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For 50 years, the Hill Country Trail Ride has rolled through the City of Blanco, stopping off at Yett Park for an overnight stay and an early breakfast, catered by the local chamber of commerce. For cowboys and cowgirls everywhere, the annual ride means the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo is just around the corner.
There was a time when the event drew hundreds of Blanco residents to U.S. 281 to cheer the procession on.
“I started doing the trail rides in the early 1980s, and folks would line up along the highway, but the crowds began to dwindle about 10 years ago,” said Trail Boss Marty Jones. “But it is still one of those rare occasions when people can see a real trail ride up close.”
While the crowds may not gather like they once did, locals have catered a breakfast for the riders each and every year.
“The folks in Blanco know how to rustle up the grub,” Jones noted. “On a trail ride, we eat a lot of things that can be put on a flour tortilla. It just works better, particularly if you are riding.”
That, she said, is why they call it a “Cowboy Breakfast.”
This year the ride, operated by the Hill Country Trail Ride, a 5013c non-profit, will begin in Albert at noon on Saturday, Feb. 7. The riders should arrive in Blanco around 5 p.m. The Cowboy Breakfast will take place at 7 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 8 on the park grounds.
“We will begin close to the dance hall in Albert,” Jones said. “We will go from there to Yett Park in Blanco. On Sunday, we will go to the Kneupper Ranch in Kendalia.”
Jones, now in her eighth year as trail boss, said the riders are mighty grateful to the local chamber for its efforts.
“It’s really nice because it is one morning that we do not have to cook breakfast,” she said. “They will provide us with all we need to eat and are always gracious.”
While breakfast tacos may be on Sunday’s menu, it is also tradition that menudo is served a couple of mornings during the ride.
Jones said the event is family oriented in every sense of the notion.
“We are a family,” Jones said. “Many us have been doing this for a bunch of years, so we have grown close over the years. However, we are seeing more and more younger riders joining up, and that’s good. It means the tradition will remain strong for years to come.
“One story that has stayed with me happened about six years ago,” Jones, who met her husband on a trail ride, continued. “I got a call from someone in another state who said he knew someone who was looking to go on a trail ride. He said it was on his ‘bucket list.’ I called that man up. He didn’t have a horse. He didn’t have a trailer. He didn’t know where he was going to stay once he came to Texas. I told him I could fix him up.”
Jones called friends and were able to help provide all the needs.
“He now comes back every year,” Jones said. “It is stuff like that which makes the ride so special. Our kids can run around and play together without us worrying too much about what they are up to. If they [the children] are at one camp, that adult is the parent. We take care of each other.”
This year, Jones will take her horse, Comanche, on his final ride. The horse is 27 and will be retired after this ride.
The San Antonio Livestock Show takes place from Feb. 12-March 1. Visit www.sarodeo.com for more information.
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