On the right trail — 09/01/09 » Editorials » Daily Independent (Ashland, KY)

Editorials

Discussion

August 31, 2009

On the right trail — 09/01/09

Traveling Horse Rendezvous is excellent idea for Olive Hill

Anonymous The Daily Independent Mon Aug 31, 2009, 04:24 PM EDT

Olive Hill has come up with an excellent way to celebrate the Labor Day weekend that will take advantage of the growing interest in adventure tourism and highlight the greatly improved opportunities for horseback riding in western Carter County. While the first-ever Traveling Horse Rendezvous will be Sept. 4 through Sept. 7, we would not be the least bit surprised if becomes an annual event that annually attracts increasing numbers of horses and their riders.

All breeds of horses are welcome at the gathering, which is a celebration for horses, trail riders, mules and horse-drawn vehicles. The last holiday weekend of the summer will include a parade, horse show, trail rides and a cookout.

To help assure its success, the Traveling Horse Rendezvous has been organized by a wide-range of groups representing all aspects of the community. Representatives from the Smokey Valley Farm, the Carter County Shrine Club, Olive Hill Chamber of Commerce and the city of Olive Hill have joined with individual horse owners and riding enthusiasts to help plan the weekend.

The event capitalizes on efforts under way in Carter County to develop an extensive multiple-use recreational trail system along with facilities and infrastructure to support visitors and users of the trails. Carter Caves State Resort Park — the community’s primary tourist attraction — recently announced plans to develop trails and campsites for horses and their riders.

“We have an opportunity to be a pretty premier destination for trail riding,” said Bob Coleman, owner of Smokey Valley Farm and one of the event’s key organizers and advocates, adding that the region offers some of the best scenery and terrain for trail riding in the world. “It’s a little known secret and it’s almost not accessible for the people outside,” he said.

Coleman is right. While other, more rugged regions of eastern Kentucky may be better suited for ATV trails, Carter County seems ideally suited for horseback riding.

The weekend will begin with a trail ride at Carter Caves at 1 p.m. Friday, followed by live music from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday at the Carter County Shrine Club Park.

There will be a relatively short trail ride down an approximately two mile section of old C & O Railroad bed, now a Rails to Trails path in Olive Hill, beginning at the Shrine Park at 6:30 a.m. Saturday and ending at the old C & O depot in downtown Olive Hill.

A parade showcasing a variety of horse breeds and their uses will be at 11 a.m. Saturday in Olive Hill, followed by a horse show at 1 p.m. at the Carter County Shrine Club Park and Showground. A cookout will also be held after the horse show and live music will be performed after the show until 11 p.m.

There will be extensive trail rides on both Sunday and Monday.

Participants must pre-register for trail rides, the parade and horse show. Admission for trail rides and parade entry is $10 per person. Children 12 and under are free.

While they think the event has a lot to offer, organizers realize the Traveling Horse Rendezvous may not be an overnight success and the turnout for the first year may be small.

“A successful event, regardless how big or small it is in the beginning, is that those that do come will come back and tell others what we are doing,” said Coleman.

That’s the right attitude. Riders are a rather close-knit community and the best way to build an event like this is to show riders that you have something to offer and let them spread the word to others.

Text Only

Editorials

Earmarks again?
Immediately, following the midterm elections of 2010 which saw Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives and capture seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican leaders in Congress announced they had heard the voice of the voters and vowed to cease using “earmarks,” the name given to appropriations slipped into bills by influential legislators without a vote.

May 26, 2012
Best in the nation
It may surprise many readers that Newsweek’s “best high school in America” is located right here in Kentucky and is open to selected students throughout the state, but then the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green is hardly your typical high school. In fact, it would be impossible for even the best public high schools to emulate the amazing success of students at the Gatton Academy.

May 25, 2012
After the vote
We offer today a few reflections on the messages voters sent in Tuesday’s primary election in Kentucky.

May 24, 2012
A mild winter
As we approach the Memorial Day weekend, long hailed as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, we pause to reflect upon the winter that wasn’t.

May 23, 2012
Devices banned
Emergency breathing devices that tests have proven unreliable are being phased out under a directive issued by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. However, MSHA has given mine operators more than 18 months to remove all the air packs from underground mines.

May 22, 2012
A free weekend
In an effort to promote increased recreational use of the two lakes in the Daniel Boone National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service will offer free fishing and boating during the first weekend in June.

May 22, 2012
Ho-hum election
Psst! Want to know a secret? There’s a primary election Tuesday. And it’s right here in Kentucky! However, there has been so little interest in this election, that Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the state’s top election official, is predicting that only betwixen 10 and 12 percent of the state’s eligible voters will take the time to go to the polls tomorrow.

May 21, 2012
A real rush job
By giving first reading approval to two identical ordinances creating the Northeast Regional Jail Authority, elected leaders in Boyd and Carter counties are reviving a 30-year-old political issue — only this time with different results.

May 20, 2012
KCTC leads way
The ability of Kentucky to compete with other states and the rest of the world for the good jobs of tomorrow keeps improving by degrees.

May 19, 2012
Slow decline?
Louisville’s Churchill Downs is seeing its shortest spring meets since 1975, and some owners, trainers and breeders fear they could get even shorter. That is unless the Kentucky General Assembly has a change of heart and gives the home of the Kentucky Derby the option of increasing its nonracing revenue by offering new forms of gambling.

May 18, 2012
More Editorials Headlines

Editorials

Search Results

Discussion

On the right trail — 09/01/09

Traveling Horse Rendezvous is excellent idea for Olive Hill

Site Map

Contact Us