‘We move at a slower pace.’ Horse riders ready to leave Bradenton on the ‘Cracker Trail’
There was a time when Florida was one big open range with cattle running wild in prairies, woods and palmetto scrub. Riders on horseback with bullwhips rounded them up and drove them across the state from Fort Pierce to Bradenton for shipment to Cuba.
That time from more than a century ago will be relived Feb. 12-20 with the 34th annual Florida Cracker Trail Ride, minus the cattle.
Saturday morning, several dozen riders on horseback, along with a wagon or two, will plod east along the south shoulder of State Road 64, signaling the start of the trail ride.
Riders will begin gathering about 9 a.m. in the 1400 block of Manatee Avenue East near Manatee Elementary School and Manatee Village Historical Park. The riders will then move slowly east to the vicinity of The Home Depot in the 5800 block of State Road 64 East. From there, the horses will be taken by trailer to the former Kibler Ranch, now owned by Falkner Farms. The ranch is located about 15 miles east of Interstate 75.
The Bradenton segment of the ride wasn’t added until 2017.
“It was a huge accomplishment,” Suzanne Park, now in her seventh year as trail boss, said of getting approval from local government to allow the ride out from Bradenton. “This is where we would go to sell our cattle.”
Although the number of riders taking part in the trail ride is down this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Park said that she is encouraged that 150 persons have registered to participate.
Mike Harrison, a Myakka City resident and trail ride association president, will be taking part in his 30th trail ride this year.
“The Cracker Trail Ride either gets in you, or gets on you,” Harrison said.
“If you like being around horses and you like the history of Florida, this event is for you. We move at a slower pace, about 3 1/2 miles per hour for 120 miles,” Harrison said.
Riders travel about 18 miles a day and then camp over night at ranches along the way.
The trail ride takes its “cracker” name from the sound of whips that the Florida cowboys used to drive their herds toward Bradenton and then to Tampa, Punta Gorda, and Punta Rassa.
The Fort Pierce-to-Bradenton track was chosen because it was a dry route. To the north, the Kissimmee River and its floodplains blocked the way. To the south, Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades made passage impossible.
The Florida Cracker Trail Association is a non-profit organization of volunteers, formed in 1987, with the mission of “Keeping History Alive.”
Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León landed on the shores of Florida in the early 1500s but was driven off by Native Americans, leaving behind horses, hogs and Andalusian cattle.
White settlers were not the only cattle ranchers in Florida. By the 1800s, the Seminole nation had herds estimated at 5,000 to 50,000 cattle.
For more information, visit https://floridacrackertrail.org/.
