for a DNR hired Landscape Architect to draw up basic plans for the twenty new horse campsites in the al-ready established location off of the day parking lot. This will save our committee money and time and allow us to much more easily work within park boundaries. Many of you have no doubt noticed there is water run to the area and there is electri-cal access on the hill ready to be used for campsites that qualify. The campground has been on the park Master Plan for many years – so thanks to those who came before.

We hope you will join us with your membership again – and look forward to meeting more of you in 2016! Have a peaceful and safe winter with your furry companions.

Best regards,

Brenda Gasch Mittelstadt

Happy Holiday Season to all of our membership and Thank You for being a part of the Governor Dodge Eques-trians. With your help and that of our volunteers, we have made wonderful pro-gress. We have ambitious goals for the years to come and hope you will continue on this journey with us.

If you have visited our web-site, you know that we helped the park to focus on opening all horse trails, we installed five useful mounting blocks in strategic locations (great for horse and rider safety, and our expensive equipment), we funded a portable toilet for the day rider’s parking area, and we held four successful events.

Some of our biggest and best news includes the fact that we joined with the Friends of Governor Dodge under their already established non-profit 501c3 designation.

They are a great group of dedicated park lovers – and can use our help in many ways – see “Volunteers Needed” below for how you

can help this winter. Being a part of the 501c3 will allow us access to major grant sources for the campground cam-paign. This also means a por-tion of your membership dues to us will forward to the Friends and you may see communications come from them as well as the Eques-trian Committee.

Another plus, we were re-cently given a place in queue

From our Chairwoman I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Fun

Fundraisers

2

Recent

Improvements

2

November

Trails

3

Selling Trail

Passes

3

Volunteers

Needed

3

History Lesson 4

E Q U E S T R I A N C O M M I T T E E

O F T H E F R I E N D S O F

G O V E R N O R D O D G E Newsletter F A L L , 2 0 1 5 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Contact Us

Brenda Gasch

Mittelstadt

608-212-7088

Cindy Anderson

8919 N Trescher

Rd Milton, WI

53563

Email govdodge

horses@gmail.com

Visit our website at

www.govdodge

equestrians.com

P A G E 2

Horsin’ Around Mini Camp

Winners of the “Let’s Get

the Ball Rolling”

Scavenger Hunt

Recent Improvements

Fun, Fun, Fun Fundraisers!

Our first ever fund-

raiser was a scavenger

hunt for riders and hik-

ers! “Let’s Get the Ball

Rolling” was held on Sun-

day, May 31, 2015. Every-

one agreed that it was a lot

of fun for a great cause!

We are looking forward to

a similar event in 2016, so

watch for updates. We will

surely need volunteers and

participants for “Let’s

Keep the Ball Rolling in

2016.”

Our second fund-

raiser was on September

6, 2015, a fun and educa-

tional morning for kids

called “Horsin’ Around”

minicamp. Participants in

1st-8th grade learned about

the characteristics of

horses, communicating with

horses, and caring for

horses. They played games,

did crafts, led and groomed

horses. Our final fund-

raiser of 2015 included

Scoopie Nights at the

Culvers in Dodgeville, WI

and Newville,

WI. Volunteers from our

group cleared tables,

served food and, in re-

turn, Culvers donated a

percent of their profits to

us. It was a fun way to get

the word out about our

cause...and of course, we all

had yummy

ice cream

treats after-

wards! Thank

you!!

installed 5 high quality

mounting blocks. Not only

are the mounting blocks

convenient for riders with

physical limitations, studies

show that using a mounting

block is actually better for

the horse, significantly re-

ducing pressure to the

horse’s side and back. Using

a mounting block is not

only safer for the horse, it

is safer for the rider. Ac-

cording to the American

Medical Equestrian Associa-

tion, the rider faces the

greatest risk of injury in the

first 15 minutes of the ride,

especially mount-

ing. Injuries range from

muscle and tendon strains

to concussions and frac-

tures resulting from being

dragged or tossed. Please

let us know if you like what

we’ve done so far by

emailing us at govdodge-

horses@gmail.com. Ideas

for other improvements

are appreciated, too. We’d

love to hear from you!

If you’ve ridden at Gover-

nor Dodge State Park re-

cently, you’ve probably

noticed some new im-

provements for horses and

riders. No more toilet pa-

per in the bushes at the day

ride area! Our fundraising

efforts made it possible to

pay for a portable toilet at

the day ride parking area,

which was in place for most

of the riding season. In

addition to the

“comfort stop,” we

also purchased and

New Mounting Blocks

Improve Safely

Trails Closed as of November 15

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Fall is a great time to enjoy

the trails at Governor Dodge

State Park. With the summer

foliage gone, the landforms are

all the more visible. The rock

formations seem to just pop

out. The lakes are peaceful. The

leaves crunch. Certainly Au-

tumn, 2015 will be remembered

for the mild temperatures,

sunny skies, and wonderful

riding opportunities. How many

of you were fortunate enough

to get out this fall to ride the

trails? It’s always sad to see the

trails close, and this fall it is

especially tough. Remember,

though, hiking is still an option!

packing the firewood in bags.

We’ve been told that it’s

heavy, dirty work, but with

some hard-working volunteers,

about 400 bags could be packed

and stacked in a day….almost

$2,000! Not a bad day’s work

at all!

One of the major fund raising

sources for the Friends of Gov-

ernor Dodge group is selling

firewood. They have cut and

split wood, which is stacked

near the maintenance shed.

Bags of firewood sell for $5.00

each throughout the camping

season, most of which is clear

profit. FOGD could use help

We don’t have a date set yet,

but if you are interested in

helping, please email

govdodge-

horses@gmail.com. A fire-

wood packing party! We can

make it fun...or at least try??!

vendor of the trail passes, the

Friends can earn $4 for each

pass sold. Watch for informa-

tion about how you can get

your 2016 trail pass and help

fund Governor Dodge Eques-

trian projects. Before you buy

your 2016 trail pass, email

govdodgehorses@gmail.com to

find out about purchasing the

pass from our group. We may

not make enough money to

build a new campground right

now, but we can continue to

make improvements!

One way that the DNR helps us

to raise money for improve-

ments at Governor Dodge is by

selling trail passes. As you

probably know, a state trail pass

is required for all people age

16 or older biking, horseback

riding, or cross-country skiing .

A state trail pass is not required

for walking or hiking. By being a

Trail Passes Sold Here

Volunteers Needed!

November ride at Governor

Dodge State Park

Photos courtesy of Kris

Blacklock

Please share your photos from a special ride

at Governor Dodge State

Park! Email them to govdodgehorses@gmail.com

.

Oct. 15-Jan 3 Archery Deer Nov 21-29 Gun Deer Dec. 10-Dec 13 Gun Antlerless Deer

Nov. 1-Dec. 15 Small Game Nov 30-Dec 9 Muzzleloader Deer

**HUNTING SEASON**

camping area was created in 1961.

In 1962 the first admission sticker

fees were in use. More land was

acquired and another lake was cre-

ated. Then came more roads, bath-

house and concession stands, more

campsites, amphitheater, more land,

more campsites, picnic shelters,

more campsites. The last significant

addition to the park came in 2007

with the purchase of 80 acres from

the Rundhaug farm. It is interest-

ing to note that the park’s mas-

ter plan, completed back in

1984, includes plans for a 20

unit horseback riders’ camp-

ground. That was over 30 years

ago and we are still wait-

As a part of the Friends of Gov-

ernor Dodge group, it’s fun to

check out things on their web-

site, including the history link.

According to information on the

FOGD website, our beloved park

was the brainchild of the Iowa

County Conservation Committee

back in 1944, when the Cox Hol-

low area was chosen as a place

for a lake. By 1947, 160 acres was

donated to the state, and in 1948,

the park was born. Roads were

built, and in 1955, the park was

officially named Governor Dodge

State Park after Henry Dodge. By

1958, Cox Hollow Lake was filled

and stocked with fish. The first

ing. There’s an old saying that “everything

comes to those who wait…. if we work while

we wait.” We CAN make a difference. For

more details about the DNRs Master Plan for

Governor Dodge State Park, visit http://

dnr.wi.gov/topic/lands/masterplanning/

documents/MP-PR-GovDodgeSP-

1984.pdf

History Lesson

First, a big THANK YOU to

everyone who supported the

Governor Dodge Equestrians in

this very first year!! In just a

short time, you can see that we

have accomplished quite a

bit. While the new mounting

blocks and porta potty have

been great additions to the park,

there is still much to be done.

It’s so exciting to think that

About Your Membership finally, after all this time, the DNR

is actually taking the first steps to-

ward the creation of a new camp-

ground! We need people like you

to continue to show their support

for these projects….to DO some-

thing while we wait. Financing a new

campground will be a huge under-

taking but it CAN be done.

PLEASE continue to support this

group, knowing that bigger and

better things are yet to come. Yes,

our dues have gone up to $20, but

with the dues increase, you are also a

member of the Friends of Governor

Dodge, a 501c3 organiza-

tion, supporting the work they also

do at the park and allowing them to

support us. Please complete the mem-

bership application attached and send

it with your 2016 dues to the address

on the form. Or you can visit our web-

site www.govdodgeequestrians.com

and renew your membership via

PayPal.

Membership Application

Membership runs from January 1 to December 31. New membership accepted at any time of the year at the current rate. Renewals are due January 31. A portion of your dues goes to Friends of Governor Dodge and the rest to the Equestrian Committee.

Individual Membership $20 Family $35

Send a check to: Governor Dodge Equestrians c/o Cindy Anderson 8919 Trescher Rd Milton, WI 53563 or

go to our website www.govdodgeequestrians.com to join.

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