Yorba Linda : Decision to Not Build Horse Arena Criticized

Residents incensed about a decision to drop plans for a new horse ring at Arroyo Park complained to the City Council this week.

“There were a lot of horses in our area at one time,” resident Marlene McIntyre said. “A lot of people gave up waiting for the arena to be built.”

On June 6, the council decided to cut $130,000 of $610,000 earmarked for the horse ring and other Arroyo Park improvements.

Resident Paul Curtis said the lack of an equestrian arena at the park could be contributing to a decrease in the number of horses in the city, because residents lack places to train children to ride safely. And he said the city owes it to residents to complete the park improvements according to a plan that residents helped to craft.

“We had meetings last year, and we had commitments from this council to the park,” Curtis said.

Councilman John M. Gullixson said the council dropped plans to build the arena when the Orange County bond crisis forced cuts in the city budget.

Furthermore, he added, the construction of a new ring at Arroyo Park would be redundant, since a nearby riding ring at San Antonio Park can easily accommodate horse owners in the area, and is rarely used.

“We have two arenas in town,” Gullixson said. “One on the west side, where we have 1,200 horses, and one on the east side, less than a mile from Arroyo Park, where we have less than 68 horses.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Arena Plan Dropped 1. Buena Vista Equestrian Center 2. San Antonio Park Equestrian Arena 3. Third show ring shelved