As we enter the fall, riding weather becomes cooler and the foliage more colorful. While the cool weather certainly brings lovely riding weather, we all know that winter is not far in the distance. Winter is beautiful in its own right and brings a season of new outdoor activities, although for some of us it is a forced break from any kind of significant horse activities. Trails can be slippery, outdoor riding arenas are snowy and hard. Not to mention, riding your horse to a certain level of activity while they have their “winter jacket” on is just not ideal.
Are you missing that connection to the outer horse world in the “off season”? Want to use your sojourn for a productive use? Intermountain Horse Association – IHA might be the answer.
Intermountain Horse Association has been going on for over a decade after the Denver Foothills portion of a “down the hill” group decided to bring a horse group closer to home. Members from Bailey to Golden meet once a month, September through May to hear speakers on a variety of horse related topics. All of the topics are directly applicable to horse owners and horse property owners in the mountain areas. That said, we have a contingent of horse enthusiasts that do not own horses, but are looking for horse knowledge and fellowship with other horse people.
Meetings are held on the third Tuesdays of the month in the Downtown Evergreen Beau Jos from 7-8 pm. Members often arrive around 6:30pm to socialize with other members in the horse community. Beau Jos graciously offers the room free of charge and has wait staff ready for anyone who would like to enjoy dinner or beverages during the meeting.
Please join us on October 18th for our next meeting. The special guest is Colorado Water Commissioner, Tim Buckley. After his informative talk last year regarding legal use of water in Colorado, he was the number one requested speaker to return this year. Whether you keep horses at your property or not, you do not want to miss Tim. At the meeting we will also vote on the new board nominees for 2016-2017.
Some of the other meetings topics that will be returning this year are mountain pasture management, weed management and specific veterinary topics. Members have asked that some of the new content be related to topics such as forest management related to horses and our area, trail safety, trail riding and horse camping.
The Intermountain Horse Association also hosts the IHA Poker Ride at Alderfer Three Sisters Open Space park the Saturday following Labor Day Weekend. The Poker Ride is not only a way to get horse people together, but it helps to bring ambassadors for our trails to the local open space parks. Riders have the opportunity to win cash for high and low poker hands while all proceeds go to local horse related non-profit groups such as Colorado Horsecare Foodbank (horsefoodbank.com) and HEAT – Horse Evacuation Assistance Team (jeffcoheat.org – supporting all large animals in case of natural disasters or other emergencies).
Meeting dates for the 2016-2017 season year will be as follows: October 18, November 15, December 20 (Christmas Party!), January 17, February 21, March 21, April 18, May 16. Please consider being a part of this important local horse group!
Email heather@mtnhomes4horses.com to be added to the IHA email list. IHA now is set up for membership at intermountainhorse.org, or just join us at an upcoming meeting.
