By Cathy Locke, Sacramento Bee

Equestrians say their hot, thirsty horses are suffering because of a dispute between a state agency and an El Dorado County water district.

And while the dispute continues, the state has been trucking in water at a higher cost than what the water district is charging it in late fees, officials said.

Riders who frequent the Olmstead Loop, a popular trail in the Auburn State Recreation Area, recently discovered that water had been turned off at the trail’s staging area off Highway 49 in Cool.

Pilot Hill resident Pam Bailie said she had been riding a couple of weeks ago and stopped at the site expecting to water and hose off her horse.

Read the whole story