Back in Business

Photo by Georgia Mallett, for the the Daily Record Participants came from across the region to participate in the Steve Rother Horsemanship Clinic at the Washington State Horse Park on July 5.

After a season without events, the air is full of competition again at the Washington State Horse Park.

The park, located on the edge of Cle Elum was hit hard by the pandemic, having to cancel all its competitions for the 2020 season, but it’s schedule has completely rebounded for this summer.

“We’re slammed,” Executive Director Leslie Thurston said of the summer schedule. “We’re about as busy as we could be. It’s been hard to find help, actually. We’re having bigger events and more events, and it’s been hard to keep up with it all because it’s been hard to hire.”

The changes come as a drastic change from last season. Thurston said the park generated 7% of its normal revenue in 2020. Fortunately for some, the park was able to stay open with a skeleton crew for recreational riders, but the bread and butter for the venue is competitions.

“We had plenty of recreational riders,” she said. “We had people out here trail riding like we’ve never seen before. They could get in because we didn’t have events. The place was pretty much wide open for trial riding, and they just wanted to get out and do something safe. There’s not a much safer activity than getting out on a horse out in the fresh air in the middle of nowhere.”

Although Thurston said she was happy the park could provide recreational activities for riders during the pandemic, any events the park were able to have were regulated to less than 50 participants, which resulted in the major loss of income.

“The bread and butter did not happen at all,” she said. “We did get a couple of government grants, which helped a lot to keep people on payroll.”

The Paycheck Protection Program funding helped keep the park operating for recreational riding and small events, and Thurston said they couldn’t have operated in that fashion without it. Last fall, she said people began to plan events in the hopes that they could be executed this summer with improving conditions.

“They began to plan as if it was going to be fine,” she said. “They just kept telling us they were going to need more rental stalls, and the entries just kept pouring in. We’re in a kind of a COVID bump right now. Everybody’s sort of really eager to get out and do things.”

Thurston said she isn’t sure if the intensity will persist into next season, but she said one factor that is most likely contributing to this year’s bump in entries is the closure of the Canadian border.

“There’s some competitors that go over into Canada to compete during the summer,” she said. “When that opens again, I don’t know what effect that will have.” EXPANDED OPPORTUNITIES

To kick off the 2021 season, the park is able to offer competitors use of it’s freshly completed covered arena. The addition comes along with expanded rental stalls for park users, helping to grow the number of entrants into the competitions.

“The fact that we can do more means we are doing more,” she said.

The new arena was completed just in time for the first competition at the park in the end of May. Leslie said the structure was an instant hit with users.

“They loved it,” she said. “They absolutely loved the atmosphere, and they loved the footing. It’s got really high walls, so you still feel like you’re outside, even though you’re in a covered arena. We wanted it to be clear span so there were no columns impeding any of the views. We have translucent panels and skylights that go down the middle so there are no shadows. It’s very important not to have shadows, because horses are afraid of looking at their shadow and not knowing what it is.”

Other features of the arena include high-quality lighting and a removable fencing system that allows the arena to be used for non-equine events outside of the competition season. Thurston said she envisions community events being held in the space during those times.

“It could be a brew fest or a Wednesday night movie night,” she said. “It could be an antique show. It’s a very generous space.”

The covered element also means the park can extend it’s competition season, allowing entrants to stay sheltered from the elements. Now that things are heating up for 2021, Thurston said she is grateful that the park was able to sustain through the hardest time in their history. Along with the government funding, she said supporters of the park contributed through a fundraising campaign to keep the venue on their feet.

“They really stepped up,” she said. “I think the horse community showed that they want us to be sustainable, and it’s starting to work this year. We have a lot of return events, and at the same time we have a lot of new people reaching out to us. It feels like we’ve done it right, and as long as we stay true to our mission of serving the entire horse community in all the disciplines, that gives a nice variety and I feel really good about it.” u

Photo by Georgia Mallett, for the the Daily Record Addie Blair, from Ellensburg, trains her horse at the Steve Rother Horsemanship Clinic at the Washington State Horse Park on July 5.