A Conversation With...Trails Advocate Priscilla Kirkpatrick

If you want to find out just how much a strong bond between horse and rider can alter a life, chat a bit with Priscilla Kirkpatrick. In her younger days, this 73-year-old trail-riding aficionado rarely strayed far from home. But then she discovered trail riding (somwhere around 50), and all that changed. In fact, these days, Kirkpatrick logs more trail miles than many 20-year-olds (last year she even won an award for it from the Arkansas Chapter of the Missouri Foxtrotting Horse Breed Association.
A former member of the Arkansas Trail Riders Association and current member of both the MFTHBA and the Buffalo River Back Country Horsemen, Kirkpatrick has been sponsoring and leading trail rides for more than 20 years. Most of the time, she manages to clean up the trails as she rides. Not long ago, she worked hand-in-hand with the Forest Service to create an adopt-a-trail program at the Mount Magazine Ranger District in which individuals (beginning with Kirkpatrick and two of her friends) and groups agreed to clean and maintain a segment of trail in the district.
An outspoken advocate of the importance of creating a harmonious relationship among the many various trail-using groups, Kirkpatrick has created a flyer (in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service) on Creating Trail Harmony, which outlines ways that horse owners and others can help make multi-use trails more enjoyable for everyone.

Horsemen's Roundup: So when did you start riding?
Priscilla Kirkpatrick: My first memories of a horse — actually a mule — was when I was 7 years old, and my three sisters and I were all put on this same old mule and rode three miles to a two-room schoolhouse.
Our dad also used the mule to plow with. As we got older, we rode a mule or horse, whichever was available, to bring the cows in for milking on an open range. We had a farm; at that time, land that wasn't in use was called open range, and you could simply turn your livestock out — pigs, cows, horses, whatever — and they grazed the range. The lead cow or horse would wear a bell, and you'd learn the tone of that bell when you went to hunt the animals to bring them in. We kept one at the house so we would have something to ride to go do that.
Later, I had five children, and they rode horses. We didn't call it trail riding at that time; you just rode the back roads or went to visit a friend or went to the corner store a few miles away. From there we progressed through high school rodeo with my younger children.
When my children left is when I got into organized trail riding. I started just getting the surrounding neighbors and their children, and we would ride in the area. I didn't start trailering to trail rides until 15 or 20 years ago.
Some of my first memories of that was the Ozark National Forest, the Sorghum Hollow area. At that time, I was a member of the Arkansas Trail Riders Association; ATRA was instrumental in helping construct and clean out that camp area. That was the first organized club I belonged to. Of course, we'd done 4-H and high school rodeo.

HR: How many trail miles have you logged?
PK: I wish I knew. I didn't start keeping track of my mileage until I became a member of the [Arkansas Chapter of the Missouri Foxtrotting Horse Association] about three years ago, and I now have over 7,000 miles. Last year, I believe I logged 2,471 miles.

HR: What is it about trail riding you like most?
PK: The peacefulness. I get in a kind of state of euphoria when I get out and it's just me and my horse or a group and we all have the same goal in mind: We're there to have a good time, enjoy each other and the wonderful outdoors.

HR: Describe a typical ride for you.
PK: What I like to do is, the Forest Service has supplied us with what they call Litter Getters, a two-pronged, hand-held apparatus that's about four feet long. I can reach the ground with this Litter Getter from my saddle and pick up cans. And this Litter Getter is very efficient once you get the hang of using it. You can even pick up a bottle cap or gum wrapper. Then I have my additional pack horse with a pack that I can deposit the can or bottle or broken piece of glass that I've picked up.
I can spend the day doing that; I enjoy doing four or five hours of it. I'll take me something to drink, my lunch, my dog, something for my dog to eat and an apple for my horse, and I'm happy.

HR: How has trail riding changed your life?
PK: In 1981, a tornado took our house twice in one year. It took it once, then we built back and before we got moved in, it took it again. And I simply couldn't handle that. I really had some problems adjusting and keeping all my faculties going.
I learned that riding my horse was a release from all this tension and worries about how are we going to rebuild again and all the problems associated with that type of thing. And I could go and leave all that at home. And I slowly got better and better. I don't think I would ever have gotten better had it not been for my horse. My horse and I developed a relationship that we really enjoyed, and I slowly came back. It took four or five years.
My horse saved my life. The doctors had said I had Alzheimer's. I was about 50 at the time, and the doctors said I was a little young for Alzheimer's. But that's what they were doctoring me for, which consisted of nothing but blood thinner to try to get more oxygen to my brain or that type thing. At that time, the only way they could diagnose it was to eliminate everything else.

HR: I understand that you've adopted some trails.
PK: I went to the Forest Service and asked them if they could institute a trail adoption program in the Mount Magazine Ranger District. Because I liked to pick up litter when I was riding. There's a lot of communication between me, the horse I'm riding and the horse that's doing the packing.

HR: Can you elaborate a little about that?
PK: You know, everybody don't throw their cans right on the trail; you have to get in the briars and brush to pick up things. I can get my horse to get in there, put his head in a certain spot and if I still can't reach the can, ask for one more step, and he'll step up. And then when I get the can, it's back out he'll come. Just like I'd tell you to back up, he'll back out. Okay, and the horse with the pack is attached to the horse I'm on. It must back out at the same time the horse I'm on does, and we all work together. It goes smooth as glass, but then we do a lot of it.

HR: How many miles do you maintain?
PK: Probably about three. In that three miles, I have a swimming hole area, and there's a lot of litter there, particularly in the summer. There's a campground and what they call a remote campground and another remote campground on down the way. It's in an area that's well traveled by equestrians, four-wheelers and hunters, and there's a lot of litter. In fact, just before Thanksgiving, I had 12 33-gallon bags in camp to be picked up.
When I get my pack full, I have to go to camp. And when I get what's termed a load for the Forest Service, I call them and tell them how many bags I have and how many volunteer hours I have involved in the area, and then they come to camp and pick up all this litter and take it.

HR: Any idea how many volunteer hours you've put in?
PK: No, I don't keep up with it.

HR: How many years have you been volunteering?
PK: The litter campaign has been over two years. Of course, we got a lot of help from Joy Serrano, the outdoor recreation planner there; she helped recruit other adoptees. The last time I talked with her she had the entire designated trail system of the Mount Magazine Ranger District adopted by different clubs and people.

HR: You also volunteer at Lonesome D?
PK: What I do at Lonesome D, they've been extremely good to me. I clean fire rings in camp, do bathrooms, do whatever around there to compensate for my rent. Sometimes I don't feel like I do enough to pay for my rent. Of course, as their business picks up, there will be more to do. But it leaves me quite a bit of time to pick up litter and to ride whatever groups are in camp that I want to ride with. Of course, I don't HAVE to ride with nobody.
I've been doing that almost five years. Traditionally, I stay up there every minute I can. Sometimes I'm there for weeks at a time. Last year I was there most of the spring and summer. I'm there whenever the weather is nice and I can arrange things here at home [in Greenbriar] to be gone that long. It's not a job. I'm retired and I'm keeping busy, and that's my way of doing it.

HR: Describe your horses for me.
PK: I have a Foxtrotter that will be 19 years old this month. I've had him since he was 11. My little pack horse was born at our place; she is now 4. She's a Paint Quarter horse, but she's totally black.

HR: You typically ride the Foxtrotter and pack with the other?
PK: Generally, I do, but there are occasions when I ride the Quarter horse. Sometimes I make myself because she needs it. The Foxtrotter is a smoother ride; she's not bad, but let's face it. If you're not mature enough to want a gaited horse yet, just hang in there; you will. Everybody does sooner or later.

HR: In terms of trail etiquette, what do you consider important?
PK: Respect for your fellow users. The majority of people are respectful, and I think the ones that aren't are people who just don't understand the problems of the other user. Let's say you meet a group of four-wheelers, and they may be young operators. Some of them may stop on one side of the trail and some of them on the other to let you go by. That makes a horse feel boxed in.
A lot of people don't understand that a horse's nature is flight or fight; when they're boxed in, they're apt to kick out. One thing that works for us is, if you hear a motorized vehicle approaching from the rear, turn your horses to face them. The horse should have the right of way, and normally the four-wheelers will shut down. When they get off and shut down, ride past them. Then, after they leave, turn around and go back the way you were going.
And often, hikers you meet will be wearing large packs that can be alarming to horses. So I try to talk to the hikers and get them to respond to me so that my horse will see that the person with that pack isn't something that will harm them.
I worked with Joy and made up a flyer about trail etiquette. I posted it at Lonesome D and give it to people who call me wanting to know where to ride.

HR: Do you get many calls like that?
PK: Yes, I do. You'd be surprised. I got a call from people in Louisiana last night wanting me to ride with them. I meet a lot of people on the trail, and we'll exchange phone numbers or emails. I met these folks on the trail at Lonesome D; they got lost and I took them back to camp.
Last year, these folks from Iowa were at Lonesome D and rode out by themselves. Late in the afternoon, the woman rode back alone; her husband had fallen off and couldn't get back on, and she'd had to leave him out there, up against a tree. But when she got back to camp, she couldn't remember where the tree was. It was already 4 p.m., but she kept describing things and we finally figured out where he was. They took a four-wheeler back out and picked him up. He had broken three ribs.
There's always somethin' going on at Lonesome D. They've got close to 100 miles of designated trails there.

HR: I guess you must know those trails about as well as anybody.
PK: Well, I can go just about wherever I want and get back. I may not know exactly where I am right at a given moment, but I'll eventually get to where I recognize where I am.

HR: You also speak to groups about riding?
PK: The last presentation I made was before third-year medical students at UAMS med center in Little Rock. What they were stressing there was that there is life in old age; that just because you're older and have lived a long life you don't give them a pill and send 'em home — they're still individuals, they still have a life, still want to be active. They were trying to impress upon the medical students to encourage older people to be active.
So I took a slide presentation that depicted a day in my life. I got up in camp and saddled my horse, put my pack on my other horse and I went out to collect litter and eat lunch on the trail and just ride along. I visited with some riders I met. Then about five and a half hours later, I was back in camp.
In late April, I'm giving another presentation to some more medical students there.

HR: So does riding make you feel younger?
PK: Oh, riding is good therapy for anybody.

HR: How has it changed your life?
PK: I think it has lengthened my life. The enjoyment, contentment, the euphoria I have when I ride....do you dance?

HR: Yes.
PK: Okay, you know when you've got a good partner that, man, you can get in sequence with, that dance goes real good. That's the dance you have to do with your horse: get in rhythm with him.
Don't dancin' make you feel better?

HR: Sure, but it's also hard work.
PK: Well, nobody said life would be easy. And I don't think hard work hurts ya, does it? Yes, dancin’ is hard work, but it gives you an uplift that makes it seem like it's not work. Riding's the same way. If I'm out there in the peace and quiet on a nice day and everything is going great, I feel like I could ride 30 miles.
You just get an uplift; I don't know how to explain it. You've got more energy, you feel light as a feather; you just go for it.