THE COWBOY SPIRIT was alive and well during the wildly successful Spirit Prize Ride at Sage Horse Camp last Saturday. Hosted by the HH Peninsula chapter of Back Country Horseman, the day started off with a three- to four-hour trail ride through the adjacent Department of Natural Resources land.
Chapter treasurer Donna Hollatz shared the Snack & Water Stop midway through the ride, provided much welcomed treats for both horses and humans, as well as a watering station to quench everyone’s thirst.
She said the campsites with individual horse corrals were filled with riders who arrived the night before and stayed through Sunday. Several riders hauled their horses in Saturday morning to join the ride. Evening festivities included Dutch oven-cooked meals and a barbecue pork rib dinner. As the day went on, she saw lots of “fun camaraderie” among the horse folk.
The day’s end raffle drawings saw many winners taking home some quality prizes — from restaurant certificates to saddles and tack, to veterinary certificates, household décor and firewood.
Rick and Heather Hamilton were members of a BCH Chapter in Montana for 12 years before they moved to Sequim and joined the Peninsula Chapter. He posed the question: When you think of a “Prize Ride,” what do you think of? Perhaps, a trail ride followed by a meal and then a gift drawing?
He said the event certainly provided all that, but the “prize to me is so much more.” His prizes included eating some “award-winning ribs by Kim Merrick and Pat Cosner.” He went on to say Dutch oven cooking is one of those lost arts that BCH keeps alive. He learned some of the recipes used that night was from Merrick’s grandma.
“Watching and listening to these to ladies prepare the food, it became obvious that this was more than volunteering,” he said. “This was an act of love.”
The Hamiltons enjoyed their entire time at the camp, especially the joys of building camaraderie and gaining new friends among other horsemen. He was impressed to see member Joan Wildman hobbling around on crutches (she broke her leg), arranging all 50 raffle prizes before the drawing took place.
A good time was had by all, and riders were already talking about returning next year.
Peninsula’s next Chapter ride is its annual Spaghetti Ride at Salt Creek on Oct. 12. For more information, contact Linda Morin at ehoytr3@gmail.com, 360-775-5060 or www.pbchw.org/
Drill clinic
On Oct. 5, Sequim’s Washington High School Equestrian Team hosts a Drill Team Clinic with instructor Alicia Davenport. She’s a member of the Stirrin’ Dust Drill Team, vice president of WLRCA Drill Association and a WAHSET judge. Learn Drill Team maneuvers, exercises, choreography and drill practice programs. It’s $30 per person to ride, $10 to audit. To sign up or for more information — and if interested in joining the Sequim Equestrian Team or the Port Angeles team — text Katie at 360-775-0350 or email sequimequestrian@gmail.com.
SET practices twice a week from October through May. Starting in January or February 2026, the team has three district meets before state finals in May. The team competes in all the usual riding disciplines, including English and Western Dressage, cattle sorting, jumping, showmanship, trail barrels, pole bending, roping and Stockseat.
Safety fair
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Oct. 4 is the third annual Safety Fair at Sequim’s Carrie Blake Park. Free to the public, Clallam Animal Response Team (CART) will be there, along with representatives from Clallam County Fire District 3, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), Sequim Police Department and Volunteers (VIP), Clallam Ready-Sequim, Chamber of Commerce, Clallam County Sheriff, Clallam Co. Public Health & Human Services, Disaster Airlift Response Team -DART, state Department of Natural Resources Geology Dept., state Emergency Management Division, Habitat for Humanity, Jamestown Clinics, Jefferson County Emergency Management, North Peninsula Building Association (NPBA), Peninsula Behavioral Health, Red Cross, Sequim Free Clinic, Serenity House, Veterans of Foreign Wars – VFW, Welfare for Animals Guild – WAG, Soroptimist, Burned Children Recovery Foundation, PUD, WSDOT and PenCom dispatch.
I’ll be there in the afternoon, helping other members of CART inside the Guy Cole Center, 202 N. Blake Ave. We’ve got some free giveaways and informational handouts, including preparing emergency grab-and-go bags for your pets. Ask us about the progress we’re making on the Clallam County Animal Disaster Plan. It will be an addendum to the county’s Comprensive Emergency Management Plan. From noon to 2 p.m., we will offer personalized engraving of pet ID tags. For more information, visit the CART Facebook page; leave a text or voicemail for me at 360-460-6299; or email clallamanimalresponse team@gmail.com.
If you haven’t taken our Animal Disaster Plan Survey yet, please do so now at clallamcountywa.gov/civicalerts.aspx?aid=474.
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Karen Griffiths’ column, Peninsula Horseplay, appears the second and fourth Saturday of each month.
If you have a horse event, clinic or seminar you would like listed, email Griffiths at kbg@olympus.net at least two weeks in advance. You can also call her at 360-460-6299.
Helen Shrewman Traveling from Shelton for the ride was Eva, front, with her grandparents Linda and David Mabey. They enjoyed getting to know fellow horsemen at the Prize Ride.
