Dance To Support Pursuit of Public Horse Trails

Submitted photo.

For the third straight year, Thumbs Up Riders (the local chapter of the Glacial Drumlin Horse Trail Association) will offer a fun-filled night of country line dancing at the Institute Saloon to raise funds to pursue public horse trails in Door County.

The March 27 event welcomes everyone to “Slide-Step Into Spring” with country line dancing and instruction by Chuck Hass, who has been calling for the better part of two decades.

The dance offers up two opportunities not widely available in Door County: line dancing and a way to support public horse trails.

“We’re just looking for fun ways to do some fundraising,” club member Suzi Hass said. “We are hoping to, at some point, create some public horse trails in Door County. Right now all we have is the Ahnapee Trail, which is the old train track and that’s pretty much just in the Southern Door area. There really isn’t anything in Northern Door that is open to the public.”

The decade-old club is in the very beginning stages of pursuing public trails but with the support of the Glacial Drumlin Horse Trail Association (GDHTA), which it joined five years ago, it is hoping to raise statewide awareness. There are approximately 20 members of Thumbs Up Riders, Hass said, and 70 in GDHTA.

The country line dancing is the second of two fundraising events the club plans to host this year, the second being pony rides after the Baileys Harbor 4th of July parade.

“Slide-Step Into Spring” will offer up a chance for horse owners and non-owners alike to get together and enjoy good old-fashioned country line dancing while enhancing their knowledge of horse riding and Thumbs Up Riders.

“We need to let the public know that we are out here,” Hass said. “There are a lot of horse owners in Door County. We tried to compile a list just based on knowing our neighborhoods – there are hundreds and hundreds of horses in Door County but there is nowhere to go.”

The event will be held at the saloon from 7 – 10pm and will also include a 50/50 raffle and a bucket raffle. Tickets are $5 for singles and $10 for families.

Even those who do not own horses are more than welcome to come out and enjoy what the evening has to offer.

“We’d like to think that even though they’re not horse owners, they support the idea of us possibly acquiring trails in Door County,” Hass said. “It seems like even people who don’t own horses think it’s kind of neat to see horses walking off in the distance in a trail group. Everybody is always happy to see us when we ride in parades. There’s something kind of nostalgic about horseback riding that appeals to people.”

For more information about the dance or the Door County chapter of the Glacial Drumlin Horse Trail Association, call 920.421.1970, 920.421.1379, email [email protected], visit gdhta.org, or find them on Facebook.com/GDHTADoor.