Happy Trails

Well I didn't know any cowboys when I was a kid, but my grandpa was a livestock commission man out of Nebraska, and he rode a horse every day on the job.

And hey, I watched Bonanza and Roy Rogers. Happy Trails was my favorite song at one time.

But I didn't grow up in Chicago so I had given no thought to horse-friendliness in the city. Carriage houses have turned into cottages or garages. Historic parks have been taken over by joggers. Interesting story by Eric Herman of the Sun Times, talking to a cowboy named Murdock who grew up in Chicago public housing and learned to ride at a nearby stable as a kid:

Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed Washington Park and Jackson Park to accommodate horseback riding. Lincoln Park has horse trails, too. But, according to Murdock, the trails have been taken over by joggers, cyclists and rollerbladers.

"Allow us to use the bridal paths," he said. "The bridal paths belong to the horses."

Maybe horses will make a comeback. But it might help if people were not confused about what's going on in the park---Mr. Herman or your editor, the word is bridle, not bridal.