to pay for their license just like you do for your car to be allowed to use the city streets. But no other users pay this fee, though we share the same trails. Mountain bikers have no license, no responsibilities.
Back home it wasn't optimal - the trail users themselves had to perform the trail maintenance. We have the Backcountry Horsemen (of Washington State, etc.) -- the lobbyists for our trail usage, and who create and maintain trails, may-they-live-forever.
I often carried loppers on my saddle. It sucked when a tree was down and you had to wait for another horse person to come around to clear it. Here in Germany, the city takes care of the trail. But I resent that horse riders are the only ones who pay a fee to use the trails.
I've cleared a few trails here and was always surprised when my riding partner did not join in and help. OK then.
Tell me what you mean by governance?
Trail governance. We have certain rules, etiquette and expected behaviour across trail users as we share our trails with skiers, atvs, skidoos, as well as joggers, walkers, snowshoers, and maybe one day bikes.
The four main groups (riders, skiers, atvs, skidoos) all have their own trail association which negotiates trail access, ensures insurance coverage for property owners in case of accident, and obliges their members to “follow the rules” or have their pass revoked, using patrols and occasional checkpoints.
This “governance” allows us to maintain a certain etiquette between trail users. When skiers see a rider at an intersection, they stop and wait to see who will pass first. When land owners want us to avoid a certain trail section because of a damaged bridge or bog, they only have to contact the club or association, and not the 1000+ potential users.
The governance provides a mechanism for recourse, ensures plenty of volunteers for clean up days and maintenance, centralizes communications with the city and land owners and provides insurance coverage.
It works pretty well.
ND, wow, please go post that on your blog, that is important. Thank you for sharing how it is done where you live. I think there are places in America with no official horse trails, only "try your luck". Having seen both sides, I'd rather try my luck than contsntly stop for baby strollers.
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