More than 90 horse riding enthusiasts of all ages have taken part in a recent annual fundraising event west of Sundre.
Put on by the Friends of the Eastern Slopes Association, the trail ride poker rally saw riders travel a 12- kilometre loop from Big Horn campground on the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch, around Eagle Lake and back to the starting area.
Larry Frischke is the president of the not-for-profit organization.
Despite some challenges created by very smoky conditions due to wildfires in B.C., the 2018 event was a success, he said.
“This year the ride was shortened due to restrictions caused by the fires,” he said. “We were uncertain what was going to happen this year due to the smoke, but we ended up with 91 people registered.”
Riders gathered sponsorships prior to the ride.
In all, about $8,000 was raised, money that will go to support work done by the association, he said.
“It goes towards maintaining and upgrading our campgrounds,” he said. “Friends of the Eastern Slopes operate six different campgrounds west of Sundre and Caroline.
“These are campgrounds that we’ve acquired from mostly the provincial government. We’ve taken over stewardship (of the campgrounds). We keep the sites maintained and do some improvements. We also do a bit of trail work to try to maintain hiking and riding trails.”
Riders in this year’s Aug. 18 rally ranged in age from five to over 70, he said.
“It is one of two fundraisers we put on every year,” he said.
