04-23-2014, 05:46 PM
This post came to my mind the other day when I went on a hike here at the Sonoma Coast. We have trails here that allow different travelers, the trail I was on allowed all - horses, bikes and hikers. There was copious amounts of poop right in the middle of the trail - and with the strong breeze the odor was strong as well. Hub was complaining and I said if we wanted we could have taken any of the other dozens of trails along the coast and 5 minutes from our house that do not allow horses.
In stretching my memory, back 20+ years ago when I used to spend way more time on the beach I can't remember ever seeing horses on Long Bay - ever. (Jet Skis back then were an AI thing and very few if any were ever spotted or heard zipping around the "main" part of the beach, definitely never on the cliffs). Even in recent years, while my visits to the beach have become fewer and farther between, do I remember seeing horses the way its being described here as an every day, several times a day occurence. My guess is the increased hoof traffic is just like anything else - the more tourists, the more stuff to sell them be it horsey rides, jet skis rides, trinkets or drugs. As far as horses not "belonging" on the beach - well...I don't think there are any laws or rules prohibiting them so they belong as much as anything else does I would imagine. Back in the day I remember guys handing out flyers for horseback riding at places like Paradise Park...these days they hop off and you hop on I guess. I agree its not the smartest thing to bring a large animal to a crowded narrow beach but I'm afraid there's nothing that's going to be done anytime soon. I mean, it took three people getting hurt/killed by jet skis to get them reined in (no pun intended).
In stretching my memory, back 20+ years ago when I used to spend way more time on the beach I can't remember ever seeing horses on Long Bay - ever. (Jet Skis back then were an AI thing and very few if any were ever spotted or heard zipping around the "main" part of the beach, definitely never on the cliffs). Even in recent years, while my visits to the beach have become fewer and farther between, do I remember seeing horses the way its being described here as an every day, several times a day occurence. My guess is the increased hoof traffic is just like anything else - the more tourists, the more stuff to sell them be it horsey rides, jet skis rides, trinkets or drugs. As far as horses not "belonging" on the beach - well...I don't think there are any laws or rules prohibiting them so they belong as much as anything else does I would imagine. Back in the day I remember guys handing out flyers for horseback riding at places like Paradise Park...these days they hop off and you hop on I guess. I agree its not the smartest thing to bring a large animal to a crowded narrow beach but I'm afraid there's nothing that's going to be done anytime soon. I mean, it took three people getting hurt/killed by jet skis to get them reined in (no pun intended).
"Once in a while you can get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right..."
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