I've never heard of "Ride your Horse to a Bar Day"! I don't have a horse, but I love a bar. My cousin Laurie's daughter-in-law Simone Stich is on the right horse! I loved this story and thought I would share it. It was on the front page of this week's Surrey Now Leader. I am now following them on Instagram. I saw Simone last month at the shower she threw for her new sister-in-law. We've been on a cruise together and she took advantage of the alcohol package! She's a wonderful daughter-in-law!
Happy horse riders took to Surrey streets on Thursday (April 2), dubbed National Ride Your Horse to a Bar Day. Friends Heather Kennedy, Simone Stich and Kristyn Ward rode horses Tommy, Wazabi and Phoenix from the East Guildford Park and Ride on 103 Avenue to The Barn country bar, on an adventure that’s quite familiar to Kennedy and Stich, aka the “Wild Trails Cowgirls” on Instagram. They often ride their horses in urban settings across Metro Vancouver, raising eyebrows and making people smile along the way.
Held annually on April 2, National Ride Your Horse to a Bar Day was created in 2021 by Dale Garwood, according to a post on nationaldayarchives.com. “The day highlights the long history of ‘coaching inns’ or saloons that historically provided stables and rest for horses while travelers had a drink,” the website notes. Kennedy saw word of the Day on Facebook and with Stich planned a two-kilometre, 30-minute ride to the popular Barn bar on 102A Ave., near Guildford Town Centre. “We ride for the fun of it and also the challenge, and to do something different than riding in an arena or just on the regular trails,” Kennedy told the Now-Leader.
“We find somewhere fun to go and just make it work. We’ve ridden in Vancouver, down streets and along Southwest Marine Drive. We’ve been in Surrey before, and just recently we rode on the closing day of Pattullo Bridge, took the horses across there. We did some research about it and, of course, back in the early days of the bridge there was horse crossing, so we brought them back that day.” Kennedy says horses are legally allowed on city streets, per the Motor Vehicle Act. “They’ve never changed it since the days of horse and buggy. But the highway, you have to do 60K (kilometres per hours), so we’re not allowed there. But these roads, we’re allowed.” According to Stich, horses are allowed in Surrey parks, too, as long as they’re under control and riders clean up after them. “We have a pooper-scooper and will use it when necessary,” she said.
