The City of Laguna Hills Traffic Commission is scheduled to meet Wednesday, May 19th. The Nellie Gail Ranch Trails & Safety Committee, with the support of the Equestrian Committee and certain concerned Nellie Gail Ranch Residents, will be attending this meeting to review crosswalk safety concerns focusing on the crosswalks at Nellie Gail Road at the Equestrian Center, the crossing on Nellie Gail Road and Empty Saddle, and the crossing at Nellie Gail Road and Rocking Horse Lane.  City staff are preparing a report for the meeting with updates on traffic studies they have completed for these crossings and potential options to implement additional safety measures.  The link at the bottom of this post is available to report any concerns you may have with “near misses” or “accidents” with vehicles while crossing these intersections. Please report your experiences as soon as possible as it is important to get previous incidents recorded in order that the Trails & Safety Committee and City may collaborate on best solutions to make our crossings safer for all. 
 
To submit a report please click on the following link and identify your name, the date of the incident, a brief description of the incident, and your relationship to Nellie Gail Ranch (resident, guest, equestrian instructor, equestrian boarder, etc.). If you don’t know the exact date, you may include the approximate date. Thank you in advance for your “near miss” reports as we collaborate with the City to make our streets safer for everyone!

Equestrian Crossing Incidents

Due to the frequent on and off rains, some trails may not be accessible by vehicles even on sunny days. Trail permits are always required for vehicles to enter any of the trails.

In between the rains, the trail maintenance crew clears V-ditches & drains, regrades trails where needed, replaces broken sandbags and removes debris overflows into the city streets. 

Please contact the Association Office for trail conditions before accessing any trail with vehicles or construction equipment until further notice.

Trails are open to hikers and equestrians to use at their own risk, unless the trails are otherwise marked with caution tape or signs.

Our Equestrian Center was privileged to host four horses evacuated from the Silverado Fire this week. Oakie and Booger returned home today after a three-day stay. Gracie and Crusader (Pictured) remain in our Sun Pens safe and cared for.

The evacuations were coordinated by San Juan Capistrano Large Animal Response Team (LART), an organization that provides training and resources to safely evacuate large animals during emergency situations. In addition, Doris Bryant one of our Equestrian Center boarders and a Hayden / Clarke Sporthorses trainer, volunteered with her daughter to transport other horses away from the fires during the first and most critical night of the fires. Volunteers with horse trailers made the difficult journey past checkpoints to enter the evacuation zone. They were then directed to homes that required assistance loading frightened animals in trailers and evacuating them to safety. Through the combined efforts of organizations like LART, transport volunteers, and private and commercial boarding facilities, many horses were safely evacuated from the fires and sheltered and cared for until ready to return home.