Down Memory Lane with Debbie Miller, Treasurer

Board Member Profile: Down Memory Lane with Debbie Miller, Treasurer

I grew up riding horses starting at age six.  My family with seven kids were members

of the Donnellson Saddle Club so we'd enjoyed camp outs and trail riding at Shimek. We had a lot of fun growing up in the saddle club and made many good memories at Shimek. I can remember when there wasn't a lower campground and there was a single road in the upper campground with no loop. Where the day parking is now used to be a corral built similar to our hitching rails. We kids thought that it was cool to balance and walk around the top pole. It was an accomplishment to make it around without falling! That's where we tied our horses instead at the campsites. There was another hitching rail that was just a straight line about where the stalls are now. I don't remember designated camping spots with gravel and fire pits like we have now. No daytime parking; and there weren't any toilet pits either. The saddle club had a traveling porta potty we'd bring to the campground and for which they'd dig a hole. We also had a traveling chuck wagon we used to put our food to serve at our potlucks, which I loved. Probably why I suggested one in the Fall.

 

The Donnellson Saddle Club is the reason we now have water in the campgrounds. I think they used to haul water so when Rathbun Water was coming through, they came up with the funds to bring in the water. 

 

  Times have changed. I remember we hauled horses in pickup trucks and backed in the ditch in the upper campground to unload. There used to be card playing under the awning, especially if it rained. We also used to meet motor bike riders. I remember one time the club was on a ride and one of the members asked them to shut off their bikes until we rode through. I was thankful because my pony, as well as others, was spooked.

Debbie and Sonny at Shimek

The time I remembered the most was when the saddle club members got lost on the trails and we were supposed to be out on a short ride because the ladies were planning on making pizza and dessert pizzas over the fire. Then it got dark....nobody had a flashlight and people were using their matches to try to find the trail. My dad put me in front of him because I had a white pony that he could kinda see otherwise you couldn't really see your own horse's ears. If there was a low limb, everyone would holler back to the person behind them "low limb" because you couldn't see it. We didn't have to worry about it after one of the big guys couldn't get low enough and took it out.

We ended up coming out at a place that to this day

I think I know where it's at on the gravel road but I sure wouldn't know how to get there by horse. We rode the gravel road and came out by the curve before you enter the border of Shimek on the East side of Shimek on highway 2. We then rode all the way down highway 2 in the ditch to get to the entrance of Shimek and then rode another three miles up the gravel to the campground. To this day, I'll still say that was the longest ride of my life and if I'm riding towards evening, I always carry a flashlight.

 

I met Ann Bennett when a coworker, Diane Holmes, suggested I meet Lori Field and Ann because she thought we'd get along. Diane had her horse Buddy in training with Ann and suggested I take my problem child horse Sonny to Ann so I first met Ann when I took Sonny for some training. Ann then introduced me to Lori Field.

 

I remember the first time I met Marsha Achenbach was on a warm January /February day when Lori Field and I went riding. We started a fire and cooked hamburger brats and had some hot chocolate. Marsha was the only other rider out there and Lori knew Marsha and introduced me and I remember not promising to remember her last name of Achenbach. We invited Marsha to join us and there's been many times since when Marsha's trailer is the only other one there.

 

Neal Hartman and his sister Lala O'Hara I met through Marilyn Harris who was also in the Donnellson Saddle Club so I've known Marilyn all my life. Marilyn and Don Harris' dad Joe Harris and his friend Arnie Mitchell were responsible for a lot of the trails we have today.

Debbie and Neal heading back to clear trails after a lunch break during a Volunteer Work Day.

I first talked with John Byrd over the phone when one of his co-workers gave me his number. I was thanking his co-worker for all the good work they'd been doing and he thought I should call John because he said John wasn't used to hearing that. When I did call John, he said he wasn't used to hearing they're doing a good job, usually more in the complaining line. So when Ann called to see if I'd consider being Treasurer, I gave her John's name and number to call.

 Lora Conrad I met by a campfire at Shimek about six years ago. Ringo and Brenda Covert I first met at a volunteer work day at Shimek.

We are truly blessed with having Shimek so close to home and I'm blessed with 

all the good people I meet along the way...including on our Volunteer Work days.

WANTED: Information and photos on the history of the Equestrian Trails at Shimek State Forest

Debbie Miller, Neal Hartman and Don Harris have added a lot to the knowledge of your Editor and others about the history of the equestrian trails at Shimek. We would like to do one or more feature stories on the way the Shimek Trails were developed and used in the “good old days.” If you can share photos made during the early days of the trails as well as stories about your experiences in developing and/or using those trails, please send an e-mail to lpconrad@wildblue.net describing those experiences. You can send the photos via e-mail or mail them to me to be copied and returned. Thanks for your help---I've only been in Iowa since 2000 so do not have any personal knowledge of the history of the trails.

Riding the WWT

May 7, 2014  Riding the WWT

Today found the trails still listed as Ride WWT (Wet Weather Trails) only, so Marsha and I rode that loop.  This means that over 6 miles of Shimek's 25 miles of trails are open; the rest, closed to horseback riding.  The WWT is a loop that was rocked last year and has just recently begun to be  open when trail conditions are too wet to use the unrocked trails.  For the rules and the map that shows the trail---see the Friends of Shimek blog page titled "Open or Closed or WWT?

The WWT is about 2 to 2 1/2 hours of leisurely trail riding where most of the time two riders can ride side by side if they choose.  Today there were lots of things to see along the trail---though I did not get them all photographed. First of all, let me say that the morel hunters were having only a little luck and narry a one did I see from horseback along the WWT.  Another thing we did not see---there were no soggy, bad or dangerous places for riders on the WWT.

What we did see from horseback included turkeys and a bright blue bird that was too fast for me to identify.  Then there were many lovely wildflowers blooming along the trail.




 Between post 1 and Highway 2, there is a sweep of red or butcher's blood Trillium in bloom!  A most unusual sight to see so many blooming.   Please don't damage them---it takes several years for one to begin to bloom and then they can live for up to 25 years if not disturbed.  They seem to thrive in oak forests in light shade.




Everywhere, it seemed, along the trail the phlox are already blooming--and a not often sight awaited us near one of the water crossings---an area where phlox and blue bells were blooming together along a slope.

So---many Thanks to Forester John Byrd, to the Hoaglin Foundation for the rock and to the FOS and DNR personnel for their work in setting up an option for riding during wet conditions.

If we all cooperate and follow the WWT rules, then hopefully  next year, we can add  additional miles to the WWT!! Wouldn't that be nice !

Biosecurity for Trail Riders

Biosecurity for Trail Riders

from Friends of Shimek State Forest Equestrian Trails

 

Each year we face yet another equine disease threat.  Currently EHM is moving about in adjoining states and in Iowa, making us all uneasy about keeping our horses safe when out on the trails.  The following Biosecurity Guidelines have been prepared to help you avoid infecting your horse with a serious disease while out trail riding.



• Prepare before you go. Identify problematic infectious diseases in your area and in the area where you will be traveling and discuss preparation with your veterinarian, including obtaining vaccinations your horse should have, worming, Health Certificate and Coggins test. Do not take your horse to Shimek or anywhere there are other horses if he has a fever, shows any signs of illness or if you know he has been exposed to any horse with a contagious disease.

•Watch out for means of indirect contamination. If camping, BEFORE unloading your horse, be sure to remove all manure/bedding left at your site or in the horse stall you will be using. Disinfect the tie rail and any surfaces your horse may touch. If day riding, tie to your own trailer. (Bleach – water solution is good for this.)

• Don't share equipment. If you must lend tack or grooming tools, be sure to disinfect them before using again.

• Keep individual alcohol wipes handy in your trailer and in a pocket. Remember, something as simple as petting a dog that has just rolled in manure or used bedding can contaminate your hands.

• Horse trailers hauling horses from different locations should be cleaned out and disinfected after each transport. Once all organic material is removed from the trailer, a solution of two percent bleach and water is effective against most equine disease organisms. Disinfect the tires too.

• Restrict horse-horse contact: Keep your horse two horse-lengths away from any other horse even when stopped along the trail to assure the horses cannot touch. Viruses such as EHV-1 can be spread by airborne transmission as well as direct contact. (Note: There is no way to prevent nose to nose horse contact if using the horse stalls at Shimek and others are also using them)

• When tying your horse to a hitching rail or tie line, put enough space between horses from different farms that they don’t touch, share food or bedding.

•Control what your horse ingests. Many organisms can be ingested. Use your own bucket for watering your horse only and take the water from a faucet. Do not use a hose that has been lying on the ground or used by others.

• If you must water on the trail, water the horse upstream but be aware that some organism such as the Potomac Horse Fever fluke may be transmitted in open water.

•Bring plenty of clean hay for your horse as grazing around a campground could expose your horse to disease organisms. (EPM, for example, can be transmitted via grazing when the horse ingests infective sporocysts left by a possum. Organisms such as EHV-1 can be in the saliva of infected horses that may have eaten grass earlier. ) Do not feed the horse on the ground.

•Limit vector exposure. Ticks, mosquitoes and flies can transmit serious diseases as well as pester horses and riders. Insect repellants, appropriate use of fly sheets, rump rugs, and other horse apparel can all help reduce vector exposure. Check your horse and yourself carefully for ticks each day you ride.( The bite of infected mosquitoes is the source of West Nile Virus in both horses and humans.) Note rump rug and ear covers to reduce insect problems for the horse and helmet for rider safety in the photo.

• Restrict horse-human-horse contact. Don't touch another horse unless you need to do so. Be sure to disinfect your hands both BEFORE touching another horse and BEFORE touching your horse later. (Alcohol wipes are useful for this.)

• Disinfect your hands, clothes and boots before entering another horse stall or trailer and after returning home BEFORE entering your barn area.

• Before you leave the campground, clean up your campsite and stall. Please remove all bedding, manure, and left over hay that you and your horse have generated and dump it in the manure bunkers placed at each campground. This will allow drying and the sun to begin killing off any organisms and thus help protect the next camper and horse as most organisms survive much much longer in dark, damp environments.

(References and for more information see:

“Biosecurity on the Trail” from Equine Canada , http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/Animal_Health/Equine_Biosecurity.html

and
USDA's “Biosecurity: The Key to Keeping Your Horses Healthy”)