A few weeks ago, I had occasion to go for a walk on the new Rail Trail.
Pretty impressive use of an extinct railway. We almost couldn’t find a parking spot it’s so popular and there were four or five inches of packed snow on the trail.
As we got out of the truck, we recognized a horse trailer and a couple of cowboys getting their horses ready.
We have horses too and had been looking up the rules on the way out and saw that horses were not allowed. I went and talked to the young men and they mentioned the rules may be changing.
See: Lake Country residents rally for horses on Okanagan Rail Trail
There are many people and organizations who have put money together to make this rail trail possible. We noticed in the rules that there are no motorized vehicles allowed but everything else is, with the exception of horses. Horses have the right-of-way on thoroughfares in Canada. Vehicles are obliged to yield.
It seems prejudicial to me that horses have been exempt from use of this trail. I understand people might find their “road apples” (manure) offensive.
While we were talking to these two young men, two women verbally accosted them. One said her dog was very upset by the presence of the horses. Ironically her dog was not on a leash.
See also: North Okanagan man suffers dog bites on Okanagan Rail Trail
I have owned and trained many dogs. This particular dog seemed traumatized and the owner struggled to get the dog on the leash. Once on the leash, she was pretty much dragged away by a dog she could barely control.
Jeff Hopewell
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