Hello,
I am writing this post in the hopes of raising awareness and averting the potential loss of the Flagstaff venue for the Coconino Horse Trials.
I am a member of the Coconino Horseman's Alliance, a small group of horse-lovers formed over a year ago, in response to the threat of increasing expenses at the Fort Tuthill County Park Equestrian facilities where the Coconino Horse Trials are traditionally held. We have been meeting monthly for well over a year with the Coconino County Park and Rec Department staff and Commissioners, and the Coconino County Board of Supervisors in an effort to direct more county funds into upgrading and maintaining the facilities at Fort Tuthill, the site if the Coconino Horse Trials.
As most of you know, those facilities are in marginal shape, but the county owns them and has never prioritized funding for their upgrade. This continues to be the case and the facilities continue to deteriorate as time goes by. One example is that each winter we lose stable roofs to snow damage. Last year there was the funding to repair that. This year it is not clear that the stalls damaged by this years' snows will have roofs by the time summer is here.
A week ago members of the CHA (Coconino Horseman's Alliance) met with the Park and Rec staff to go over budgeting priorities for the Fort Tuthill facilities. The long and short of it is, there is no money for the kind of repairs needed, and the band-aid fixes are no longer working because the buildings are not up to code, and so the fixes can not be approved. Although it was not directly stated, it is clear that in 5 to 10 years we may lose those stables, and that facility: simply due to conditions deteriorating to the point of non-functionalality.
The fact of the matter politically is: the lessees (including the Coconino Horse Trials) use these facilities more than the local residents. There is therefore little incentive for the local county government to kick up the hundreds of thousands of dollars required to upgrade and maintain the stables and racetrack the way they should be. They are not making enough money off of this venture to warrant that kind of investment.
I don't mean to sound alarmist, but after listening to the Coconino County park and rec staff list the issues with stable repair, despite our requests to focus funding there; it became clear that this is really beyond their means. It is also clear that they would like some other organization to take the whole thing off their hands in some sort of lease agreement. In addition, in the latest "Practical Horseman", there was a small paragraph from the ELCR (Equestrian Land Conservation Resource) about the number of venues lost in the last few years. It was surprisingly large, and was an issue in many states. I am afraid we may be approaching that situation in Area X with the Coconino Horse Trials unless some way is proposed to upgrade/change the facilities at Fort Tuthill County Park.
I am not sure who to contact about this, or who should take the lead on this. It is beyond the scope of the Coconino Horseman's Alliance to do on their own. The situation does concern me and I thought perhaps starting this discussion on this site might generate some ideas and solutions. I am the mother of a dedicated competitor, a volunteer and joint organizer for the local Flagstaff pony club, as well as a rider and supporter of many equestrian efforts. I bring this issue up because if there is a way of being pro-active about this matter, now is the time. I would hate to see this venue fall into dis-use. I am available for further questions and discussion.
Sincerely,
--Helen