DuPage reminding trail users to watch for horses
DuPage County officials will post signs to remind nature trail users to be mindful of horseback riders after a Wheaton woman was thrown from her mount during an encounter with a mountain biker.
Cathi Edman says she was riding her horse, Cash, last month on the Great Western Trail, just west of President Street, when she saw a biker coming up quickly behind her. Her horse was startled by the rapidly approaching biker and threw Edman into shrubbery on the side of the trail.
"As I crawled out of the bushes trying to get to my horse, who was patiently standing on the trail looking at me, the biker then tried to continue down the path - without any acknowledgment of the situation - riding immediately behind my horse," said Edman, who is a Daily Herald employee.
The horse got startled again and ran off down the trail.
Edman wasn't seriously injured in her fall. She also recovered her horse.
"My situation was unique, the cyclist clearly wasn't very concerned about anything but himself - in the extreme," she said. "I don't think the vast majority of people are like that."
Still, the June 5 incident got Edman thinking about the etiquette for encountering riders and horses on trails.
"Most people don't know how to react with a horse on the trail," she said.
So she reached out to the county. After hearing what happened, officials decided they wanted to better advise path users, particularly bicyclists, about the potential presence of horses.
Starting next week, the county will be posting warning signs in areas along the Great Western Trail and the Illinois Prairie Path where trail users are likely to encounter horseback riders.
"Hopefully, it will give notice to the path users and remind them to be cautious when approaching or passing in a particular area," said Christopher Snyder, the county's director of transportation.
The diamond-shaped, black-on-yellow signs will contain the image of a horse with a rider.
"There's no narrative," Snyder said of the signs. "It's supposed to be visual, so people see it and recognize it."
Snyder said the county is planning to post signs in spots along the Elgin and Aurora branches of the Illinois Prairie Path. There also will be signs along the Great Western Trail, between Schmale and Swift roads.
In the meantime, Edman says bicyclists need to slow down when approaching riders on horseback, ask if it's OK to pass, and then pass slowly and quietly.
Snyder said bicyclists should use common sense when passing horses. "Move to the left and give yourself some room," he said.