Terri Perrin | Special to the 51暗网
Equestrians looking to get out and enjoy beautiful British Columbia on horseback can find like-minded folks to ride with by joining the Back Country Horsemen Society of BC (BCHBC). Riders of all ages and disciplines, with any breed of horse are welcome! This volunteer-run organization has 21 regional chapters across the province. And, despite the name, not all of their members head off into the wilderness. The majority of BCHBC members just want to connect with other people to enjoy non-competitive trail riding close to home. They focus on safety for horses and riders, environmental stewardship, trail building and maintenance 鈥� and fun!
The Robson Valley Chapter maintains trails within the Robson Valley extending from the Alberta border to Belle Mountain near McBride. Members hail from Valemount, Tete Jaune Cache, Robson, Dunster, and McBride. We even have members from as far away as Alberta who visit our valley and appreciate our trails.
Why join Back Country Horsemen?
Whether you own horses or just want to support the maintenance of the amazing network of multi-use recreational trails and equine-campsites, BCHBC is the group for you.
鈥淚 love our purpose of saving horse trails and building horse camping areas and how we cooperate with other recreational trail users to make it a safe experience,鈥� says long-time member Rose Schroeder. 鈥淎nd I love how BCHBC members are willing to share their knowledge and skills. We are more than a volunteer organization. We are like a family that works hard and has fun all at the same time 鈥� with our horses and without.鈥�
BCHBC was registered as a non-profit society in 1991 and has a proud history of developing, constructing and maintaining existing (and new) multi-use recreational trails, trail infrastructure (such as bridges, signage and maps), as well as equestrian camp facilities. As we have members and chapters across British Columbia, we have many opportunities to meat and share, visit and ride in other areas in the province. Many long-lasting friendships are forged at our annual rendezvous where members across the province attend to ride, attend clinics and events, and just have fun socializing with like minded people.
Since 2000, BCHBC volunteers province-wide have given freely of their time. Due to COVID, projects were scaled down somewhat, however, the group still accomplished a great deal. The economic value of BCHBC work bees and projects in 2019/20 alone equaled $111,500. Many projects benefit from funding received from Horse Council BC, Recreation Sites & Trails BC, and other organizations and government bodies, as well as creative fundraising on both the provincial and chapter levels.
BCHBC members also work in collaboration with Horse Council BC to create, maintain and continuously update an online trail map database. Members assist by uploading photos, writing descriptions and mapping trails using a cell phone app called Avenza. These geo-referenced maps can be downloaded to your phone for free.
Join up!
For more information visit bchorsemen.org/ or contact the Robson Valley chapter executive directly from the 鈥渃ontact us鈥� tab on the Robson Valley chapter page at BCHorsemen.org, or contact Eileen MacDonald, Chair at (250)253-4193.
