Trail Rides
Please come out to enjoy a TROT trail ride and consider leading a ride yourself! TROT trail rides are fun and a great opportunity to learn new trails, meet other TROT members, and find a new trail riding buddy. To lead a ride, contact our trail ride coordinator, Barbara Sollner-Webb.
To participate in a scheduled ride:
- Contact the ride leader to sign-up and learn the ride’s starting time and other details.
- If a ride is postponed or cancelled, the ride leader will notify you.
- Check the TROT website and TROT and Maryland Trail Riders listservs for the most current ride information.
- All ride participants:
- Must wear helmets
- Provide appropriate documentation of current negative Coggins test for the horse, in compliance with Maryland state law.
- Be a TROT member – One-day TROT memberships are available at the ride for $5
If you need a ride to the event or can offer one, please email Barbara Sollner-Webb, so that this information can be included in an upcoming newsletter, or contact the ride leader.
Trail Maintenance
Anytime you are on a trail ride and if safe to do so, you can perform trail maintenance by clipping branches that impede passageway along a trail. In addition, you can participate in scheduled trail maintenance days.
Amy Kimble is the TROT Adopt-A-Trail coordinator and she has challenged all TROT members to perform two hours of trail maintenance a year. Please contact Amy for additional information about participating in trail maintenance activities. She can be reached at 301-748-8310 or amyhkimble@aol.com.
Please report your trail work hours to Amy, who tracks this information for the state; these hours also help assess park usage.
Calendar
Trail Ride. Info about this “Last Thursday of the Month” TROT ride will be on the TROT Facebook page and in the next newsletter.
RSVP: Laury Lobel (<Laurylobel@verizon.net>, 301-467-7300)
For more information about this park: Click here.
Trail Ride. Veteran Morgan Run trail rider, Debbie Mullinix, will lead us on this trail ride. Morgan Run is a 1,336 acre environmental nature area featuring miles of equestrian trails in both open fields and woodlands. Only a few sections are somewhat rocky, but the vast majority of the trails have footing that is easy on horses’ feet. There is plenty of parking at Morgan Run. As always, plan to stay for the potluck after the ride.
Trail Ride. [Rain date: Saturday, May 18.] Come ride along WSSC’s beautiful Rocky Gorge Reservoir, celebrating TROT’s efforts to reopen this trail a few years ago. This ride starts in West Laurel and offers magnificent views of the reservoir, with a good chance of seeing heron and maybe an eagle. Despite the name, the footing is fine for barefoot horses, with plenty of easy stream crossings to water the horses. We will have a walk-only and a faster group. After the ~2 ½ hour ride, there will be a potluck lunch
RSVP: Barbara Sollner-Webb (301-604-5619 or <bsw@jhmi.edu>)
Trail Ride. Fair Hill has great footing, even for the barefoot horse. But there are some areas with gravel, so for the very tender-footed horse they may require shoes/boots. Fair Hill also boasts some of the most beautiful scenery in the area. There will be some small water crossings along the ride, as well as some bridges, dogs on leashes, and fellow riders/horses. There usually is enough trailer parking in the lot as well as the field. This ride will be walk-trot, with some cantering if the trail permits. We will ride for at least 1.5hrs, longer if everyone is up for it! Bring your lunch and a chair if you would like to stay afterwards!
Come join on this ride, which TROT has not had for many years, through a lovely venue. Although on the Eastern Shore, it is only about an hour drive from I-95.
RSVP: Katelin McConkey <katelinmcconkey@gmail.com>
For more information about the park: TROT info page
RSVP: Joan Bosmans (<joanbosmans@gmail.com>)
Woodstock Inn in Woodstock Maryland located in Patapsco State Park between Baltimore, Carroll and Howard Counties. This established watering hole is a favorite of Horseback riders in the area. Woodstock Inn appreciates the many riders that come to their restaurant. There are dedicated hitching posts with signs “Horse and Mule Parking Only” in their main parking lot as well as two hitching posts in a lower secluded treelined spot away. Wait staff will sometimes add a few carrots to your wing order. The Inn is also a favorite spot for Motorcycle riders and there can be cars in the upper parking lot close to the hitching posts. Horses will have to walk past these to get to the lower hitching posts. There is a freight Train Line that runs alongside the parking lot. 4-5 Car lengths away from where the horses are but it can be loud and something horses might need a little extra support to encounter. There are outside picnic tables if you want to eat with your horse. In there are also outside tables in the lower picnic area also allowing a full view of the horses.
The ride will begin at the McKeldin Rest Area of Patapsco state parks. McKeldin Park is at the very SE edge of Carroll Co/North East Baltimore County and has dedicated Horse Trailer parking and rest rooms close by. This area has miles of multi-use trails, which are very popular with the equestrian community. You may encounter walkers, dogs on leashes, and bike riders. The area has unique trail that are well maintained by the Park Volunteers and other horse groups with the equine rider in mind. The trails provide a beautiful view as you climb in and out of river valleys. There are two water crossings as we go to the Hernwood Side of the Park traveling toward Old Court Road and Climb up to the Parking Lot of the Restaurant. There is also a Railroad Track Crossing. The ride is 1 ½ hour one way at a nice slow walk. A Walk-Trot group can leave the Lunch will take about 30-40 mins . In total the day should be 4-5 hours of Horse Fun.
Info about this “Last Thursday of the Month” TROT ride will be on the TROT Facebook page and in the next newsletter.
RSVP: Laury Lobel (<Laurylobel@verizon.net>, 301-467-7300)