Here's the dirt on Dirt Roads

People who live on dirt roads are fully aware of the fact that they bought a house on a dirt road!  It was not a mistake or an oversight at the time they purchased their home.  The municipality did not forget to pave the stretch of the road they live on.  No, they bought a house on the dirt because there was a reason to do so... 

Many rural areas feature dirt roads and their residents absolutely want to keep it that way.  They don't mind that their street can't be used for drag racing.  The rural feel is what they came for.  Equestrians go out of their way to find a home on a dirt road!

Many high-end equestrian communities are located on dirt roads.  Dirt roads make up the infra-structure of large parts of the Saddle Trails Equestrian Preserve in Wellington, FL and tie into miles of horse trails designated for equestrian use only.  Saddle Trails is within hacking distance from the world class Wellington Equestrian Festival also known as the WEF showgrounds.

Equestrians seek "dirt road living" for many reasons:

* Typically there is less traffic on dirt roads since cars and trucks prefer to travel on paved surfaces.

* Traffic on a dirt road travels slower because the surface is never perfect due to weather changes that make it either dry and dusty or wet and muddy.

* Dirt roads are safer for trail riding because spooky horses will slip on asphalt much sooner than on dirt.

All this makes the dirt road property perfect for equestrians, but only if the drivers actually obey the speed limits.

You never know what might scare a horse.  Sometimes colorful things like a mailbox will do it.  But we know for sure that horses get freaked out by speeding cars and trucks.  

Next time you pull onto a dirt road, please remember to go slow!  And if you see a horse on that road please go extra, extra slow.  Horses are flight animals.  They take off running to a safer place when they get scared and that is actually a very unsafe situation.