Trail Etiquette
This poem follows up my post, Slow and Say Hello!, from last Monday, June 10. A much larger problem exists between users of public lands and the wild horses of the Pine Nut range in Nevada.
Trail Etiquette
Wild horses hear the motors roar even a mile away. Dirt bikes need to cut their noise To give the wild ones sway. Bicycles can spook these herds Who bolt to hidden springs Stallions push their mares and foals Away from scary things. Most humans stop and gaze at them Grazing on the range. If everyone lives carefully Then nothing has to change. There's lots of room to recreate To love the open lands. To keep the peace between us all Is always in our hands.
To learn more about the Fish Spring wild horses, check out the Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates Facebook page.
photo by Sue Cauhape of a small Pine Nut wild horse band.
"If everyone lives carefully
Then nothing has to change."
Great lessons here, Sue. x
I’ve wondered for years why people lose their propriety and self-discipline when they are in a rural or wilderness setting? Why is the act of getting roaring drunk an appropriate response to places of beauty? Why do geological features such as remote hot springs bring out the worst in people, who leave behind their underwear, used condoms, and syringes, as well as ordinary, everyday trash? And occasionally, when they drunkenly cook themselves to death in a hot spring or kill themselves on an atv, or drown themselves in a whitewater river, the rest of us must clean up the mess and also, have our liberties curtailed on public lands.
Call them out and loudly, Sue, because sometimes I despair when I think of my fellow human animals. They are why we can’t have nice things.