The Cowboy Capital MS Trail Ride, now in its 29th year, is quickly approaching, and it doesn’t exist without dedicated volunteers working hard to raise funds for multiple sclerosis research.
This year’s event is set for Saturday, May 2 at Blue Stem Ranch in Morgan Mill.
The trail ride also has a 5K-1-mile fun run/walk available to participants.
At 7 a.m. the gates for the event open and a chuckwagon breakfast by the Cowboy Church of Erath County will be provided.
Ride check in is at 8 a.m., and horses and riders need to be saddled up and ready to go at 8:45 a.m. The trail ride heads out at 9 a.m.
Check in for the 5K and 1-mile fun run/walk is at 9:30 a.m. with the races starting at 10 a.m.
After the trail ride concludes there is a lunch, silent and live auctions and prizes and trophies are awarded.
A minimum donation of $50 per participant is required to ride or $25 for the run/walk.
To register for the event visit www. mstrailride.org, or mail to Cowboy Capital MS Trail Ride P.O. Box 159, Morgan Mill, Texas 76465.
Looking back at the beginning of the trailride, longtime volunteer Mary Howard who is a founding member and chair can recall how the event started.
It began in 1997 when the MS office called and wanted them to establish a walk in Erath County. They knew who to call because a support group had been started in part because Mary’s husband, Eddie, had been diagnosed with MS.
“The organizer of the support group told them, ‘We don’t walk, we ride,’” Howard recalled. “This is cowboy country, we ride horses.”
With that, the first and only sanctioned MS Trail ride was born with the National MS Society blessing the fundraiser. Since then, other trail rides have become sanctioned, but at that time the Cowboy Capital MS Trail Ride was the only one.
Mary said this cause is important to her since her husband, along with two of his siblings and a cousin were diagnosed with MS.
“They still don’t know what causes it, and there still is not a cure for it,” she said. “It does tend to run in families.”
Mary’s daughter, Dana Herod explained MS is a trigger disease, where something gets triggered and your immune system begins attacking your body.
According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, they believe a mix of factors can trigger it including infectious agents, environment and genetics.
“It typically happens in their 30s,” Herod said.
Mary said her husband Eddie supported starting the trail ride because he wanted a cure, but more so, wanted answers as to why he and his family members were diagnosed with MS.
Treatments for MS have advanced, but when Mary first started helping Eddie she had to give him an injection every other night to help slow the progression.
“It would give him fever, chills and all that, and then the next day he would feel horrible. Then the next day he would feel almost back to normal, but would have to get another shot,” Mary said.
He got injections for 20 years.
Mary herself overcame a challenge in this regard … she faints when she gets a shot or blood taken.
Recalling the first shot, she got close to the floor while having him sit on the couch. Sure enough, she passed out, but with love conquering all, she overcame it.
Going into the 29th annual trail ride, the event has changed and grown ultimately raising more than $650,000 for MS research.
With the first trail ride taking place in April, the organization decided after a really cold first event to move the ride to May.
“We still had 30 people come to our first ride,” Herod said. “Every year we have tried to add something.”
Mary has many fun memories throughout the 28 years of the event with her favorite being when Dana rode one year.
“My brother, Scotty, who horses are his thing had put a saddle on the horse. She was riding, and all of a sudden she was riding sideways because he didn’t tighten it enough,” Mary said, laughing.
Dana said at different points their entire family was involved including her aunt who started a competition between schools in Killeen to see who could raise the most money for the event.
“Our family members have always helped,” she said.
Sad moments have also happened, especially in 2022 when co-founder Diane Tidwell passed away.
This event is made possible with the steering committee including Herod, Shannon Bray, Myndie Coan, Gidget Hansen, Cindy Morse, Duke (Rick) Pack, Rick Taylor, Lori Nix and JoAnn Heck, Chair Mary Howard, Trail Bosses Duane and Tammy Chick, Debbie and Pete Kuntz, Cindy and Don Morse, Danny and Rhonda Pittman and Amy McDonald and James Elliott.
“We really appreciate everyone’s support. It’s only with everyone’s support that we will be able to continue to fight MS,” Dana said.