We have an ATV club that has a trail system throughout the state that they allow horse riders to use. There are a LOT of trails in my immediate town and surrounding towns and we use some portion of them while we are out.
Last summer while out, there were a few bridges we encountered on horseback that the club had built, and unfortunately the spaces between the boards wasn’t small enough to allow safe crossing on a horse - a foot could have, and would have, easily gone through the spaces. Which got me thinking…
What is an appropriate space size on bridges to ensure a normal sized hoof will not go through? Nothing bigger than 2 inches? Smaller?
I’m trying to come up with ideas, so that I may present suggestions to the ATV club in an effort to make some of their bridges more horse friendly. Not asking them to go out and replace all their bridges, just offering some information so that they could keep us in mind when they build or repair their bridges.
I was thinking this morning that I would like to support them by paying annual membership dues even though I don’t ride an ATV on their trails, I’d like to show support for the work they put into the trail system that we enjoy on horseback. I’m also going to volunteer when they do trail work days so I can show my appreciation for the work they do.