ATMORE - Horse riders from across the region are invited to the annual Atmore Community Centre's Heart Ride Hoof-A-Thon on Saturday, May 7.
The long-running event had it's reins pulled back for the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but organizers are galloping towards the comeback.
The ride, which takes lone riders and wagon-teams on a rural route through the Atmore back-country, raises funds for the Mazankowski Heart Institute in Edmonton. The Hoof-A-Thon has been running since the 1980s and has raised about $850,000 over the years for the Alberta Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Mazankowski Institute.
Long-time event helper Peggy Hrynyk says this year's ride is a welcome get-together and she hopes to see old friends and new faces.
Riders have to register prior to the 10 am start on Saturday. Hrynyk says organizers will be at the Atmore Community Centre at 8 am ready to accept entries, adding that donations are more than welcome.
In past years, riders have collected pledge sheets to fill out and raise funds. This year — after two years of pandemic measures and restrictions — she's just happy to be able to get people together to raise some dust, some laughs, a few dollars and lots of awareness.
50 bucks gets it all
For a minimum donation of $50, breakfast, lunch and supper is provided. There's also a chance to win prizes, says Heart Ride President Travais Johnson.
It's a great way to get outdoors and hit the trail, he said.
“(It’s) close to 40 years we’ve been doing this, we’re pretty well organized,” he said. “A few years back the community bought a steamer barbecue, all aluminum on a trailer and it can cook 100 hamburgers at once.”
The group sets up tables, port-a-potties, hauls the barbecue trailer out, and after riding up to 25 miles the riders get lunch before turning around and heading back to the hall for supper and prizes. The trail ride is for anyone with a horse, or a team and wagon, as well as all ages.
“We have a couple different ways that we go,” he said. “I try to change it up each year, but it all depends on the weather and that kind of stuff.”
Over the decades, the event has grown.
“In the beginning years we were happy to do three thousand, four, or five thousand — and then it grew,” Johnson said. “I think our record for the one-day event was close to $40,000.”
To join or for more information contact him at [email protected] or 780-327-4357.
* with files from Rob McKinley
