TRAIL WARNING! Singing Woods/Clifton, VA

[Liberty]

The following warning was posted on the VAHorses email list group:

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"A friend was riding on the Singing Woods trails today and someone had
strung barbed wire across the trail. She didn’t see it until it was too
late and the horse got tangled up in it. Fortunately after a few
frantic moments the horse realized he was caught and stopped trying to
pull away. Still, he spent 3 hours with the vet putting a leg back
together.

She thinks they were probably trying to stop the dirt bikes, not
horses. We need to get the word out to anyone using that trail to go
slow and watch for wire."

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Egads! :mad:

[CanterQueen]

OMG!! Just yesterday I had guys in the back of my acreage removing three downed trees and they pointed to barbed wire across the creek. This is barbed wire I’ve not seen before (but wasn’t really looking for it either). Hubby is going to go out and remove what he can. We are on Wolf Run Creek at Clifton Rd. close to Swift Run trails.

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!!

[LexInVA]

It would probably be a good idea for someone to go through the trail on foot this weekend and comb for any other nasty surprises.

[jazzrider]

Does NHS know? I would think they’d be on top of it. If those were my trails, I’d take my dogs for a walk with a pair of wire cutters. :mad:

We used to ride the power lines over by the Manassas Battlefieds, near our old boarding barn. A new development came in, and people started stringing fishing line across the trail! :mad::mad: Absolutely unbelievable. Some people just don’t deserve access to air. :no:

[CanterQueen]

@jazzrider;3367967

Does NHS know?

Do you mean Nokesville Horse Society??

[jazzrider]

Yes. Don’t they maintain those trails (sort of like BES and the Manassas Battlefields)? Or is it a less formal thing…?

[Mersy]

You know the person(s) who do this are liable for damages. Even if they are trying to protect private property, in which case you have to post no tresspassing signs and make your trail blockage VISABLE.
Here in Alaska we have had ATVers killed by strung cables and wires across trails.
I personally have had my horse in barb wire that was on old homestead property (horse ended up with 12 or so stitches in each leg). If the land looks as though it was once a pasture or a farm I make a point to look for old fence lines before proceeding.

[CanterQueen]

These trails generally run along power lines and easements in and around subdivisions. Some trails do require crossing/riding on private property. As a poster on a different board commented, the McMansions come in and stake their claim on their little 5-acre “estate” and they aren’t happy about seeing horses riding anywhere near their little piece of heaven.

I have a 1984 Clifton Horse Society map of the trails – and boy, they have dwindled down to nothing since then.

I will contact NHS – but I don’t think these trails are maintained by anyone other than the power company. Hubby and I trim trees as we ride, and we haven’t seen any barbed wire on the trail YET. I think we need to get out there on foot and see what we can see. IF it is a homeower, we may be in for a nasty battle – me thinks they have the possibility of doing a lot of damage with their barbed wire if they’re persistant. Sad. Very Sad.

[Mersy]

Your local city, borough or county should have a division for easements. Depending on how the local law is in that area it is usually illegal to block right of way easements (and some others). An official in your local government can be contacted to address it.

I wish horse people realized how important it is to stay active in retaining trail systems, pretty soon trails will be a thing of the past. This is a increasing issue in all states.

[LexInVA]

Perhaps we should get a group together and comb the trails periodically. I’m right up the road from Clifton so I can certainly help out.

[CanterQueen]

LexInVA: Count me in!! Since Mr. CQ and I are new to the area, it would be fun to meet “locals” as well. I’d love to explore some new trails in this area too. My schedule is open and I can trailer out. PM me if anyone is REALLY interested. :yes:

[LexInVA]

If we can get at least six or seven people, I think we could make a decent sweep in one pass and periodically repeat that every so often. Would be good exercise at the least.

[jazzrider]

I’ve never been on the Clifton trails. If you guys organize it, hubby and I will come with horses (or the dogs if we need to walk it) and help out. We’re out of town after this weekend until August though…

[marta]

that’s horrible!

i came across a bailing twine stretched between two trees about a foot and a half above the ground. that was scary.
then another time i was riding the bed of a creek and nearly got decapitated by a barbed wire stretched across the creek!!!:o someone told me that farmers do that to prevent cattle from wondering down the bed of the creek…???

[eventmom]

So I read this thread. Then last night our trainer comes to give my kid a lesson. She proceeds to tell me that SHE was out on the singing woods trail with another student. And they ran into barbed wire! They are the ones this happened to!!! The poor horse should be fine as long as infection does not set in within 72 hours. Yes he is on antibiotics. She said if he had less sense about himself, he would be dead:eek: Really scarey. The student got hurt too, but not as bad. He got totally caught up in the wire at first, but when he realized he was trapped, likily, he calmed down and let her help him.
He is the nicest horse you would ever want to meet. I told her to call the cops for sure.

[CanterQueen]

Eventmom,

If they think it was a malicious deed, did they call the police and report it? I sure do hope so. At the very least it will start some history if this happens again.

[eventmom]

No, I don’t think she did report it. But we told her to do so today! I think she is a bit discouraged with the police around here because about a month ago she was out trail riding with a different student, they were attacked by dogs! The owners just stood and watched! Then they ran away ofcourse after my friend got dumped. Luckily nobody was hurt, however she was riding a baby and the poor thing was scared to death! Anyway, the police did nothing! They said they could not find them.

[joe21]

[QUOTE=eventmom;3371771]
No, I don’t think she did report it. But we told her to do so today! I think she is a bit discouraged with the police around here

<snip>

Anyway, the police did nothing! They said they could not find them.[/QUOTE]

The reality is that the police will not start a “CSI” level investigation unless/until someone gets seriously injured. Sad, but true.

The first thing that ran through my mind in reading this thread was “is anyone reporting this to the authorities?” Whether the local police, state police, park ranger… you should ALWAYS insist they file a formal report on things like this. If enough people complain, they will be forced to do something about it BEFORE someone gets seriously injured.

You may still be discouraged, but we need to be “on record.” Make them come out and see the barbed wire (and remove it).

[LexInVA]

We could always walk the trails randomly and see if we can catch anyone in the act. Apart from that or sitting around where they are known to put wire and other traps, I can’t really think of anything overly proactive that can be done.

[wateryglen]

just a different point of view!

I doubt seriously that the riders are actually riding on “easements” in that area. Every piece of land belongs to somebody so you need to find out who actually owns the land the wire is up on and go talk to them and get proper permission with whatever restrictions they may have. Wire is a big message and takes a lot of effort to put up so they definitely don’t want someone to trespass there. There must be a story behind it or a reason it was put up. It’s YOUR responsibility to find out and get permissions.

As a landowner and trailrider myself, I find a lot of riders have a sense of “entitlement” about riding on what they THINK are “easements” or open land. Just because it’s open or near park trails doesn’t mean it’s ok to ride there. The landowners in the Clifton area are paying an arm & a leg for that land and have a right to do whatever they want to with it. I doubt you’ll get anywhere with the “authorities”. Do you KNOW who the landowners are on the land you ride on? Or do you assume that if there’s a trail there; you get to ride on it? Not necessarily true! Don’t assume that just becaused everybody else rides there that you do to!! But I think it should be posted; then we riders need to read & heed. You may be pleasantly surprised that the landowner may in fact not want the ATV people to trespass but are fine with the horses. Or they may not want OTHER riders to trespass but WILL let you because you asked!!

Don’t get indignant - get proactive and ask. You can go to the county land records to find out who the landowners are…I did.