By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

FLORENCE, Ky. — Horse folk from Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana enjoy the riding trails surrounding the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. And officials at this major airport welcome all these riders to their perimeter.

More than 90 riders have signed up and passed the required security test to gain access to nearly eight miles of trails that surround the airport. The trail winds through fields, hills and wooded areas surrounding the runways on the 7,000-acre airport.
The trails were installed earlier this year.

“Since the events of (Sept. 11) we wanted to beef up security and we learned there were similar volunteer equestrian programs at airports in Houston and Nashville,” airport police Sgt. Steve Schmidt said. “We decided to work on some areas on our grounds that needed some coverage, so we designed some trails to go through these areas.

“We then rode the trail ourselves looking for any glitches, like downed fences or washed-out fenceposts that border the airport grounds. We designed the trail to reach areas our police vehicles would have trouble getting to.”

Like any international airport in the country, security is stringent. For this reason riders are required to fill out an application, undergo a background check, attend a one-hour orientation, supply their own horses and wear special ID badges while using the trails.

Riders are permitted to bring as many as three guests with them while riding the trails, and are required to check in and out with airport police before riding and after leaving the trail.

Airport officials are delighted that horses roam the perimeter. According to Schmidt, it’s nice having extra eyes on parts of the airport property that are not easily patrolled from police vehicles.

“The riders have pointed out some areas where maybe the fence is washed out underneath and animals are going underneath,” he said. “One rider noted that some people had crossed onto the airport property on ATVs.”

The trails are user-friendly. The airport police have set out water troughs and hoses at the trailhead, and are working on installing port-o-lets and step-ups for mounting the horses. Dave Rust, a frequent trail user, said it exceeds his expectations even though
it’s not a challenging ride.

“It was another opportunity to ride at a different place,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of places here with trail systems in northern Kentucky. This area lacks in horse trails and trails in general.”
Tom Cooke of Batavia, Ohio, is moving to Erlanger, Ky., to be closer to his place of employment. He currently trail-rides in Ohio and is looking forward to this new venue, which is just a few miles from his new residence.

“The concept is amazing,” he said. “I plan on riding the trail frequently. The trail is quite scenic in some spots and you’d never know you were near a major airport. It’s quite beautiful in some spots.”

The program will certify up to 200 local riders to ride the trail at times of their choosing (from dawn to dusk, except for the case of a presidential visit) and is open May 5-Sept. 5. Riders are asked to report anything suspicious, and if they don’t ride regularly, they could have their badges revoked.

Once the program reaches the 200-rider mark, airport officials may extend the trails.