Help us to perpetuate the common sense use and enjoyment of equines in America’s forest and wilderness


October Special Event

Join us for the FFBCH October Meeting & Pot Luck Dinner
on Saturday, October 16 at Tillis Hills Dining Hall & Pavilion.

We encourage you to come for the weekend, but if you can’t stay, come for a
day ride on Saturday and/or Sunday or just for the meeting Saturday evening.
At this point, we don’t plan any “organized” rides – just a nice relaxing weekend.

Make your reservations now

There are still a good number of campsites and stalls available along with
campsites on the perimeter for those who like to tether or use portable corrals.
Call Tillis Hills at 352-344-4238 to make your reservations now!
Campsites are $15 and stalls are $5,
per night. There are no pets allowed in the campground.
While there are no discounts – make sure you let them know you are with
the FFBCH when you make your reservations. Make your reservations now if
you want to camp or reserve a stall. October is such a great month for
both riding & camping they won't last long.

Meet new people who share your passion for horses, re-connect with old friends
or just hang out with your usual riding pals – just come!
*Non-members are welcome to come and encouraged to participate.*

More details will follow.



Making a Difference

Our national organization, BCHA, is leading the way in preserving trails for equine use on public lands.
While economic times have been tough with land managers tightening their budgets and spending less, Back Country Horsemen of America members have been donating more of their time, effort, and resources to preserving our heritage of equine use on public lands.

BCHA is proud to announce that its national volunteer value for 2009 was $7,500,000. That includes 345,700 hours of manual work; skilled labor; use of heavy equipment; hauling equipment, animals, and people to work sites; as well as Leave No Trace education and attendance at public meetings.

Florida Forever Back Country Horsemen is proud to report that our membership contributed $45,556.73 to the BCHA total in 2009. The report that FFBCH submitted to BCHA for 2009 contains a summary of our efforts and our contribution to BCHA's national volunteer value for 2009.

Click to review the ===> FFBCH's Report to BCHA for 2009


Florida's Recreational equestrian trail use has exploded since the mid 1990's.
At the same time other user pressure has grown. Development is encroaching and
we are getting squeezed out of our public lands. While other groups have expanded
their access – equestrians are losing access.

The threat is here and it's real.
It isn't just forests trails it is land access,
open land for stables, rodeo arenas, polo fields
and many other equestrian endeavors.


* Withlacoochee State Trail open for Equestrian Use *

The Withlacoochee State Trail is officially open for equestrian use from the Istachatta General Store south to the Ridge Manor trailhead. There are 10 miles of newly opened and cleared equestrian trail.

The WST can be accessed for day use with parking for horse trailers available at Townsen Regional Park in Nobleton and the Ridge Manor Trailhead just off of SR 50.

FFBCH’s first workday to clear the WST was October 2007. We had five official workdays from October to March 2008.

Over 30 different volunteers participated to help us clear the trail. There were numerous other work days when individuals went out and worked on their own clearing the trail. We logged over 300 volunteer hours on this project.

FFBCH is very proud of this effort and proud of all the people who helped make this effort possible.


We would like to thank each of you for your help. We would particularly like to thank Steve Stackhouse, WST manager for his support and participation in this project.

Steve Stackhouse said, “It was with chain saws, lopers, pole saws, individuals with tractors and gloved volunteers dragging brush that we cleared 10 miles of horse trails that had been mostly unridable for years.”

It was a lot of hard work on everyone’s part, but the end result has been well worth the effort.

Future plans are to open the trail south to SR 301 and north to Floral City.


The documents and information published on this registered website are provided for informational purposes only. The information contained on this website represents the current view of Florida Forever Back Country Horseman Org and the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Information contained on this website should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of FFBCH. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.

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