Nebraska Horse Trails Committee's
2007 Friends & Ambassador Award
Fredrick Witte
Park Superintendent
Two Rivers State Park
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Located west of Omaha, Two Rivers State Recreation Area is city close and country fresh. An easy trailer ride to some fantastic horse trails along our Platte River. In the past, Two Rivers offered a horse staging area for trail riders to park, unload and enjoy a day ride through the state park and adjoining wildlife management area. Park Superintendent, Fred Witte, saw the popularity of Two Rivers was growing with horse trail riders and decided to move the staging area so a horse camp could be included. In the summer of 2006, Mr. Witte and his staff cleared a beautiful wooded area which could accommodate horse trailers. They added picnic tables and fire rings and invited horse trail riders to camping. The new camping/staging area provides a safe separation between other campers and the horse camp. It also provides great visibility of the horse world to other users of the park. Also in favor of expanding the trails, he guided riders to areas where they could gently cut trails along the river and expand the miles already available at Two Rivers.
Mr. Witte has demonstrated how horse trail riders and park officials can work together to make it a win-win situation. The Nebraska Horse Trails Committee is proud to award Mr. Witte our Friends and Ambassador Award.
2007 Friends & Ambassador Award
Kathy Newberg
Nebraska Horse Trails Committee Founder
Trail Rider & Trail Advocate
The Nebraska Horse Trails Committee is pleased to honor one of their own for the Friend of Trails Award: Kathy Newberg of Walton, Nebraska, founder of the Nebraska Horse Trails Committee . In August 2000, Kathy put a small group of trail riding enthusiasts together with the purpose of promoting and maintaining horse trails in our state. From creating educational information for riders to forming necessary partnerships with landowners, Kathy has repeatedly demonstrated her dedication to the organization and to fellow riders. She has worked with authorities to protect riding privileges through compromise and hard work. She has built relationships with public officials which exemplify the unity of our organization and she strives to keep the relationship strong.
Through her work with local authorities, she cleared the way for expansion of trails on the Mo Pac, Oak Creek, Indian Cave and Pioneers Park trails. This included organizing and participating in clearing 13 miles of trail with volunteer labor. Her efforts garnered trail riders corrals at Rock Creek Station and Indian Cave.
Kathy is very proactive in keeping the land that we ride not only clean, but environmentally sound. She has worked with landowners on the repair and maintenance of trails which could be compromised due to erosion or overuse. She practices what she preaches: ride with a light hand and gently on the land.
A nurse at Bryan/LGH West, Kathy’s enjoys trail riding on her days off and vacations. Together with her husband, Richard, they have traveled with their horses all over Nebraska and surrounding states. They currently own five horses, including fox trotters, quarter horses and an appaloosa.
The Nebraska Horse Trails Committee thanks Kathy for her service and being our true Friend of Trails.
2006 Friends & Ambassador Award
Wayne Brandt
Park Superintendent
Rock Creek Station State Historical Park
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
For many years Wayne has supported trail riders at Rock Creek Station in southeastern Nebraska. Wayne has opened new trails over the past year and worked alongside volunteers to rebuild trails that have suffered erosion due to use. This last year the NHTC held fundraisers to improve the horse camp at Rock Creek. Wayne was very pleased that our goal was met and with Wayne and his staff’s help the NHTC installed twelve new horse corrals around the horse camp at Rock Creek. All of the feedback that he has received for campers has been very positive. This park is a wonderful place to enjoy a weekend or just a day ride. Rock Creek Station has visible wagon ruts from the Oregon Trail and the park also surrounds an old Pony Express Station with historical significance. This is where Wild Bill Hickok began his gun-fighting career. The Pony Express Station has been totally restored complete with covered wagons and livery stable. If you haven’t enjoyed this park yet, put it on your to-do list. It’s a treat!
2006 Friends & Ambassador Award
Tom Morrison
Park Superintendent
Indian Cave State Park
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
This last year, the Nebraska Horse Trails Committee (NHTC) approached Tom on expanding the trails and improving the horse camp at Indian Cave State Park. Tom was very receptive to the new ideas that were put forth at this meeting. As a result of that first meeting, Tom and his staff opened up five additional miles for equine use at Indian Cave. These new trails are trails that until now had only been used by horses for special events. As if that weren’t enough, many of the trails wind along the bluff tops high above the Missouri River, providing spectacular views for miles. In addition to the new trails, again Tom and his staff cleared an area in the trees near the horse camp and with the help of volunteers from NHTC installed twelve new corrals for those who wish to camp with their horses. The corrals were donated by the Nebraska Horse Council at no cost to Nebraska Game & Parks or to taxpayers of Nebraska. Indian Cave has in a very short time become a popular destination for the equine enthusiast.
2006 Friends & Ambassador Award
Dan Schultz
Resource Coordinator
Lower Platte South Natural Resource District
Dan was instrumental in the planning and development of the new Oak Creek Equestrian Trail. The Oak Creek Trail was created from the Rails to Trails program by the NRD and was built as a multi-use with a limestone surface. Dan helped the NHTC write a plan for an equestrian trail that would run parallel to the current trail on the rail bed right-of-way. He then explained the process of how to approach the NRD Board with the proposal. During this process, we needed to flag the route for the new trail. Dan walked the first leg of the trail which was seven miles and helped us to design a trail that the NRD would be able to mow and perform upkeep on with little cost. This new equestrian trail is twelve miles long between the towns of Valparaiso and Brainard. The NHTC along with many volunteers completed the Oak Creek Trail this last summer. It is a very nice ride, with multiple bridges to cross. It’s a good place to get your horse in shape and spend a quite afternoon on horseback.
2006 Equine Honoree
Tammy Vasa
Web Master
horsetrailriders.com
Out of her love for trail riding, Tammy developed a web-site for equine enthusiasts who also have a love for the great outdoors, www.horsetrailriders.com . She brought together the trail riding community by giving them a web-site to go to for information related to trail riding. On the web-site you can find local events, dates for trail cleanings, trail rides, trail stories and free classified ads among many other things. Tammy is the current Vice Chair of the NHTC as well as the webmaster for NHTC. Her skills with a computer have served us well also. She has designed many of the NHTC flyers that have been handed out at events. Her work on events such as fundraisers, trail clearings and the Horse Expo have proven to be invaluable. Tammy’s latest project is Trail Time, which will help the NHTC gather information about trail usage across the state. This will benefit all of the trail users in the state. Tammy’s web-site has over forty thousand hits to date. If you haven’t looked at it, you should. Go to www.horsetrailriders.com