ST. LANDRY PARISH — Despite the recent suspension of trail rides across the parish, a June event hosted by the Cold Hearted Steppas at the Yambilee Grounds will still move forward — but with significant changes.
Questions began circulating after parish leaders suspended all trail rides following two shootings connected to a May 17 trail ride event. The Cold Hearted Steppas event had already been scheduled before the suspension was announced.
Parish President Jessie Bellard said the event itself has not been canceled, but the actual trail ride portion involving horses will no longer take place but after having a meeting with Kendall Griffin, the trail seems to back on with a few changes.
“So, the trail ride itself is not going to happen,” Bellard said. “I really don't believe that the trail ride is the problem, but that seems to be the common denominator that brings in some troubled people.”
Bellard said the concert and dance portion of the event will continue at the Yambilee Building, but under a much stricter security plan.
“We're gonna have law enforcement on the ground. We're gonna have private security on the ground,” Bellard said. “We never have any trouble inside. It’s whenever they get outside. So as we see the problems, we're going to address them.”
According to Bellard, the Yambilee Grounds will be divided into four separate security zones — east, west, north and south — with two officers assigned to each zone at all times.
“You're either gonna go inside, pay what you got to pay to get in, or you're going to have to hit the road,” Bellard said. “That's going to prevent a lot of this stuff from happening.”
Bellard also outlined additional safety measures planned for the event, including designated parking for guests and campers, officers assigned to highway traffic control, and enforcing the entire Yambilee property as a gun-free zone.
He said the new rules will apply to all events held at parish-owned facilities moving forward.
“What I'm fixing to tell you is this is non-negotiable,” Bellard said. “Either they're going to do it this way at the Ag Arena or the Yambilee or any one of our facilities, or they won't have it.”
Bellard also said parish leaders plan to work directly with trail ride organizations before trail rides are allowed to return in the future.
“The trail ride organizations, we're gonna be working with them to come up with a plan,” Bellard said. “One of the things that's not done right now is to bring in a clean Coggins test. Each horse should have its own clean Coggins test.”
A Coggins test is used to detect equine infectious anemia in horses and is commonly required for public equine events.
Bellard said he hopes stricter requirements will help restore traditional trail ride culture while discouraging people who are not serious about participating responsibly.
“That’s going to stop a lot of these guys who are not serious about trail rides,” Bellard said. “We want the people that’s gonna be on trail rides that want to do the right thing. We want to bring all that activity back, but I want to do it the right way.”
He also addressed concerns about potentially placing age restrictions on future trail rides. Instead of limiting attendance by age, Bellard said the focus will be on accountability and responsible participation.
“Instead of having an age limit, we're gonna make sure that the right people are on the animals,” Bellard said.
Bellard said the parish is not trying to eliminate trail ride culture, but instead wants to create a safer environment for attendees while preserving the tradition in the future.
“If they go to an event at our buildings, it's gonna be a safe event,” Bellard said. “People are gonna feel safer going there. You're gonna get the people that you want at your events — not the people that you don't want, like we had this weekend.”
KATC did reach out to Kendall Griffin, president of the Cold Hearted Steppas trail ride organization, and in a statement he said:
"The Cold Hearted summer event will still take place June 20 and June 21 despite the parish-wide suspension of trail rides. New rules will be implemented and “enforced at full capacity,” adding that all horses and campers must be registered before arriving at the event. Zydeco artists Chris Ardoin and Keith Frank are still scheduled to perform at their regular times.
Anyone not planning to attend the ride itself will not be allowed to remain on the property."
For questions or concerns, organizers encouraged attendees to contact Ken at 337-678-2323 or Deshawn at 337-692-9355.
