July/August 2024 Issue

Page 26 July/August 2024 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN By Amy Worden For more than 60 years Potomac Horse Center outside Washington, D.C. gave thou- sands of people their first equine experience. From five-year-olds with roomfuls of Breyer horses to bold senior citizens, the center was known for its warm, family atmosphere. But today the farm in North Potomac, Maryland is nearly empty, its fields overgrown and its stables silent after the property owner declined to renew its lease, despite an outpouring of support from the community. Potomac Horse Center’s owner, Nancy Novograd, issued a statement saying the situa- tion was “unsustainable under current economic conditions.” The 40-acre property is owned by Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission which demanded $3 million in capital improvements. “The tipping point in the ne- gotiations was M-NCPPC’s insis- tence that the renewal of the lease was contingent on PHC raising three to five million dollars to improve M-NCPPC’s infrastruc- ture with no assurances that PHC would be permitted to remain on the property,” Novograd wrote in an April 30 statement. Before its closure in early June, the center was providing lessons to roughly 300 clients a week. For years it was a hub of horse activity, holding summer camps, horse shows and riding Potomac Horse Center’s Closure Leaves Riders Bereft clinics and housed a therapeutic riding program. But it was more than a riding stable to many students and their families. Jennifer Bauer’s daugh- ter, Katie, started riding at the center seven years ago at age 6. She was shy and had a yet-to-be diagnosed learning disability, but the Potomac Horse Cen- ter had a special program for youngsters and surrounded her with support. “She was hooked,” recalled Bauer. “For a kid who was really shy and an only child, she lights up and talks to everyone at the barn. It was her happy place.” Katie, who bonded with a quarter horse cross named Todd, was looking forward to the fall when she’d turn 14 and be able to help with the younger students. Bauer was among the parents who made a last ditch effort to save the stable. When the commission condemned the main barn last winter, her father and husband built a tackroom in a small indoor riding arena repur- posed as a stable. She said the parents group appealed to the commission for an extension and tried to raise the necessary funds. Under the gun, they tried a petition, a Go Fund Me campaign and appeals to local and state officials without luck. Janet Miller’s daughter Molly, who is 12, started riding at the center when she was about 7. “She had her birthday party there and fell in love,” said Miller. She said watching her child lose something so special has been heart breaking. “This was devastating, she was so attached to the horses, the way the lessons were run,” said Miller. “It was the place and the connection for her through the stresses of middle school, of having a place of her own.” Zoe Bethke, who just finished her junior year in high school, had been riding at Potomac Horse Cen- ter since 2019. She held a part time job that she loved, helping tack up horses for the younger students. “It’s been really difficult,” she said. “We are a really tight knit community.” By June some 60 school horses, among them retired racehorses and show ponies, even one who had a role in the Metropolitan Opera, had been placed with veterinarian-ap- proved homes. The lives of hundreds of people associated with the stable were being upended too. Grooms and caretakers who lived on the property with their families, were losing housing and jobs. Students were left without a place to ride at a time when there are fewer and fewer public stables, and boarders had to find new barns for their horses. For its part, the parks commission issued a state- ment saying under terms of the 30-year-old lease, the center was “contractually responsible for all maintenance and capital improvements at the facility and BLACK’S LIVESTOCK -The Next Pasture - Where the grass is always green, lush & stirrup high Individual Horse & Pet Cremation Standard Mortality Emergency Service Available John E. Black: 610.220.5262 Matthew Hoffman: 610.656.3258 Office: 610.584.4482 Fax: 610.584.9111 BLACK’S LIVESTOCK P.O. Box 662 Skippack, PA 19472 www.nextpasture.com for ensuring safe riding condi- tions. Structural assessments performed by an outside expert in the Fall of 2023 showed major life safety and structural con- cerns on site.” The commission said it asked the center for a plan to fund the repairs but instead was notified of its plans to “cease operations and vacate the prop- erty.” Novograd did not response to requests for comment on the lease negotiations. Montgomery Parks said in a statement that it intends to pre- serve the property as a park and will begin a planning process to determine potential uses. Bauer said her daughter’s goal was to continue to ride at the center through high school. When Bauer broke the news to her, Katie said, “what am I going to do now?” “We cried for two days,” said Bauer. Bethke said she and several friends have found another stable to move to that will allow them to continue to ride together. But others have found it tough to find a new stable. Poto- mac Horse Center was one of the last true public riding facilities in the Washington area. Those that remain have wait lists for lessons. The Bauer’s are looking for a new stable, but feel they won’t be able to replicate the Potomac Horse Center environment. Bauer reminisced about the Halloween parades, when students donned costumes and dressed up the horses, and the Christmas stall decorating contests. 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