Lake View Terrace : Shopping Center for Equestrians to Open

A video industry entrepreneur is building a 6,000-square-foot retail center geared to the horse set.

Paddock Place, the brainchild of former Lake View Terrace resident Leah Marinelli, is scheduled to open in mid-October at 11355 Foothill Blvd. near Osborne Street.

Marinelli said one shop in the center already has been leased to Elaine Hoover, owner of Foothill Saddlery, who will move her store from its present location down the street.

The idea of developing the center came to Marinelli several years ago when she lived and rode her horse in Lake View Terrace.

“I always thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a place where I could park my horse and grab a Coke or a burger, instead of having to pack my food and drinks,’ ” she said.

Hoover, a friend of Marinelli’s since grade school, encouraged Marinelli to try to develop the project, and promised to move her tack shop there if she succeeded.

The surrounding region is saturated with equestrians, with approximately 500 horses boarded at Middle Ranch Equestrian Center and about 200 kept at the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center, Marinelli said.

“People ride down in that area all the time,” Marinelli said. “Trails lead right down there. Until now, there just hasn’t been anywhere for them to stop.”

In addition to parking for cars, the center will include a corral with hitching posts and watering troughs for horses, Marinelli said.