LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Horse riders in Lincoln are worried that the city is trying to drive them out of a park because of new attention to cross country runners.
Veteran Pioneers Park riders have started a petition and one stable owner has filed a tort claim against the city seeking restoration of the entire bridle trail, a feature of the original park that has now deteriorated due to lack of maintenance, the Lincoln Journal Star (https://bit.ly/2qAu5MM ) reported. Walt Broer, who filed the claim, said the bridle trail figures prominently in documents used when the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“John F. Harris, who donated the property in 1928 and 1929, and the original designer of the park, landscape architect Ernst Herminghaus, would both be shocked by the deterioration of the bridle path,” the claims stated.
Rider Carol Wolf said some trails have become so washed out and rough that people can’t ride on them.
“We are not welcome,” Wolf said.
Horse owners said the city has instead has put lots of effort into establishing and maintaining trails for runners because officials are paid for it. Rick Boucher, local attorney and rider, said flags used to designate cross country trails also end up blocking horse trails because the animals perceive the waving flags as danger.
“This is by far the most aggressive year, with the city trying to eliminate and reroute the original horse trail,” he said. “They are completely rerouting it, taking us away from the most scenic parts of the park.”
Lincoln Parks and Recreation Director Lynn Johnson said the department has no intention of closing horse trails and that logs on sections of the trail were meant to temporarily direct people around deteriorated areas.
Johnson wants to work with horse riders at a July meeting.
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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, https://www.journalstar.com
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