JANUARY 2011 THE RIDER /13 2010 Ontario Trail Riders Association Board of Directors


President Janice Clegg


Everett, ON L0M 1J0 Home: 705-434-0816 Cell: 519-940-1445, Work: 800-360-5821, Email: pineriverranch@gmail.com


1st Vice President / Booth/ Marvin Halladay Orton, ON L0N 1N0 Home: 519-787-2307 Cell: 519-938-0695


Email: marguerita_halladay@hotmail.com


Membership/ Web Site/ Education Wendy Downer Elmvale, ON L0L 1P0 Home: 705-322-0287 Email: wnewdawn@xplornet.com


Newsletter/ PR/ Promotions Karin Zawadowsky Toronto, ON M9P 3T2 (647) 239-6509


Email: kzawadowsky0228@rogers.com OTRA: Box 3038, Elmvale, ON L0L 1P0 • www.otra.ca


The Ontario Trail Riders Association Inc, established in 1970, is an equestrian organization which promotes recreational trail riding and the creation, development, preservation and safe use of trails.


ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING


NOTICE NOMINATIONS


This notice is to advise that at the Annual General Meeting of the ONTARIO TRAIL RIDERS ASSOCIATION, INC., nomina- tions will be received for positions on the Board of Directors. The Nominating Committee provides this notice for the general mem- bership asking persons who will let their name stand for election on the board to indicate such interest by contacting any Director, the Nominating Committee ( Karin Zawadowsky & Bonnie Simpson),


or by attending the Annual Gener- al Meeting where additional nomi- nations will be entertained from the floor. The AGM is scheduled for March 19, 2011 at 1pm at Cam Am in London, Ontario.


The board consists of a maxi- mum of eighteen (18) directors with a 2 year term. Approximately half the board member terms expire in alternating years to allow for continuity. Therefore, approxi- mately half of the present director terms will expire at this AGM in


2011.


As set out in the By-laws, to be eligible for election as a Direc- tor, a person must:


• be a member in good standing • have confirmed in writing or ver- bally his/her willingness to serve as a director


• have been a member for at least 28 days.


The board meets approxi- mately 11 times annually on the 3rd Thursday of each month.


OTRA and its members represent the equestrian trail user with the Ontario Trails Council, Ontario Equestrian Federation and Equine Canada. We welcome your membership to help sup- port the voice of OTRA on your behalf. For more information please visit our website at www.otra.ca


News from the Board 2011 ~


Sneak Preview!


AGM ~ This year we thought we would hold our AGM in conjunction with CAN AM which is being held in London on March 18, 19 & 20. We will be holding the Annual General Meeting in one of the meeting rooms on March 19th at 1pm for 1 hour. All those attending the AGM will receive $10.00 in OTRA Bucks which can be redeemed for OTRA Merchandise, OTRA Clinics or OTRA Fun-D Ride. You will be able to pick up the OTRA Calendar at our booth. CLINIC ~ A clinic is planned for May 28th and 29th . The details are currently being worked out and we’re looking at Everett for a location and topics may include trail eti-


Musing with “Merv”


The weather report improved with each day and Fri- day finally arrived. It was time for our annual extended week- end trip to Algonquin Park to enjoy the horse trails there. We arrived by 1 PM, paid our fees at the office and headed to the camp.


Lake, near the water crossings. This was definitely not the same! He seemed very interest- ed in the horses and at one time was standing within 15 feet of where they were tied.


With camp now ready, it was time to saddle up and squeeze a short ride in before


react to that. Two of our group were sleeping in a tent and they weren’t comfortable with that thought either. We tried making a lot of noise, giving the kids some pots to bang and told them to yell which they were willing to oblige without additional encouragement! “Merv”, as he was now affectionately being called, just flapped his big ears and watched, moving farther back into the bush only when pressed to do so by an adult. At one point, two of us chased him


That scared me and the horses, so much so, that they spooked and ran backwards, snapping the picket line. I won’t mention what I did. Now we knew we had to do something more. We called a few knowledgeable folks that might have some moose savvy but we had already tried any of their suggestions. Since “Merv” wasn’t interested in moving, we decided to scout out a new place to set up camp. It was getting late and we had some new company in camp as


they could do with “Merv”. It was almost dark by the time an OPP officer arrived at camp. He seemed more curious about a nuisance moose than anything. Shortly afterwards, the Park Ranger arrived. At first, I don’t think they believed us that “Merv” had been hanging around as long as we said, nor that he wouldn’t leave when we chased him. So they gave it a try, returning to camp as we had, sure that they had seen the last of him. Within a minute, we jokingly ask if they would chase off that moose too, point- ing to “Merv” standing just inside the edge of the bush. They were rather surprised and started to discuss some other options. They decided to return with a paint pellet gun and try to encourage him to move off with that, which they did and it did not. “Merv” returned to camp within minutes of them leaving and proceeded to bed down within 30 feet of the horses.


There we were greeted by a young bull moose. Our arrival didn’t seem to bother him but really just seemed to make him curious. As we put up our pick- et lines and parked the trailers, he hung at the edge of the bush and watched. Our horses had other thoughts about his pres- ence though. They snorted and warily watched as he edged closer and closer to the camp- site. We were growing con- cerned as he wasn’t showing the usual wariness of wildlife. The previous year we had enjoyed seeing a family of moose but from across the end of Clarke


evening. Days are so short in September. As we mounted up and headed off down the trail, the young moose followed us out to the clearing and watched. Jerry was holding down camp with Ethan and our moose con- tinued to shadow their every move. When we returned to camp, Jerry had photos of him checking out our picket lines and told us how he had followed them down to the “loo” and back too! We discussed what we should do as we were con- cerned about having him wan- dering about camp during the night and how the horses would


With only two of us left at the campfire, we decided to just leave him alone. The horses were now comfortable with his presence and we would just sleep light and check the situa- tion often during the night. Early morning fog made the horses more difficult to see but a head count determined there were 7 horses and one moose. “Merv” hung around during morning chores and sur- prised one of us, coming face to face when rounding the back of a trailer on the way to the manure dump. Who needs cof- fee when you have that kind of a morning rush?


quette, saddle fit, trail monsters, picketing and more.


FUN-D RIDE ~ When: July 30th, 31st & August 1st . Where: Pine River Ranch, Everett. Mark your calendars for this fun filled weekend. There are a variety of rides that go out each day to the Dufferin County and Simcoe County forests. The trails are sandy with some hills. Saturday night has an all you can eat BBQ. MEMBERSHIP ~ Have you renewed your membership? Please Mail to: OTRA P.O.Box 3038, Elmvale, ON L0L 1P0


Janice Clegg President


Administration Shirley Bodnarchuk Elmvale, ON L0L 1P0 Email: shirley@auracom.com


Fundraising/ Special Projects Morris Radomskey Everett, ON L0M 1J0 Email: morris@sprayhts.com


2nd Vice/ Trail Book/ Grants Marjory Morden Proton Station, ON email: ochrerider@live.ca


Secretary/ Ride Schedule Kari Kelly


Elmvale, ON L0L 1P0 (705) 322-6338,


Email: kkrkelly@xplorenet.com


Treasurer Jan Belanger


Elmvale, ON L0L 1P0 Home: 705-322-2027 Email: janbel@csolve.net


Trail Development Ruth Pugh


Woodstock, ON 519-424-3661 Email: rpugh@equinechiro.ca


Ontario Trails Council / Ontario Equestrian Federation Regional Representative Coordinator Bonnie Simpson


Kirkfield ON K0M 2B0 Home: 705-438-5752 Email: equestriantrails@hotmail.com


As we were getting ready for another day on the trails, many more trailers started to arrive. “Merv” caught sight of a couple of big brown horses, wandered off to check them out and that was the last we saw of him. We slept very well our second night in camp.


off through the trees, returning to camp, winded and sure that he was now gone, only to turn to see him standing within 30 feet of camp again. He had only circled around and followed us right back.


He grew bolder and now didn’t move off when we pressed him. He was very close to one of the horses, a mare, and I went towards him to scare him back a bit, when he charged.


well. With four big trailers to situate together, there weren’t many options, other than break- ing up our group. One of the arrivals was Eleanor Hinze, OTRA’s Algonquin Park rep. She had a phone number to call the Park Ranger when wildlife presented a concern and “Merv” was in that category now. Once notified, they said they would be along within the hour. We decided to stay put and see what


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