Advocates for having public horse trails in Oldsmar have been peppering the City Council with pleas to open the trails at Mobbly Bayou Preserve for several months. But despite being rebuffed in their efforts, supporters of the cause have shown no signs of giving up.
Ever since dozens of citizens packed the Oldsmar City Council Chambers in March, pleading with officials to open the public horse trails at Mobbly Bayou Preserve, the subject has been a hot button topic in the community.
After the issue was brought to light during that March meeting, supporters for the cause, including members of a newly formed committee dedicated to reopening the trails, have continued to appear before the council to voice their opinion on the matter.
But despite being continually rebuffed in their efforts, advocates of opening the horse trails in the city have shown no signs of giving up the fight.
“One of my favorite things about Oldsmar has always been how horse friendly it is,” former resident and current Rutgers University student Hala Essenmacher said during the public comments portion of the June 7 council meeting.
“It’s very hard to find something like that in this area, especially because it’s so urban.”
Essenmacher went on to explain that her passion for horses was sparked during her time in Oldsmar, which led her to join the equestrian team at Rutgers as well as achieve a mounted horseback patrol position with the school’s campus safety organization.
“If I hadn’t lived here and gone on a trail one day, I would have never been so inspired,” she said. “I would suggest you find a way to keep that going here, because it’s a great opportunity for the residents of Oldsmar.”
Following Essenmacher’s speech, another former resident echoed her thoughts.
“Horses have taught me discipline and hard work and they’ve inspired me…to chase my dreams always,” John Carroll, a professional dancer who currently resides in New York City, said. “I believe without horses, I would not be who I am. I would not have the drive to so.”
The comments elicited no response from council members nor city officials, who have already gone on record as stating they have no plans to reopen the trails in the preserve in the foreseeable future.
But that hasn’t stopped the advocates from continuing to push their pro-horsepower campaign.
After submitting a petition with 342 signatures of Oldsmar residents, as well as 45 businesses, in support of their cause, during the June 21 council meeting, Scott Gengler, the spokesperson for the Horsetrails for Mobbly Bayou Preserve committee, said they have applied for 501-c charitable status, and they plan to apply for grants that would allow the organization to help operate and maintain the trails.
“Our goal again is to not only encourage the council to open all the horse trails in Mobbly Bay (sic) Preserve, but also to encourage the City of Oldsmar to be more horse friendly and to help preserve the hoof print in our community for future generations,” Gengler said.
“We look for to working with the council and the City of Oldsmar to form a resolution regarding our mission for horse trails in the Mobbly Bay Preserve.”
But despite the optimistic viewpoint, nothing has changed since that first meeting in March, according to city leaders.
“As far as where we are now, we have no plans to have horse trails in Mobbly Bayou Preserve,” Mayor Doug Bevis told Oldsmar Connect this week.
“At this point we’ve given them our stance, and it hasn’t changed.”
Bevis said the city’s position has been consistent ever since officials decided to close the trails at the preserve more than a decade ago due to dangers not only to the environment, but to riders and the animals, as well.
The mayor did said that while the city might consider allowing horses at one of its other public parks, such as the yet-to-be developed borrow pits next to Brooker Creek Preserve, in the future, he’s not even sure if that’s what the supporters want.
“We brought up looking at some other parks we have, to look at the potential uses for these other parks, but they basically said they’re not interested in other sites,” he said.
“So the question is, are you interested in having horses in Oldsmar, or just that particular part of Oldsmar?
“It’s not like we’re making horses extinct in Oldsmar,” he added. “There are still plenty of places in the city where people can experience horses. But when you design a park, it’s got to be for the whole community, and it needs to be accessible to the masses.”
For their part, the horse trail advocates remain undeterred.
“We’re not going away,” Gengler said prior to the last council meeting.
“We’re gonna keep showing up until this issue gets resolved.”
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