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Going on 60 years, Union County Saddle Club has been a way for horse owners to get to know other riders in their area and discover new places to ride.
This family-oriented equestrian riding association has been organized “officially” with record-keeping and officers since 1958, but there were informal gatherings of riders for years before that.
Now 77, Jack Quee of Afton remembers being introduced to trail riding and performance shows as a teenager moving to Union County with his family from northern Iowa.
“We moved down from Spencer in 1951,” Quee said. “It was maybe not officially put together yet, but people were getting together to ride. I was in high school. Later on our daughter showed a lot. I still ride pleasure class, and sometimes the barrel racing.”
Diane Smith of Creston, current co-president of Union County Saddle Club, is trying to spread the word about the club’s opportunities for area horse owners as the 2011 season winds down with one more trail ride in September. She said it’s open to all ages and levels of riding skills.
Each year the club organizes appearances in local parades — particularly Creston Fourth of July and Union County Fair parade in Afton — along with trail rides, competitive horse shows and fun shows involving “athletic” events such as barrel racing and pole bending.
“We’re trying to get out there and show that the saddle club is not just for the people who are in it now,” Smith said. “The club is trying to grow. You see a lot of horses out there, and you wonder why aren’t they doing something with us? We’d like to have them try it out. We have a lot of fun!”
Smith said there may be as many as 300 members, either active or inactive, but a large share of that is made up of members of the extended Travis family, which rode together wearing red shirts in the Creston Fourth of July Parade. Bruce Travis was involved in the club in its early years and still rides. He hosted a trail ride last weekend.
“The Travis family probably makes up a third of the club!” Smith said.
Shawn Allen is co-president with Smith this year. Co-treasurers are Marcie Page and Donna Allen. Co-secretaries are Amber Vicker and Donna Allen.
Some of the early club presidents included Clarence Eklund, Elvis Neeley, Jack Quee, Don Miller, Earl Dibel, Dean McIntire, Ray McIntire, Charlie Parsons, John McIntire and Gene Sevier.
There were 300 horses and 500 people involved in one of the early Goff Trail Ride in Missouri in 1958. The Union County Fair Horse Show that year was one of the biggest ever with ticket sales surpassing $1,500.
Trails scarce
Trail rides, such as Stephens Forest in Lucas County, Waubonsie State Park near Sidney and Nine Eagles State Park in Decatur County, are still some of the most relaxed, fun activities organized by the club, Smith said. But Dannie Stephens, who has been involved for 50 years since he started riding as a 10-year-old, said opportunities are becoming limited.
“Now it seems like we can’t hardly plan trail rides, because there are so few public lands open to horses,” Stephens said, noting that Three Mile Lake and Twelve Mile Lake properties are now closed to horse trail rides. “It seems like there used to be more (rural) neighbors out there who opened up their properties to riders. It was different then.”
Union County Saddle Club has other regular activities in its annual calendar of events.
“We have two big shows with all the halter classes, pleasure class, walk-and-trot, lead line and so forth,” Smith said. “The first one is the pre-fair show, usually around June at the Afton fairgrounds. That’s when we do our queen contest for the club. Then we also have the fair show, usually on the Saturday at the start of the Union County Fair.
“We have two other ‘fun’ shows,” Smith continued. “Mostly they are sports events, like the barrels, poles, flag race and egg race. We get all ages, from kids barely out of diapers to people in their 60s and 70s.”
Barrel series
The club also began a weekly barrel racing series three years ago. Each Tuesday night for six weeks, three divisions of racing are held at the Union County Fairgrounds. Those events draw riders from beyond the immediate area.
“At the end of each show we have cash prizes in each division,” Smith said, “and then at the end of the series there are bigger prizes that sponsors helped us provide.”
Smith said parade riding is also fun, but the club tends to stay away from parades such as the Balloon Days event in Creston, with hot air balloon burners firing and potentially scaring the horses. A similar problem arose during a winter lighted holiday parade in Creston.
“It was OK until they started the fireworks 10 minutes early,” Smith said. “My horse backed up into the sheriff’s truck! The officers were nice and helped us get all the horses back in place. If they had given us 10 more minutes, we’d have had them back to the trailers and no problems. I reckon we won’t try that again!”
Trail riding remains a favorite of many club members. Experienced riders enjoy helping beginners improve their horsemanship skills. But, novice riders should be prepared with saddle pads, she noted.
“Four hours in the saddle,” she said, laughing. “If you’re not used to it, you will be!”
Anyone interested can find Union County Saddle Club events on the Cowboy Calendar — www.cowboycalendar.com — or the club's Facebook page. Or, contact Diane Smith by telephone at 641-344-7639 or by e-mail at drs403@yahoo.com.