A couple of weeks ago I put the last of the physical archives back in storage. Without tangible clippings, photos and newsletters in my hands I feel my grip on the magic of the past loosening—and perhaps that’s fitting.
I turn now to the digital landscape and our amazing boulderhorse.org website. I have to dig a little, but thanks to the vision and technical know-how of recent leaders, I can travel back in time online all the way to 2010. I pick up the thread of history there, and begin to weave together the most recent decade and the years leading up to our pivotal moment in time as we gallop into our 50th year!
Floods, Fires, VS, and a Pandemic—Really?
The Floods
How could any of us forget September 2013. Between September 11–15 more than 18 inches of rain fell in Boulder County and the neighboring front range areas. The historic flooding along Boulder’s 15 drainages, earned its designation as a Federal Disaster Area. In all, 17 counties were affected in Colorado requiring the biggest airlift rescue operation since Hurricane Katrina.
Boulder County horse owners had to cope with extremely scary weather conditions, on top of concerns about the health and wellness of their equines and the land they lived on. Foothills communities were cut off and experienced extensive damage. Emergency evacuations were ongoing over the course of several days. Sitting above the floods at an elevation of 9,000 feet, the hilltop pasture at Broken Arrow Ranch provided an impromptu helicopter landing area for crews performing evacuations throughout the rural areas of western Boulder County.
The events made national news, and immediately the broader horse community responded. The United States Equestrian Federation mobilized its Equine Disaster Relief Fund for equine victims of the Colorado floods, and The Horse Channel released the following press release:
Historic flooding across Colorado has destroyed thousands of homes and farms. Thousands of horses have been displaced or are stranded across 4,500 square-miles of flood-ravaged terrain. This area is densely populated with horses, including many large breeding and training facilities all along the Front Range. Hay and feed are being airlifted to hundreds of stranded farm owners and delivered to hundreds more in dire need of feed for their horses…The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is calling on the equestrian community to aid fellow horse owners by donating to the USEF Equine Disaster Relief Fund.
The Fires
Between 2010 and 2020 several fires left their mark on Boulder County. The decade started with the 2010 Fourmile Canyon. The fire started on September 6th in extremely dry and windy conditions. It burned a total of 6,200 acres and destroyed 168 homes. The decade ended in mid-October 2020 with the historic Calwood and Lefthand Canyon fires. Burning a total of 10,573 acres with 26 structures lost or damaged. The total price tag, $6.6 million dollars! As of this writing the investigation into the Calwood Fire has been closed, and the cause labelled ‘undetermined’. The Lefthand Canyon fire is still under investigation.
Vesticular Stomatitis (VS)
One of the decade’s challenges was unique to horses. By July 2014, Colorado became only the second state after Texas to have a confirmed case of VS. Four horses in Weld County tested positive and were promptly placed under quarantine by the Colorado State Veterinarian. They were considered ‘index cases’ and had no prior history of travel. A short week later VS had been confirmed in Boulder County.
A Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic brings us right up to the present day. As with non-profit organizations the world over, 2020 was the year of BCHA cancellations. No Fun Show, no group trail rides, and even the board meetings went virtual via Zoom. We lost important fundraising events and more than anything we missed out on opportunities to see and meet up to ride with our friends in the equine community.
Legislation
Delonde Trail/Caribou Ranch
After years of hard work by BCHA members, spearheaded by long-time board member Suzanne Webel, April 2010 finally saw the official adoption by the BCHA of the Delonde Trail at Caribou Ranch. The trail is named after the Delonde family that homesteaded the area in the 1800s.
City of Boulder OSMP West Trail Study Area (West TSA)
By 2010 the West TSA process was in full swing, and BCHA was working hard to engage area horse enthusiasts to protect key historic equestrian access to area trails.
As Suzanne Webel penned in a letter dated December 2010, “The world is run by those who show up. Yet the horse community has had trouble ‘turning out the troops’—in stark contrast to the dog owners, the trail runners, and the mountain bikers who have been very vocal, very organized, very numerous and very savvy…..Be firm, be constructive and express your frustration with the seemingly arbitrary process and results, if you want to….but please be polite and respectful. No personal attacks, and no criticism of any other user group.”
The letter lists five public events encouraging members to attend in addition to writing letters to the OSMP staff. A summary of the process can be found here.
Joder Arabian Ranch Open Space
In December 2014 more than 35 people spoke at a Boulder County Open Space Board of Trustees meeting regarding the future of the Joder Arabian Ranch Open Space that was gifted by the Joder family. 83% of those speakers expressed strong preference for horse access to trails and trailer parking at the historic horse ranch. It was an amazing response illustrating the crucial support for equestrian access and the horse community’s personal involvement in the future planning of the Joder Arabian Ranch Open Space.
City of Boulder OSMP North Trail Study Area (North TSA)
In April 2015 a series of public workshops and online opportunities was announced to gather input from the community regarding OSMP lands north of Linden Avenue and the Diagonal Highway. BCHA trail advocates once again mobilized.
Prairie Dogs and Soil Health
As a sign of the times, in 2016 Boulder County Open Space and City of Boulder started hosting ‘Soil Revolution’ conferences which ran annually until they went digital in 2020 due to the pandemic. This popular conference highlights the trend of growing interest throughout Boulder County in principles of regenerative agriculture. Prairie dog management, long a topic of interest to BCHA, has stayed steadily in the spotlight due to obvious impacts on pasture health and open space land. BCHA continues to follow the issue closely.
Recreation
Fun Show
Throughout the decade the annual October BCHA Fun Show was always something to look forward to. It has been and enjoyed by both young and old alike. Like so many other things, 2019 saw the Fun Show cancelled due to COVID-19. In 2019 Pam Nicholl judged the show with Carmen Porter as Show Manager, and the ever exuberant Laura Edwards as Announcer. High point awards from youngest to oldest went to Taylor Johnstone, Sheridan McBee and Julia Thompson. A write-up of the show transports us back in time:
It was a beautiful, crisp, fall morning at the 2019 BCHA Fun Show. The day started early at 7:30 AM for opening volunteers setting up the office…The show started on time with English and Western equestrian classes. Mid-day brought windy conditions to the front range—along with many ghoulish pre-Halloween tricksters! Fun Show management made the call to allow riders to assemble in the indoor arena as they prepared for the ever-clever and creative Halloween class parade. We are so proud of all the horses and riders. They all rode fearlessly into the afternoon Gymkhana classes as little dust devils danced fancifully around outside the arena doors….another successful event… .
BCHA is hopeful for its return this October in 2021!
Trails
The following is only a small sampling of what was happening with area trails over the last decade:
- After the floods of 2013 BCHA worked on restoration of numerous area trails. One example was at Heil Valley Ranch, a combined effort between BCHA and Boulder Area Trails Coalition (BATCO)
- In 2013 the Homestead Trail was rerouted.
- A portion of Suzanne Webel’s, Happy Trails, history-packed and horse-centric descriptions of local trails went online.
- In 2020, Boulder Area Trails Coalition (BATCO) published its most comprehensive map.
- The Boulder County Trails App went fully digital.
With increased technology comes increased access to maps, and with that comes increased stress on the trails themselves from an array of user groups. Add to that the human-influenced natural disasters of the decade (namely floods and wildfires) and we’ve got even more work to do on trails than ever before.
BCHA Annual Meeting
With no way to know it at the time, February 2019 would mark the final annual meeting and community get-together of the decade. Dr. Bruce Connally, DVM, MS presented his talk on Equine Behavior to a packed house at the Pleasant View Grange in east Boulder. With the loss of its annual meeting in 2020 (due to COVID-19), BCHA members missed out on an opportunity to meet Jessica Dabkowski, of Pony Peak Stangmanship.
Plans are currently underway to hold our 2021 Annual Meeting and 50th Anniversary Celebration!
Education
Educational offerings for BCHA members remained strong throughout the decade. A sampling includes:
- Hemp for Horses
- Emergency Preparedness Resources (H.O.O.F.)
- The Masterson Method by Jean West-Watanabe
- Trailering 101 with Christy Jemail
- The Science of Horses: a five-class course for ages 9-13 offered by University of Colorado.
- In 2013 red flags were raised about rabies outbreaks in the area including at least one reported death of a beloved equine.
The pandemic forced decreased educational opportunities in 2020. That’s changing in 2021 with a great line-up of zoom offerings until we can hold classes and clinics in person. Sign-up for our e-newsletter (top of our website) to stay abreast of current offerings. Please contact Brittany Steffensen if you’d like to offer or assist with education in 2021!
Boulder County Youth
In 2015–2016 the BCHA Youth Club under the enthusiastic leadership of two local youth equestrians, Emma and Maggie. By 2017 Emma had wrangled a bunch of friends to ride in the 110th National Western Stock Show. As Emma wrote for the BCHA website:
Upon the arrival of the 110th National Western Stock Show, I proposed the idea of riding in the Kick Off Parade. With just three weeks to spare, we rounded up a group of 10 riders, and created a few formations to be able to wow the crowd. I was nervous, due to the fact that I was riding Drifter, and even though he had been riding better, this was his first parade.
Youth Scholarships
A priority for the BCHA Youth Club has been to raise money for two youth equestrian scholarships. In 2019 the first of those were awarded:
- Madeline “Maddie” Williams — $750 Collegiate Scholarship
- Liz French— $250 Teen Scholarship
Liz has used her scholarship as planned, helping realize her dream to adopt a BLM mustang.
BCHA continues to award Youth scholarships. Find out more and download an application.
BCHA Achievement Awards and Presidents
The decade recognized these outstanding individuals with the BCHA achievement award:
- Peter Bakwin
- Rex Walker
- Bill Scebbi
- Jill Talbot
- Jack Gathright
- Sheila Ranegar
- Suzanne Webell
- Carmen Porter
- Michelle Sander
The organization thanks the following fearless leaders who served the organization throughout the decade: Dirk Arnold, Suzanne Webel, Laura Edwards, Sara Martinelli, Carmen Porter and Tamar V.S. McKee until 2020. BCHA limped along through COVID-19 times without a president for much of the year, but it’s been a wild and wonderful ride! Each challenge has honed our organizational resilience.
Did you know… BCHA is 20 years older than Colorado Public Radio, and it’s as old as Walt Disney World and the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder?
Be a part of BCHA’s 50th year!
Things that survive the test of time are things that become fixtures of the cultural environment. We look forward to a 2021 of resilience and renewed relationships. Please reach out by joining our monthly meet and greets on the second Tuesday of every month 7:00 PM – 7:15 PM via ZOOM.
In next month’s column, my last in the series, I’ll take a philosophical look at the many words of wisdom and anecdotes shared by the amazing folks I got to interview for this series.
Do you have stories or photos from BCHA’s past?
Please contact Clare to share your insights for future articles in this series.
A word from series author, Clare Tone: As a volunteer I devote as much time as I am able to researching the archives, interviewing past leaders and writing these articles. My hope is to honor the past while bringing it alive to inspire future BCHA endeavors. I aim for accuracy while recognizing my knowledge of past events, names and timelines can never be complete. Please forgive me any missteps in the retelling.
