Message From The Board
TROD members and friends of TROD,
We are grateful for your membership to continue our efforts in preservation and creation of sustainable trails for equestrian use and continuing our E.R.T program. DuPage County is home to many horse farms, riding centers, boarding facilities & equestrian event venues.
Recently we have attended and enjoyed:
St. James Farm Ride with Will County Trail Riders
IPP (Illinois Prairie Path)Trail Clean up
Equine Trail Sports Challenges at St. James Farm
Big Rock Forest Preserve Ride with Kane County Mounted Rangers
Community Trail Ride's with Wayne DuPage Hunt
July 3rd Warrenville Parade
July 4th Bensenville Parade
Looking forward to the upcoming Burnidge Ride with Kane County Mounted Rangers on 7-29-23.
Elections were held at our March 2023 General Meeting.
Current 2023 Officer's & Board of Director's:
President: Cathi Edman
Vice President: Debra Ranieri
Secretary: Rita Boserup
Treasurer: Terri Scaletta
Board Members:
Dayna Gilham
Vicki Weyer
Ellen Holekamp
Chris Nicholson
Amy Rybacki
Sue Cain
Sharon Nolan
I heartfelt thank you to all that helped turn Trail Riders of DuPage into "My Little Ponies" for the Warrenville Parade. To our new members WELCOME! You all jumped right in to make "My Little Ponies" a reality. Who knew that decorating horses required special crafting skills? Your enthusiasm was fantastic, and we look forward to your participation in upcoming TROD activities. TROD will celebrate its 31st anniversary in September, and we're glad to have you with us.
To our always supportive "older" members, thank you, thank you.... You all are the backbone of TROD. You stepped up to ride, loan us a pony, decorate, walk horses, be sideline/crowd control walkers, carry a banner, drag a cooler, drive a truck and trailer, and most importantly scoop the poop. You helped turn Warrenville into Ponyville for an evening. We look forward to seeing you soon. Yes, parades are fun and a bit of work. The benefit of doing a parade for TROD is that we are paid to participate. Warrenville paid us $700 this year to participate and Bensenville paid us $700 for our 4th of July participation. This money goes towards our liability insurance that covers parades, TROD's E.R.T. program, seminars, activities, etc.
If you captured some nice parade pictures, please share them with us at TrailRidersDC@gmail.com. We've been updating our website and we would love to get them uploaded. Again, thank you Pony team! I am looking forward to what we do next.
Debra Ranieri
Vice President
and the T.R.O.D. Board
Our Equine Rescue Techniques (E.R.T.) is still going strong and we have applied for a grant to help us replace equipment and cover costs to continue further providing this valuable program. This class has been held since 1994, started by T.R.O.D, staffed by member volunteers, and has trained over 1750 first responders in five states, with the majority being in Illinois. E.R.T. better prepares first responders with knowledge of horse behavior, handling & what to do when faced with horse related emergencies such as: Loose horses on the roads, barn fires & horse trailer accidents. Having E.R.T. trained first responders has resulted in faster, safer, and better incident outcomes for first responders, motorists, horses, and has provided public safety benefits.
Youth T.R.O.D. members are also mentored, trained and volunteer for E.R.T. classes.
Most recent classes held:
10-19-2019 Warrenville Fire Dept. at St. James Farm indoor arena, 12 trained.
5-16-2022 Carol Stream Fire Dept. at Medinah Black Horse Troop Barn indoor arena, 6 trained.
7-27-2022 Wayne Police, DuPage Sheriff's Police & Animal Control & DuPage Forest Preserve Police at FTEA (Friends for Therapeutic Equine Activities) indoor arena, 14 trained.
9-14 & 9-15 2022 Streamwood Fire, Police & Park District,at Little Creek Stables indoor arena, 34 trained
11-1, 11-2 & 11-3-2022 Elburn Fire Dept. & some Wayne Police Officer's also attended at Bull Run Stables indoor arena, 38 trained.
A few E.R.T. Success Stories:
• On January 6, 2023, Officer LaPuma of the Wayne Police Department successfully caught and contained a horse near Route 59 and Smith Road using skills and techniques learned in the July 2022 ERT class he attended at the Friends for Therapeutic Equine Activities facility in Wayne. The horse had been frightened and broke through a fence; she was temporarily contained at Jaynesway Farms while her owner was found and they were happily reunited.
• In November 2022, an Elburn firefighter and her husband were on their way home from Macomb, and found a loose draft horse wandering on the road. The firefighter successfully caught and contained the horse using skills and techniques learned in the November 1-3-2022 ERT class she attended at Bull Run Stables in Elburn, and returned it to its farm. The responding Macomb police officer stated that it was incredibly lucky they were passing through, as he had no idea how to catch a horse.