Laws for trail riding? (Iowa, anywhere)?

[ardwyad]

For my Pony Club test I need to know of laws for trail riding in my state... I live in Iowa, but I've looked up laws for trail riding in Iowa online and just anywhere online, but I can't find anything. If you don't know of laws in Iowa, do you know of laws just anywhere? any thing helps! thanks!

[camdin90]

In the UK we have something called Country code


http://roadsafety-gloucestershire.org.uk/follow-the-country-code-show-some-horse-sense-on-gloucestershire%E2%80%99s-roads/

Hope this helps

[stein74]

Try talking to a park ranger. I would get in contact with with your park services and talk with them about laws in your area.

[shipley]

Look into the laws relating to trespass on private property, to use of public parks (this is usually an issue handled by cities and counties) and the state's equine liability statute.

Park regulations are sometimes hard to find, as they are buried deep within a website that is organized by government department, and not indexed. You have to know where anything is in order to find it. Also the documents may be strange formats, anything from MS Word to ancient Mac formats, or TIFF image files, and may be incredibly out of date.

You may, for instance, find that horses are allowed or even encouraged in some parks and forbidden others, and the arrangements may not make sense. For instance, there could be an equine trail with no reasonable access. Or you might be required to attach manure-carrying bags to horses, which could certainly be a safety hazard.

As for where things are, expect to find something as bad as this:
- County Dept of Environment
- - Division of Natural Resources
- - - Resource Planning and Development
- - - - Parks, Sanitation and Playgrounds
- - - - - Sanitation
- - - - - Parks
- - - - - - Map of trails (unavailable)
- - - - - - Permits for use (copy of 1994 permit application, obsolete MS Word 6.0)
- - - - - - Permitted uses and rules (1992, does not mention horses)
- - - - - - Equestrian trails (2002, names trails, does not give location)
- - - - - - Names of members of Park Board of Supervisors in 1977
- - - - - Playgrounds

You may do best calling each possible department and asking. Have your knitting handy and expect to be on hold for 15 or 20 minutes at a time.

[gabrielo19]

Look into the laws relating to trespass on private property, to use of public parks (this is usually an issue handled by cities and counties) and the state's equine liability statute.

Park regulations are sometimes hard to find, as they are buried deep within a website that is organized by government department, and not indexed. You have to know where anything is in order to find it. Also the documents may be strange formats, anything from MS Word to ancient Mac formats, or TIFF image files, and may be incredibly out of date.

You may, for instance, find that horses are allowed or even encouraged in some parks and forbidden others, and the arrangements may not make sense. For instance, there could be an equine trail with no reasonable access. Or you might be required to attach manure-carrying bags to horses, which could certainly be a safety hazard.

As for where things are, expect to find something as bad as this:
- County Dept of Environment
- - Division of Natural Resources
- - - Resource Planning and Development
- - - - Parks, Sanitation and Playgrounds
- - - - - Sanitation
- - - - - Parks
- - - - - - Map of trails (unavailable)
- - - - - - Permits for use (copy of 1994 permit application, obsolete MS Word 6.0)
- - - - - - Permitted uses and rules (1992, does not mention horses)
- - - - - - Equestrian trails (2002, names trails, does not give location)
- - - - - - Names of members of Park Board of Supervisors in 1977
- - - - - Playgrounds

You may do best calling each possible department and asking. Have your knitting handy and expect to be on hold for 15 or 20 minutes at a time.

Here are the Iowa statutes on riding horses on public roads.................

http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/roads/ia_roads.htm

These are the Iowa Recreational (land) Use Statutes.................

http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/recreationaluse/iowa.pdf

Here is the Iowa Equine Activity Liability Statute...........

http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusiast673_1.htm

Here is a listing of public horseback riding trails in Iowa with contact information.................

http://www.horseandtravel.com/states/iowa_horse_trails.html

[jarl]

Iowa you say? I live in Iowa! It truly depends on the place. The trails at my barn are : Always ride with a buddy and wear a helmet. But this wouldn't necessarily be the rules at, say, Jester Park (if you have heard of or been there. You you haven't, I would suggest it. It's beautiful trails, and as long as you are using your own horse you can go on self guided trips.)

A big rule, usually unspoken, if that if there are paths, FOLLOW THEM. I know of people who went off trail and got hurt, got banned, etc. Let's say you are trotting along a trail, and it breaks down into a large, open field. As long as there is no fences, signs, you weren't previously told to stay away, or there is something already built onto it, I would say you could romp around as long as you don't destroy stuff. Be respectful to the land owners by listening to the rules set out and using common sense. (This sign says to not go through here because it's flooded and we might tear up the trails. But we will be really careful! Um, no.) Make sure you have water for your horse or there is a stream or something that you KNOW is still there, despite this horrible 105 degree heat today :/

Of course, if you are riding on your own property or on a road etc. common sense comes into play again. I'm interested to know where you ride trails, I'm always up for a new adventure :)