HOULTON – A local man is seeking help for a legal issue that is fast impeding his own economic development.

Ernest Bragg works for Texas-based Alpha-Omega Mounted Security, which subcontracts protection at outdoor concerts and other venues.

Michael Sprague, 19, of Littleton and Clyde Geary, 22, of Houlton were charged last month with obstructing public ways while training for the firm on Bragg’s horses. The men allegedly refused to pull right to allow faster-moving traffic to pass while riding the animals through town. Geary was also charged with disorderly conduct. Released on personal recognizance bond, the men are scheduled to appear in Houlton District Court on June 29.

Until then, they are prohibited from riding horses on public ways within the town’s compact zone, which Bragg said “really limits training options.”

“I need to be downtown,” Bragg said. “The experience would be great this time of year, with all of the construction going on. But I am not going to risk getting summoned every time I take my horses down there.”

It is a difficult situation in a town where vehicles often share the road with farm equipment and horse-drawn carriages from the nearby Amish community. Under state motor vehicle statutes, a person riding an animal is subject to the same responsibilities as a motor vehicle operator. It is legal for vehicles to pass driven animals, as long as reasonable caution is used.

The incident occurred on April 18, but the men were not arrested until May 4, according to court documents. Sprague and Geary were training the horses by acclimating them to noise, Bragg said recently, so that the animals could perform their duties without fear.

Sprague and Geary were riding abreast on North Street when the incident began. After a witness told Houlton police that the horses were “holding up traffic,” Officer Troy Fitzpatrick caught up to the men on the North Street bridge. Fitzpatrick got on the cruiser’s outside intercom and asked the men to “move right and allow traffic to pass,” according to a police report. Geary allegedly swore at Fitzpatrick and the two men proceeded “at a fast gallop” into Market Square. Supervising Officer Carolyn Crandall advised Fitzpatrick not to take action until the men dismounted the horses. At about that time, two U.S. Border Patrol agents joined in the incident, according to the report.

Bragg said recently that the men could not pull right since they were on a bridge and that he felt the incident became a nonissue when the horses left the bridge. Cars cannot legally pass on that bridge, as a solid double yellow line prohibits it.

Officers were confronted by both Bragg’s and Geary’s fathers after they parked their truck in the middle of the Highland Avenue bridge and got out to dispute the officers’ actions.

By then, the horsemen were headed to Bragg’s residence on the Ludlow Road about a mile away.

Fitzpatrick reportedly explained to a crowd of people at the home that he was working within the law and left without making any arrests.

Chief Daniel Soucy did not return phone calls regarding the matter, and Houlton officers are forbidden to speak to the media.

Bragg acknowledges that his men “got a little overexcited” during the incident. The men are training on off-road trails, but because there is no traffic, the horses can’t get the level of exposure they need.

Bragg has spoken to the Town Council and to the code enforcement office about the issue, but the problem remains unresolved.

“It doesn’t seem right for a town that wants to encourage economic development to do this,” Bragg said recently. “It sure puts a crimp in my business.”