HORSE ASSOCIATION & TRAIL RIDERS NEWS

Great Lakes Dressage Club

The Great Lakes Dressage Club (GLDC) will be having a potluck and picnic on July 10th at 6:30pm at the Harry Hughes Equestrian Center, 5563 WatervilleSwanton Rd. in Swanton, Ohio. Mason Konesky will be doing a presentation on Toxic and Poisonous Plants. People are asked to bring a salad or a dessert. There will be a “Best Dessert” contest. The main dish will be provided by the GLDC.

At our August meeting, we will be preparing for the show in September www.greatlakesdressageclub.com our poker ride. Both very generously donated their winnings back to the group. Thank you both!! Our new "Lost Zoo" game was a success with Donna McGill winning and Missy VanDyke taking second. Both found all the animals, as did a few other riders, so a drawing was used to determine winners.

We will be holding our Annual Dressage Schooling Show on September 17th. The location is the Fulton County Fairgrounds in Wauseon, Ohio. We will be offering dressage, western dressage, eventing and driven dressage classes. Championships are offered for open, amateur, youth and western. The show facility has a covered show arena, practice arena, box stalls, plenty of trailer parking and nearby hotels and restaurants.

For more information on Great Lakes Dressage Club, our schooling show, meetings and other events, please check out our website or follow us on Facebook.

We held our Annual Meeting after the Forbidden Trail Ride, and re-elected 5 incumbent board members. All current officers also agreed to maintain positions for the next year Thank you to members who stayed for our meeting! Since last month, our last open seat on the board has been filled by Arrianne Crandell. Welcome to the board Arianne!

We have plotted out the path for Phase 2 of the Ionia Confidence Course. Previous plans had been to build in 2023. We have decided to keep the path mowed this year so riders can travel it and pack the soil before we build obstacles. Riders are welcome to start using the path to go from day staging to the Phase 1 course. The path will pick up from the trail just across the road from day staging, then take the first right (presently it is marked by pink ribbons in sets of two - stay between the ribbons.) Trail staff will keep the trail brush hogged, so you can easily find the path next season.

Remember, when reserving online, your first click is on the "Equestrian" tab on the right side of the first page, then you can select our horse camp.

If you encounter a situation on the trails, please let the park staff know as soon as you can by calling 616-527-3750. Let us know if you think we can be of help. We all work together as best as we can to keep the trails clear. You can ask questions or report trail issues on our Facebook page at: Ionia Horse Trails - IHTA

Ionia Horse Trails Association

Chili Cook Off - Saturday, October 7. www.ioniahorsetrailsassociation.org

The Forbidden Trail Ride was a great success again this year! Thank you to all you loyal Ionia trail riders for making this another great ride. Our event shirts are a bright turquoise tie-dye for high visibility and will be useful for our riders. Beth Stein won our 50/50 and Oleta Birkbeck won

THREE DAY PARKING AREAS: 1) Normal Day Staging; 2) Go past the day staging parking lot to the "Barn Lot" on the same side of the road; 3) There is also a new option to access the west end of the park more easily! It is still signed as the X Country Ski Trail, just before the beach entrance (on the opposite side of the road) when entering the park. Park staff enlarged the parking area to hold four or five horse size rigs, but this is not a parking area suitable for BIG rigs. The drive entry is not wide, and the turn around area is not huge. If your rig is more than 30 feet or you lack backing skills, this may not be a good option. Please park like you expect the lot to be full when you come back. Leave room for others and plan for all rigs to be able to exit safely.

Hi, trail riders! Hope everyone is loving the dry conditions lately I know my grass is not happy, but the trails sure are nice! Please be aware that we are still having some technical issues on our website, www.mayburytrailriders.org. If you have a question, please send it through our Facebook page and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience!

The Northville Fire Dept. conducted a live fire drill on April 13th on the old headquarters building off Beck Road. It was sad to see that sight, having had many productive meetings on the 2nd floor!

The Northville Township is working with SEMCOG (Southeast Michigan Council of Government) to film local assets that might attract visitors. They are looking for volunteers to participate and be filmed horseback riding in the park on Tuesday, June 27th at 9:00am (date left in for online readers). We hope to have a good turnout and show how Maybury State Park is the perfect place to ride your horse!

Remember to mark your calendars for our fall trail ride, which will take place on October 22nd, 2023. We look forward to a great turnout like last year!

Please remember that there is NO hunting at Maybury State Park.

Continue to follow us on Facebook for updates on the trails, events and general news going on in the park. Feel free to post pictures from your rides!

Happy Trails! Mary Nader