As for all workdays, wear sturdy shoes or boots; bring work gloves, lunch or energy snacks, and plenty of drinking water. The Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA) workdays have not been included in this list. Please remember SAFETY as you work on any of the trails.

 

Location Name	Where is it?	Horse Water	Notes
Strawberry Mountain at dead end of FS 227 Fair	About 2 miles beyond the GPT lot on gravel road FS 227	None	Good turnaround area at end of road, beside woods. Access to GPT that is about ¼ mile away.
Dry Creek area – across E. Armuchee Creek near FS 226 Good	About 6.5 miles south of Villanow off East Armuchee Road. About ¼ mile from new equestrian parking lot.	Stream nearby	Frequently used for horse camping.  Can camp on either side of large creek.  About 4-6 spots available.  Access to GPT via gravel FS road.
Dry Creek area beside FS 310 (multiple areas) Good to fair	About 5.2 miles south of Villanow off of East Armuchee Road	Stream nearby the best area.  Another is 200 yards from stream; another is ¼ mile.	End of FS 310 is at East Armuchee Creek and GPT.  Room for 2-3 rigs. Additional spots for 1 or 2 rigs along FS 310 further from the creek.
Horn Mountain by Gentry Gap on FS 233 Good	The FS 233 turnoff is about 3-4 miles south of Villanow on the Pocket Road.	Stream nearby	End of FS 233 is at creek and campsite.  Room for 4-6 rigs.  GPT is couple hundred yards further up dirt extension of FS 233.  Frequently used for horse camping.
Jacks River Field Good	Beside FS 64 in the Cohutta area, a few miles south of Watson Gap	Stream nearby	Access to the South Fork trail and loop.  South Fork trail connects to the GPT but not sure if that part of GPT is open to horses.

Useful Horse Training Articles
Editor’s Comments

Most of us are interested in articles about training our equine friends. I personally favor the John Lyons concepts, but of course the other modern trainers have variations that work fine also. One can read books and magazines about training, or look at videos. The purpose of this short article is to invite you to read the training articles written by Jim Holland. Some of you know Jim and know that he is an avid endurance rider. Jim was a trainer for the IBM Corporation prior to his retirement, and he has used his training experience to write informative horse training articles that are easy to read, clear, and nicely illustrated with photographs. Jim’s articles are slanted towards communication training with your horse for activities that one encounters during endurance rides. Things like proper leading, despooking, standing still while mounting, going over obstacles, side passing, etc. They are not about the physical conditioning required to get an endurance horse ready for competition. Fortunately these are 99% the same things we encounter in our trail rides and general horsemanship. I have studied John Lyons materials, and I find Jim’s explanations sometimes clearer to understand than John’s.

Jim’s articles are available on his website at http://www.threecreeksarabians.com. Click on the Training Articles button to view the articles. The explanation of the articles in Jim’s words follows:
“These articles are written to help you train a horse mentally for endurance and provide guidance on what will be expected of your horse...and you...at an endurance ride. They do not provide information on how to CONDITION your horse physically. Trail riders and practitioners of other disciplines may also find the concepts explained in the articles useful.”

Article 1 - Training Concepts and Basic Skills
Article 2 - Teaching Respect and Basic Ground Manners Under Lead
Article 3 - Advance Leading and Controlling Head Position
Article 4 - Teaching "Come to Me" with the "Conditioned Response" Method
Article 5 - Teaching Demand "Come to Me"
Article 6 - Teaching the "Head Down" Cue From the Saddle
Article 7 - Being a "Rider" instead of a "Passenger"
Article 8 - Teaching Your Horse to be Handled
Article 9 - Teaching and Using the "Go Forward" Cue