~By BCHA Board President, Clare Tone Authors Note: At the Annual Fun Show on Oct 22nd, 2023, the Recognition Award was presented to Dr. Fitch’s daughter, Lindsay Fitch. Before he was Dr. Fitch, Mark grew up on a cattle ranch outside of Gillette, WY where his passion for horses budded through participation in 4-H and […]
BCHA Nicker
Lily Thomas is Awarded the 2022 BCHA Youth Scholarship!
Lily and her colt Westley from the AQHA young horse development program My name is Lily, I have been riding pretty much my whole life but started showing when I was eight! I have been so blessed to get to learn to ride and care for horses as a youth and get to continue on […]
Boulder County Horse Bowl Team Are National Champions
By Mea French Congratulations to the Boulder County Horse Bowl team as they competed in the 2022 Western National 4-H Roundup Horse Classic in Denver on Saturday, January 8th. The team was there proudly representing Colorado as they brought home the national title by winning every single round in which they played. They competed against […]
Removing Recreational Sport Shooting from National Forest Land Along the Northern Front Range
By Brittany Steffensen What if sport shooting was eliminated on US Forest Service (USFS) land in Boulder County and neighboring counties to the north and south? As equestrians who escape into the mountains for fun filled weekend trail rides, how would this impact your visits to the Front Range? With the rapid population growth and […]
Fires Bring Action to Colorado Horse Communities
Originally published by Nicker News Written by Randy Winter Feature phot0: Helen Richardson, Photographer, Denver Post EDITOR’S NOTE: Randy Winter is an experienced endurance rider, an active horse community member, a Best Horse Practices Summit sponsor, and creator of Rein Safe. He sent this report from his home in Boulder, Colorado, which the Middle Fork and […]
BCHA Announces its 2021 BCHA Youth Scholarship Recipients!
PRESS RELEASE: AUGUST 20, 2021 The Boulder County Horse Association (BCHA) is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2021 BCHA Youth Scholarships: Nora Ditzel, $250 Teen Scholarship Madeline Williams, $750 Collegiate Scholarship These two very impressive young horsewomen demonstrated equestrian dedication, along with high standards of character in their community involvement and educational achievements. […]
BCHA Gallops Toward 50: 2000 – 2009 in Boulder County
Against all odds—or so it seemed at the time—the Boulder County Horsemen’s Association (BCHA) survived Y2K. BCHA delivered itself safely into the first decade of a new millennium as a freshly minted 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Shortly thereafter, in a nod to more progressive times ahead, a minor name change reflected major cultural shifts when the […]
Big Win for the Boulder County Hippology Team!
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020— The Boulder County 4-H Hippology Team took home first place in the National Arabian Horse Hippology Contest. In addition to the team’s first place win, Liz French garnered the highest individual overall score. This year nine teams from around the country competed for six grueling hours over Zoom. Each hippology team […]
Can you ride on Boulder County Open Space during COVID-19?
Update on trials from Randy Winter, BCHA Trail Liaison March 26, 2020 Many of you may wonder if it is okay to ride your horse on Boulder County Open Space during the current COVID-19 regulations. Today, Cheryl Winter and some friends were out riding on Boulder County Open Space, and were approached by a maintenance […]
Boulder County Launches Trails App
The Boulder Area Trails App is designed to connect local communities, enable users to find trails by use or type, allow users to plan routes, and link users to agency websites for more information. As the weather warms up you might find this new App useful in planning your next ride or hike on Boulder […]
Trail Riding Skills: it’s all about ATTITUDE
By Randy Winter Trail riding with horses, like many other ways people enjoy being with their horse, is a skilled discipline not to be taken lightly. Some of the trail skills for your horse are: trailering, obstacle negotiation, control of spook response, maneuverability, gait control, sure footedness and group manners. These are all equine-specific skills […]
BCHA Awards its Two Youth Scholarships
Congratulations Maddie and Liz! When the BCHA Youth Club formed three years ago, one of its primary objectives was to raise money for two new youth equestrian scholarships. The BCHA board is pleased to announce the names of our first two recipients: Madeline “Maddie” Williams $750 Collegiate Scholarship Awardee Maddie spends almost all of her […]
Fourteen Heartbeats
By Tamar V.D McKee, PH.D. President, BCHA On a day so perfect you could literally watch the wildflowers grow, 14 heartbeats (7 human, 7 equine) joined together at the Beech Pavilion trailhead in northern Boulder County for the first BCHA trail ride of 2019. As newly appointed president, I was up on my 10 year […]
Maria Wasson of West Winds Farm
By Ann Hayes Photos by: Pat Jarvis ©2019 How do posture and balance contribute to excellence in horsemanship? Ask Maria Wasson who, with her husband Stephen Miller, built West Winds Farm in Longmont on 40 magnificent acres at the base of the Colorado Rockies. West Winds Farm is not only Maria and Stephen’s home but […]
BCHA Trail Ride & Potluck Reschedule: Sign Up Today!
Due to weather we have a new date: BCHA Trail Ride & Potluck June 1, 2019 / 10 AM – 4 PM Beech Pavilion Neva Road Members: FREE / Non-members: $25.00 Limit: 18 Riders / Weather permitting Your host: Linda Parks This is a potluck so please bring something to share. BCHA will provide refreshments. Join […]
A Call to Action: Prairie Dog Management Practices
On Tuesday May 7th at 6:00 PM the City of Boulder Open Space Board of Trustees will be presenting their recommendations to Boulder City Council on prairie dog (PD) management. We are asking our members to please consider taking the time to attend this meeting, or to write a letter to all City Council members […]
Trailering 101: What an Informative and Fun Clinic!
We would like to thank Christy Jemail and all our participants for coming out to Boulder Valley Ranch for the Trailering 101 clinic. What a beautiful day to be outside with Christy Jamail and all that attended our first Spring clinic! We were able to present three horses for Christy to work with, and also […]
Cow Working Clinic at Two Spruce Farm
BCHA Cow Working Clinic with Nate Bowers Two Spruce Farm July 13 / 9 AM – 12:30 PM Max: 8 riders / Min: 6 BCHA Member: $115 (includes cattle fee) Non-Member: $135* (includes cattle fee) *Join today and receive the member rate Have you ever wanted to work with cattle? Does your horse need to […]
What is Happening to Our OSMP Agricultural Lands and Open Space
All Boulder County Horse Owners, Agricultural Property Owners and Lease Holders, and Open Space and Mountain Parks Users should be concerned about the detrimental effects of having too many prairie dogs on our Open Space properties. We encourage you to get active now. That means getting out to attending City Council and Open Space and Mountain […]
Sign up for the BCHA Trailering 101 & Trail Ride Pot Luck
There is always a story to tell. In the photo above, Helen Braider, Ann and Russell Hayes and I got caught in the storm from Hell at Red Mountain Open Space. As Russell so eloquently said, “I have water in places that it just should not be!” Helen is holding up her waterlogged lunch as […]
Boulder County 4-H Season Opener & Open Horse Show
It’s Spring and it’s time to get out and support your local Boulder County 4-H youth program. Sunday, March 24 Boulder County Fairgrounds (indoor arena) Start time: 9:00 AM Sunday’s weather report: Mostly cloudy with a high of 56 degrees Classes: Showmanship / English / Western Judge: Amelia King Show Manger: Kelly Thomas Entry Fee: $6 […]
Horsemanship and Trail Obstacle Clinic at Windy Creek Ranch
Come and join other horse women and men for a fun and informative Horsemanship clinic. Windy Creek Ranch Saturday April 13 / 10 AM – 2:30 PM Cost: $30 (bring a sack lunch) To Register: 303 877 4829 Address: 105000 N 49th Street, Longmont CO Trainer: Liz Johnson This is the perfect day to learn how to […]
The 2019 BCHA Youth Scholarships
The Boulder County Horse Association is pleased to announce that we are offering, two new youth scholarships for Boulder County youth equestrians. Our equestrian scholarships are awarded to applicants who demonstrate the highest standards of character in community support, educational achievements and equestrian dedication. There are two scholarships for which you can apply: Collegiate $750 […]
Gunbarrel Hill Open Space
What is the future of our open space properties? By Linda Parks I had the opportunity to attend the first Gunbarrel Hill Open Space meeting in January hosted by Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park (OSMP) where OSMP has started asking for the community’s help in realizing the vision of this open space (many of us […]
2019 Annual Meeting & Community Get-Together
Join Us! All horse enthusiasts are welcome! Tuesday, February 26, 2019 / 6–9 PM Pleasant View Grange: 3400 N 95th St, Boulder, CO Special Guest Speaker: Bruce Connally DVM, MS Not yet a member of BCHA? Are you a newcomer to Boulder’s horse community? Do you just like horses and want to learn more? Come find out more about […]