Hold Your Horses
They descended on City Hall in Suburbans, pickups and any other rig that could tow a horse trailer. They told officials that their horses, more than 250 of them, could be out in the cold by June 30 unless the city stepped in.
Perhaps in an urban setting, their pleas would have fallen on deaf ears. But not in this city, where the mayor runs a farm and City Council members like Wyatt Hart wax nostalgic about “the cowboy way.”
The council listened and agreed to speed up a plan to put stables on a patch of city property.
“The council said they were opening land up in their open space and were taking bids on a lease agreement for the land,” said horse owner Sandy Bike. “That’s what we wanted, and it was great news.”
All the worry resulted from the recent sale of Creekside Equestrian Center, also known as the Gates stables. Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates and his wife, Diane, owned it with a group of prominent investors.
The new owner, R.J. Brandes of Newport Beach, gave boarders six months to move. But stable space is in short supply in Orange County, so desperate horse owners asked city officials to act.
The council decided to speed plans to develop stables on 10 acres near Camino Capistrano and Junipero Serra Road, said City Manager George Scarborough.
“It’s a long meadow designed for our community events, and within that area, it has been the city’s intent to have a stable operation become a reality,” Scarborough said.
The city is seeking bids to lease the land and have a private party build the stables. It isn’t clear yet how many stalls will be built or whether the facility can be made ready before the horse owners must leave Creekside.
A week ago, dozens of horse owners like Bike were frantically searching for new stables after hearing that the 17-acre facility had been sold to Brandes, who has not disclosed what he intends to do with it.
In a letter to Creekside’s boarders, Diane Gates said the property, owned by Creekside Equestrian Limited Inc., cleared escrow Dec. 31. The sale amount has not been disclosed.
The Gateses and a group of partners had owned Creekside since 1987. Other investors were St. Louis Rams owner Georgia Frontiere; Rancho Mission Viejo’s Anthony R. Moiso and his wife, Melinda; and Moiso’s uncle and former state Democratic chairman Richard O’Neill; Irvine Co. heiress Joan Irvine Smith; and other prominent residents.
It isn’t known what plans Brandes has for the property. Neither Brandes nor Gates returned phone calls.
When rumors of the sale circulated among Creekside’s dozens of horse owners and trainers, they reacted in fear.
The recent growing popularity of horse ownership has created a demand on stable space within the city and the surrounding area. Gail Monk, an overseer for Tar Farms in San Juan Capistrano, said her stables have been full for a year.
“We have a waiting list of a year of people trying to get in,” Monk said, “and most of the stables around here are like that. We do have attrition, but not for 200 horses.”
For trainer Wendy Teddiman, news that Creekside was sold was a shock. Then anger set in. “It’s the end of a way of life,” she said. “Trainers’ jobs and the lifestyle for many horse owners around here will all come to a roaring stop.”
“We first had rumors that it’s been sold,” said Shari Lefmann, who trains 25 horses at Creekside. “I don’t know of too many options of where to go . . . this is scary.”
Horse owner Debi O’Connell sold her home and moved, just so she and her daughter could be closer to Creekside stables, which they visited every day.
“What happens now is very important to me,” O’Connell said.
Councilman Hart said he would try to accommodate the horse owners, but made it clear that the city would not subsidize the stables.
“I will work with them to come up with some kind of solution,” Hart said, adding he believed it was not only incumbent on the council to help, but as a fellow horse owner, “pulling together is in keeping with the cowboy lifestyle.”