Horses at Jacobsburg

Last week, the Jacobsburg land manager, Rob Neitz, invited us, a few locals, and other trail users to a meeting at the park to discuss improving trail maintenance and some new mountain bike opportunities. Rob's a great guy and the meeting was super positive and we're getting together again next week to start working on some plans. 

One of the things that came up during the initial meeting was that many mountain bikers (Jacobsburg gets a ton or riders, of all abilities) have never ridden in another park that allow horses and don't know what to do when they meet an equestrian. To make things safer for everyone, we dug up some advice from IMBA on what to do when you encounter a horse on the trail. Bullet points are below but basically it boils down to this: Horses are big skittish animals--don't spook em. (They're also messing and members of the horse group who attended the meeting agreed to do a better job getting horse riders to clean up all the horsesh*t. 

• * When you encounter horses, step off the trail to the downhill side whenever possible to let the horse pass.
• * If you approach from behind, announce yourself loudly and calmly. Let the rider know you'd like to pass.
• * Talk to the rider and horse, which let's the animal know you are human. A simple "howdy" works.
• * If the animal seems anxious, dismount your bike, and remove your helmet and pack, which further identifies you as a human.
• * Keep talking in a calm voice as the horse passes.

*IMBA site: https://www.imba.com/resources/risk-management/shared-trails

Good vibes at the first meeting. Rob Nietz (tall dude in the back) met with local riders including Steve from Saucon Valley bikes and a few equestrians.