The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-04-07
-Conservation-
RIVER FORESTS
COULD INCLUDE
BRIDLE PATHS
State Horseback Riders
Now Hard Put for
Recreation Space.
BY WILLIAM r. COLLINS
Times Special Writer

Times Special Writer
I wonder if any of you have
thought that conservation may an
swer some major problem you have
in mind. There are more than 300,-
900 men and women in Indiana who
spend money to enjoy hunting and
fishing. There are thousands Of
others who do not have to buy a
license to enjoy the outdoors. have
in mind the tennis player, the horse
back rider the golfers.
The members Of the Audubon
Society do not pay fee to study
birds; the mixers and the canoeists
and the motorboat enthusiasts all
enjoy their sport in the open
without a thought as to the con-
servation department or its objec-
tives.
I want you to stop just-a moment
and visualize for yourselves what
could be accomplished in Indiana
if all of the outdoors persons in
this state banded together to put
over their pet ideas relative to in
Creasing their enjoyment and you
can be just as selfish about it as
you please.
No matter how selfish the prof.
ect is. somewhere in it there is a
meridian line upon which you can
stand with some other group and
by working together accomplish
your hearts desire.
Ask Room for Riding
AS l write these words, I have in
mind the fine group of men and
women in this state who love the
saddle horse 1t was my privilege
recently to be present at a meeting
of the committee Of the Indiana
Saddle Horse Association. 1t had a
problem and a big one.
Yearly the demand for riding
horses has increased in the United
States until at this time there are
more than a half million people who
own and ride horses. Their prob
lem, not only in Indiana, but in
every other state is to find the
ground over which to ride
With the advent of intensive agri-
culture, the open range of our an
cestors has been fenced. 1t is no
longer possible to ride cross country
except in very limited way The
territory for bride paths is quite
limited and growing more restricted
each year.
To keep the sport moving, a new
outlet for activity is needed. Now,
don't believe that the only persons
who ride horseback belong in the
higher financial brackets. Steno-
graphers and clerks comprise about
half of the horseback ationists
in this country Ask at the Brown
county state park stables who rents
saddle horses there.
Suggestion to Farmers
And remember this. you farmers;
there are only two ultimate con-
sumers in the world, man and horse
Each eats the end product of the
soil
Your cows. pigs, chickens and
what not only make farm products
more palatable. only man and
horse eventually consume and pay
you for consuming your products, SO
don't snoOt a horseman.
Well, the hOrsemen of Indiana
have their problem. Where can we
ride? We discussed the road sides
Dangerous! Yes to a high degree
Old interurban rights of way? Good
as far as they extend, but most of
them have reverted to the title
holder of the contiguous land. How
about the river banks? The idea
had never been considered.
You may remember this column
discussed the river forest theory last
year. The fishermen are for it: the
boatmen want it; the conservation
list believes in it, the vacationist
needs it; the bird lover demands it
for wild life protection and the tax
payers must have it to save bridges
and lowland roads. Now the horse
men of the state are in the picture
Scenic Routes Possible
With a continuous line of river
forests in Indiana owned by the
state and under the control of the
conservation department to be ad-
miniStered in the same manner as
the parks and the state forests. the
horse lovers will have a right of way
for miles along the states most
scenic routes.
With the advent of every new
saddle horse in the state, every
farmer will prosper. 1t takes oats
and hay to feed a horse. When the
horse disappeared from the Amer
lean stable, We began having a sur
plus of oats and hay and every
thing has been more or less hay
wire on the farms since.
We hope the next forest acquired
by Indiana will be a river forest. By
no other means can we visualize
more birds being killed with fewer
stones. In no other way could We
satisfy at once the demands of more
claSSif1cationS among the nature