I hope everyone enjoyed the ride. I know I certainly did. The route was excellent and the weather perfect. For the record we had 58 riders, took in 10 memberships and raised, after expenses, $485 which is more than enough to cover the cost of a Paid Duty Patrol in the Ganaraska Forest. Thanks to John and Richard for their help putting this event together, and to Neil for coming out to look after the memberships. I was sweep riding and the last to pass the horse lady. She was shouting that we were bothering the horses in the pasture, they didn't seemed to be bothered at all. Unfortunately though it's nuts like her that get trails closed. Here's a more positive experience. After lunch Sully went back into the restuarant to ask for some tape to fix his bike. A few minutes later the owner came out and mentioned her son had a dirt bike and asked if Sully needed any tools or a place to work on his bike. Very nice. Brian
Brian She topped up my water bottle and gave me a coke too, while I waited for the rescue squad. They were great people in the diner. that little kid serving the tables made a whack of money in tips, she was so cute... thanks for the help everyone.
I read the above Sully post 1st before reading Brian's post and I thought you were saying the horse lady topped up your water bottle and gave you a coke, which made me laugh. Some guys just have a way with the ladies! :lol:
Re: Mud Roost KLR Spraying the poor guy who helped him come on where is it? and where are all the photos? stop talking about the nut job on the horse(I was one of the first to go by there , and she was already waving her fist at me in return to my hello wave. she is just a hater - that's all - nothing you'll say or do will change that) so - come on , we want more pictures from the ride!!!
Movie and more (horse Lady) Yes yes the movie of the mud spraying is hopefully good and hopefully is coming (I don't know how to upload it and it might be a bit big in mbytes). I like the suggestion of sending the lady some flowers, as another suggestion perhaps we can send her a nice horse grooming brush, or hoof pick ... something that she could use for the horse. Maybe we can even explain that there are people in our group who are horse people too (I don't know if this is true or not but if there is anyone of us that is a horse person out there maybe he/she can be the ones to approach this Lady). So is there anyone out there to follow through with the horse lady apology? How would we find her (maybe we can contact the OPP and ask them to send the sorry gift to her??). Really, I think Brian Helliwell hit the nail right on the head with his comment. It would really be helpful to further our goals as an organization to somehow try and smooth this situation out a bit. Personally, I dislike horses upclose. They bit, don't listen to you, and are moody, But at the same time I give respect to those who enjoy riding them, and I like to see horses from a distance (if some people like riding them, then great for them, horses are really just not for me). It is our groups responsibility to somehow stop people like this lady from closing down places that we are allowed to ride, and this is our opportunity to do something for a relatively a small price ($$). Once places are closed down it will be the horses that can ride there not us and that will cost us big $$$$. So who is up for the task?
I grew up with horses (parents have a small horse farm) and have no problem making a delivery. But is it really going to do any good? To her defense, most horses hate motorized vehicles and I am sure the 58 riders from ODSC that went past her property (whether riding slow or fast) were a little overwhelming for her. So giving her a horse brush and some flowers will not change the fact that she has a problem with motorized vehicles disturbing her horses. Of course the road is open to all traffic that has the proper licensing. So we would not want to give up our right to ride that road. Thus, perhaps the gift should be accompanied with a conversation regarding how we (ODSC) can work with her in the future should a ride be routed past her property. Such as prior warning so she can keep her horses in the stable for the few hours it takes for all the riders to pass her property. Or something like that.
What a shame that one person can seem to put a poor twist on an otherwise great ride. IF someone in our group made an inconsiderate action or gesture, I would hope that they would go out of their way to apologize for this ignorance, as it reflects poorly on all of us. I believe we where riding on the road right of way, in perfect legality, sadly, we cannot control the weather or dust, and cannot limit where any dust may go. It is one of the side effects of living on a gravel road. And although I can sympathise with this woman, as I do not like riding in a dust cloud either, I cannot agree with her taking away my freedom to ride on public land (road allowance). What we can do is be courteous, respect other users, and landowners or residents in our travels. It is very had to educate ignorance, as often it is not based on rational thinking, but we can as nice as possible when faced with such situations. I also think that it is pretty sad that we can ride many km of roads, road allowances and a bit of trail, and the end result is the lowest common denominator of people wanting to see the "mud" photos. Not to dig up any old arguments, but we ride so much, and the only real photos or videos seem to be of when we get stopped by a watery, muddy obstacle. Yes, Obstacle, not "play pit", usually we try to avoid such things, but it seems our own photos show otherwise. Thanks Willie for the Cord photos, and Graham for the Hill top photos, great scenery and IMHO much more descriptive of the type of riding we like to do. Let’s think about what we do, how we ride, and what we show the world, as it reflects on all of us, and it only takes one bad apple to spoil it for everyone. Let’s keep it quiet, and have fun. Cheers, -Barry
Here's a couple of pics from lunch, didn't have much time to get the camera out, too busy trying my best to keep up with my group!
Two wrongs don’t make a right. She probably only wants to ride her horse on the right of way and unfortunately the ATV's and jeeps have totally messed it up and we get lumped in there with them. Send the lady some flowers along with our code of conduct, and an apology for the one wanker that probably offended her the most. At the least her opinion of ODCS can only go one way ^.
I dont recall ever seeing a lady with horses. We did how ever pass a lady bent over showing us some $@! but she never really bothered us.... Lots of trucks and jeeps stuck and some crazy guy riding the worlds loudest quad. But our group never had trouble with any of the locals on the route.... Met a group of harley guys helped out a fellow rider with a flat tire. Then a truck passed by with a load of quads screaming out the window at us on the side of the road, other then that it was pretty quite.... :? :?
The only apology this woman deserves is from the person that allegedly flipped her the bird, whoever it was. The best we can do is apologize to her about that persons behavior. I'd be happy to accomodate one of our OPP members on a visit to her house and clear the air. I'm sorry, but she chose to be irritated by people behaving in a legal and moral manner. We have no control over that. I guarantee that if no motorized vehicles go down that road ever again, she find something else to be pissy about. Like I said before, much of her anger is misdirected, and probably innappropriate. Her behavior definitely was. The only way to get horses used to motorized vehicles is to have them around. Every person that I have met on a horse has told me to keep going after I stopped for them, saying "the horse is fine". I then continue on with a smile and a wave. An apology from us about us using the road(legally) on Sunday would definitely send the wrong message. It's like apologizing to a bully 'cause he just stole your lunch money - He'll just steal it again tomorrow and continually increase his demands. Where is the apology from her about her own behavior? She definitely accosted several of our members. BJ(not going to be bullied)
The apology is for the goon that flipped her the bird, the Code of Conduct is to show her we are operating in a legal and responsible manner, and the flowers are to get her to shut up and listen...works with most women. With the diplomacy taken care off , if she doesn't come round we then have all rights to treat her like a bully and kick her @#$ next time we pass.
I was not there but it sounds like you guys had a great time. In regards to the horse lady our club did nothing wrong. People did stop to talk and she didn't want to listen. If we approach her and tell her we are the ODSC a person like that will use the ODSC as name or a club everytime she has a complaint. So when the loud guys go through or the bird flipper guy or the rut digger man does anything she will lodge a complaint and point her finger in the direction of our club. If we didn't do anything wrong no need to apologise or make our club known to a person like this. If she was the type of person that appeared to want to discuss this I could see telling her we are a group trying to change the very things people complain about such as loud bikes and stopping and killing the engine when horse lady is on the trail. Just my 0.02 cents. Anyway glad you guys had a good time. Steve
Isn't there another way to keep a woman quiet??? ...J/K.....!!! No..I don't mean buying her diamonds!!!...lol Maybe that's why you guys were being shouted at???....you disturbed her on her horse back ride!!! Wink wink...!!! I used to manage a horse ranch so to speak..from what I saw and learned about horse people..they hate anything that will spook or upset their horses!!! Motorized machines are usually at the top of the list along with guns!!!! You will never be able to get her to think like we do in a million years!! IMHO...She has been partroling that right of way for years I bet and she has been on the loosing end of the battle if there is tracks from us, ATVs and off-roaders...so it would seem to me that there is no way in Helll you will be able to win her over...But you can try...it would be entertaining to say the least to watch!!! lol Horses are worth a lot of money and can spook for no apparent reason, which could result in expensive vet costs or even worse a dead animal. The horses we had were 1/4 million dollar horses for the track and show jumping arena. Plus they were riden daily to exercise them by our trainer. Unless you know her background and level of her horses, she may have some expensive animals...you never know?? I'm not siding with her by any means, just trying to explain where she may be coming from. Doesn't make it right one way or the other...
Horse Lady (Amendment) After reading some comments about how horse people might be thinking, I am leaning more to the opinion that our club should approach the OPP and let them know of the situation. Also that we are sorry to hear of the allegation (that is all it is an allegation) that someone might have flipped horse Lady the bird....and to inform the OPP that someone placed huge boulders in the middle of a road at the time of about 5:00pm 22-April-2007. We should also keep in mind that it would be very easy for the horse people to infiltrate our group and plant a seed to the opp informing them of our next ride route. These people could give some lame complaint about our group during the morning of the future ride and the OPP would be out there parked on an 80km/hr road pulling over about say 50% of us going just over the 80 km/hr speed limit. So drop the horse brush idea, and throw the flowers out the window, but maybe contact the OPP and explain our side.
Is that OPP territory where it happened ? I wouldn't worry too much @ the OPP 'targeting' a ride, unless of course your registration, plate and insurance aren't in order. BTW, who are 'these people' or 'horse people' ? I've been following the thread and it's one individual (& maybe a spouse or a neighbor who may have helped put the rocks out) who were being difficult. The horse people conspiracy is a bit far-fetched at this point.
I persoanally would find out all our legal rights as to whether or not we can legally use that road or right of way or whatever it is. Then I would ride it to see if she is still upset at us or just motorized sports in general. If it is motorized sports in general....she will never give in IMHO....she see's the well being of her horses far over us being allowed to ride said road. These types of people are not different from you and I ....they just want to be able to ride their steed when and where they want. Without hassles.... Unfortunately the two sports will never get to be best buddies...it just isn't going to happen. From what I have seen, these people have a huge network of similar minded people and usually have money to put behind a cuase....horses aren't a cheap man's sport!!! Our's , ATV's and Off-roading is in the general scheme of things. So it's us who will loose out if it comes down to a money pissing contest...IMHO..... Remember horseback riders already have all the rights we want...they can go anywhere without hassles unlike us. So they already have the government on their side to begin with.... Personally I hate horses....don't like anything that is stronger and impossible to control than me!!!! lol I would say the best way to deal with her is the legal route...go to the OPP and ask...all the important questions first.... then see what you then want to do about it..it isn't an easy fix!!!
So just to change topic. Willys, I find your posts very hard to read :? Your avatar creates a big (but very moving) conflict of interest, I'm trying to read but there is just such huge activity carrying on up on that left corner, it keeps throwing my eyes off :shock: Very Distracting :!: :shock: :!: I will however go back one more time and try again. :shock: Oh and by the way I am by no means suggesting you change it :!: Is anyone else having this problem :?: Will watch out for all future posts and try harder to concentrate. Thank you! 8)
