Iowa Outdoors Staff Ride with Friends of Shimek

Friends of Shimek working Wednesday August 21st  planned a ride on Friday morning 

with Mindy Kralicek and Clay Smith of DNR's Iowa Outdoors Magazine. Bonnie and Doug Moothart brought their reliable trail horse “Bud” for Clay to ride and Cory Craig brought her horse “Cash” for Mindy to ride. After a crash course in horsemanship from Ann Bennett and getting fitted out with helmets, both of them joined the group for a short ride along the trails out of the lower campground.    See photos below for a bit of that experience. To test to see if our horses were spooky---that must have been the reason—Clay got off Bud and then Clay clamored over into the vines by the trail and made photos as we rode by—repeatedly---lucky for us riders but maybe not for him---none of the horses spooked though they did take a good look at that strange sight—none said cheese but they might have said “treats?”

 

Mindy perches atop Cash while owner Cory Craig adjusts the stirrups.

 

DNR Photographer Clay Smith captures a shot of Ann Bennett adjusting Mindy's riding helmet to be sure it is well secured.

 

 

Down the trail we go with Clay photographing as he goes -- no small trick aboard your first horse. In front of him is Ann Bennett, then Mindy and leading the group, Marsha Achenbach, with Bonnie, Doug and Lora behind.  Photos by Lora.

 

 

All this adventuring with Friends of Shimek on our work day and out on the trails by 

Mindy and Clay has a purpose---they are working on a feature story about Shimek State Forest, with a bit about Friends of Shimek and an interview with John Byrd ---we don't know what all they will include—but we do know that Clay made hundreds of photos. Mindy said: We work about a year ahead of the publishing schedule. Look for the article in the July-Aug or Sept-Oct 2014 issue of Iowa Outdoors.

In case you have not seen it before---Iowa Outdoors is a bimonthly publication whose editorial mission is We strive to open the door to the beauty and uniqueness of Iowa's natural resources, inspire people to get outside and experience Iowa and to motivate outdoor-minded citizens to understand and care for our natural resources.

 

It costs $15 for a one year subscription. 

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Recreation/IowaOutdoorsMagazine.aspx    

 

See the website for a listing of articles in the most recent issue and some sample articles and photos from earlier issues.