Texas Coastal State Parks Will Have Equestrian Use

At a time when equestrian trails are vanishing almost as quickly as a bag of feed, Texas Parks and Wildlife gave good news to horse owners nationwide Tuesday with the announcement it will add two new trails to its roster of destinations.

The trails have been included in the master plan for re-development and building of facilities destroyed by Hurricane Ike at Galveston Island State Park and Sea Rim State Park, according to TPWD Region 4 director Justin Rhodes.

The announcement was made at a public hearing announcing plans for the rebuilding of the Sea Rim park near Sabine Pass. The park will enable horseback riding along a five mile stretch of beach, as will the popular Galveston Island park. A special horse trailer parking area is included in the plan according to TPWD planner JoeLynn Barklay. For the first time at any coastal park in the state, horsemen will be able to ride on the beach to the sound of seagulls and surf, and will even be able to ride their horses into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The state plans to allow equestrian use out of season for swimming, fishing, surfing, and other summer activities. The beachfront will open to horsemen from November – February, 2011.

Securing trails at park facilities, which were completely destroyed by the hurricane, has been a major project of the Greater Houston Horse Council.

The addition of equestrian use at the parks will add a much needed and welcome marketing item for both the Galveston and Sabine Pass tourism industry.

There are 1 million horses in Texas according to a two equine census conducted by Texas A&M University. The state boasts 300,000 horse owners, of whom 88 percent plan to travel with their horses this year, and 52 percent plan to travel more than 100 miles.

Horse owners are affluent and will provide a much needed demographic to a tourism industry hard hit by the recession and the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.