What is Back Country Horsemen of Kansas?
Are you a trail rider who enjoys public trails in Kansas? Do you remember your first trail riding experience and that connection between you, your trusty mount, and the natural world around you? BCHKS wants to protect that future first trail ride memory and access to the trails we all enjoy.
Join the efforts of other Kansas equestrians who are dedicated to protecting our access to public trails. With ever changing budgets and limited staff, state and national parks are in a constant dance to keep the outdoor experience available and enjoyable. Each year, equestrian volunteers contribute thousands of hours maintaining trails and making significant campground improvements. Since 2014, Kansas trail riders just like you have contributed 23,538 volunteer hours of trail and campground work, which equates to a value of $1,250,943 of labor donated to local, state, and federal land agencies in the Sunflower State!
The Kansas chapter of Back Country Horsemen of America was formed in 2014 by a group of equestrians committed to ensuring access to public riding trails in Kansas, and we work constantly toward the goal of Keeping (Equestrian) Trails Open for Future Generations. Your membership in BCHKS helps ensure that equestrians will always be able to ride our favorite public trails.
MEET OUR 2023 STATE OFFICERS
Stephanie HussChairperson
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Cheryl ThomasVolunteer Hours Coordinator
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Diana SkinnerNational Director
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Sheila WatkinsTreasurer
wat779@cox.net Sheila grew up showing and competing horses in 4H in South Dakota. She has been an active trail rider for the past 25 years. Sheila stays active in many different horse organizations in addition to BCHKS such as the Topeka Brushbuster Riding Club and the Kansas Horse Council. holding roles of Board President and Treasurer to name a couple.
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Laura Smyth
Vice Chairperson
lauraksmyth@gmail.com Laura was born and raised in Kansas and has enjoyed its many lakes all of her life; boating, fishing, camping, and, for the last 18 years, trail riding on her Paint mare, Pretty. She can frequently be seen giving children pony rides on Pretty and introducing them to horseback riding and sharing her love of horses. Her most frequent trail is Harvey County East Lake, but Eagle Ride Trail at Milford Lake holds a special place in her heart. She and her husband Kyle joined BCH in 2021, and in 2021 founded the Chisholm Trail Chapter in South Central Kansas, of which Laura is President. Laura has also spent the past 2.5 years gentling and training her own BLM Mustang, Renegade, who will become her main trail horse so that Pretty can retire to being the grandkids' horse for riding.
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Pattie Stalder
Secretary & National Director
backdoor@bluevalley.net Pattie and her husband Bob have a small breeding farm in Pottawatomie County where they stand Connemara stallion, JEF Sir Lancelot. Raising ponies/horses provides many opportunities to travel the U.S. and meet folks with shared interests. Pattie retired from the Kansas Horse Council and Bob as a construction superintendent. They both enjoy traveling with their horses, riding with friends and family and have embraced the goal of maintaining and developing the horse trails on Tuttle Creek Lake.
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Kyle Smyth
Alternate National Director
ksmythbchks@gmail.com Kyle grew up riding horses on his grandparents' farm in southern Reno County, and eventually doing some part-time cowboying for a few ranches in Southwest Kansas after high school. In 2018 he purchased a big half-blind Quarter Horse, McKeag, so that he and his wife Laura could enjoy camping and trail riding together. Eagle Ridge Trail at Milford Lake has become a favorite, but he still enjoys riding the trails close to home at the Harvey County Lakes.
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