By James V. Horrigan
Staff Writer
State law grants coastline communities the ability to issue permits each autumn to equestrians and equestriennes who wish to ride their horses on public beaches. This year the season began on Oct. 15 and runs through May 1, 2008. Permits cost $5 for residents and $10 for non-residents and are good for use at Pine Point Beach only.
“It’s a big thing,” Scarborough Deputy Town Clerk Tracy O’Roak said of the 139 permits issued so far this year. They are issued to both residents and non-residents but out-of-towners are in the majority by a ratio of nearly seven-to-one, she said. The program has been in place for a number of years, but O’Roak couldn’t say precisely how many because records go back only to 1999
 “Because they’re good until May, we get people that are still coming in in April,” she said.
And that’s when the potential for confrontations between beachcombers, dog-walkers and riders increases, said town Animal Control Officer Chris Creps.
“When March and April come along and people want to get out on the beach more, that’s when I’ll get complaints. You’ve got some people that don’t like it because some of the horse riders don’t pick up like they’re supposed to,” Creps said.
Before the permits are granted, riders must sign an agreement saying they will enter and exit at Pine Point Beach only –although they can ride southwest as far as the Old Orchard Beach line.
In addition, permit holders acknowledge they are responsible, under Maine Department of Environmental Protection regulations, to clean up after their horses and dispose of the waste in an appropriate litter receptacle.
But not everybody plays by the rules, something Jill Flaherty, owner of Flaherty Stables on Scottow Hill Road, is all too familiar with.
“We are very, very cognizant of how lucky we are to have this available to us, so we have been known to clean up other people’s messes in an attempt to keep the peace,” said Flaherty, who rides on the beach with her three daughters whenever the opportunity presents itself.
“I always bring a muck bucket and a broom with me and always leave the parking lot the way I found it, if not a little better,” she said.
As much as it irks her, Flaherty said she long ago decided that confronting those who flout the law just wasn’t worth it.
“I’m not the type of person to say something, but if they leave and they leave a mess then we’ll go clean it up so it doesn’t ruin it for the rest of us,” she said.
Flaherty is aware that although the number of horse owners in the area is comparatively small, it only takes a few to spoil it for everyone else.
“It’s really too bad because we’re very fortunate to be able to do it because there’s not many people that can,” she said.
Her youngest daughter, Jessica Flaherty, 6, is looking forward to riding her miniature horse, Jiminy Cricket, alongside her mother and sisters.
“This will be her first year taking him to the beach, so she’s excited,” Flaherty said.
The same holds for her other two daughters, Catherine Flaherty, 11, and Cynthia Flaherty, 15.
Last year her older daughter fell off her horse when it got spooked because someone else wasn’t playing by the rules and as a result she spent three days in the hospital with a concussion.
“Our biggest fear down there is loose dogs. Two of them came running at her horse. He jumped sideways, she fell off and landed right underneath him. But she can’t wait to get back. She loves riding down there and when you fall off [a horse] you get right back on,” Flaherty said.
Although it didn’t land her in the hospital, Flaherty said Catherine knows how her older sister feels.
“She just recently fell off and when she got up she announced, ‘Now I’m a real rider!’ and jumped back on the horse again,” Flaherty said.
Flaherty and her daughters aren’t the only riders of horses at Flaherty Stables that enjoy a trot along the beach.
“I have two boarders here that have sulky race horses and they are at the beach at least twice a week, because it never freezes and it’s good for the horse’s legs,” she said, referring to the two-wheeled, single-seat carriages driven by harness racers.
Creps said that’s not the only reason.
“We have the sulkies that race on the tracks, some at [Scarborough] Downs, some up in Bangor and some who go out of state. A lot of those guys will use the beach in the winter because the tracks are closed. It actually smoothes out pretty flat for them and it’s pretty even so they can go pretty fast,” he said.
Gerry Smith of Old Orchard Beach, who boards a horse at Flaherty Stables, hitches up a sulky to his 10-year-old standard bred bay mare, Secured Alibi, once or twice a week and jogs the horse from the Hurd Park lot down to the Old Orchard Beach line. When he’s done, he takes the horse, with sulky still attached and him in it, into several feet of water.
“It’s not too cold for them and it’s really good for their tendons,” said Flo O’Keefe, Secured Alibi’s co-owner and trainer.
Although permits are good from mid-October until the beginning of May, riders have to plan their jaunts around low tide.
“We have to have plenty of room, otherwise the sand is too deep and it can hurt their legs,” Flaherty said.
O’Keefe said that she and Smith are all too aware of the ever-changing periods each day when there is enough beach to ride on.
“Tide waits for no man, or horse,” she laughed.
Animal control officer Creps said that he handles complaints when they arise, but feels that most residents appreciate the beauty and spectacle of beach riding.
“We have people that are really happy, who like seeing the horses down there. It goes both ways,” he said.