Is the horse the 'new golf'?
With interest in horse-related activities on the rise, builders are planning projects with stables and indoor riding facilities
KERRY GOLD

June 20, 2008

VANCOUVER -- There was a time when the horsy set brought to mind pampered gentry who wore jodhpurs and attended things like coming out balls. Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story, for example - she would have been a horse rider. English style, of course.

Considering that practically every girl around the age of eight years old falls hard for the idea of owning a horse, it was just a matter of time until the horsy set adjusted itself to middle-class demands. As well, the horsy lifestyle occupies a natural spot within the green movement, where a ride through the wilderness on a non-gas-guzzling beast is the epitome of back-to-basics leisure.

Developers have taken notice, responding with equestrian communities, with shared stables and horse care that means savings for horse owners. It also means a pastoral setting for those who might just want to live among the horsy set, without ever having to mount a horse.

The horse, says developer Michael Goodman, is the "new golf." Statistics do show growth. Horse-related businesses have steadily grown 7 per cent in the past 15 years, according to the Horse Council of B.C. In Langley, the High Point Equestrian Estate is luxury living for the horsy set.

Mr. Goodman, owner of Richmond's Tri City Group, is in the process of delivering a green, affordable equestrian community to the outdoorsy city of Squamish. Squamish, as British Columbians know, is the playground for outdoor enthusiasts, connected to Whistler by the Sea-to-Sky Highway. If Mr. Goodman has his way, the locals will soon count horseback riding among their leisure activities.

"There is a ton of people interested in just buying around a horse community - they don't necessarily ride horses themselves," says Mr. Goodman.

Mr. Goodman purchased 140 acres of undeveloped property that runs alongside the Cheakamus River and is criss-crossed with old logging trails. His Paradise Trails proposal calls for the low-density development of 82 lots, including a smaller adjacent site that's currently crown land. If his purchase of the crown land goes through, the project would total 167 acres. Each lot will average two acres and have access to stables and an indoor riding facility with "world-class teachers" to give lessons. As well, the community would have access to stable hands, a vet, a tack shop, coffee bar and banquet facility. Of the horse stalls, 25 per cent would be reserved for Squamish residents to use.

The sustainable community would include buildings with LEED certification, on-site composting and a self-contained tertiary water treatment system.

With the greater Squamish community in mind, Mr. Goodman proposes a development that would dedicate 15 kilometres of trails to the public. He proposes reforestation of the previously logged site, with a public pathway along the river.

The lots would be priced at around the $400,000 range, which, says Mr. Goodman, is fairly typical for Squamish.

"The lots will be the upper middle class kind of price range," he says. "And people will decide what types of houses they want to build themselves. We will have a quality standard, and a restricted size. But we're going to leave it up to people to use their own creativity."

Susan Balcom saw the market for the new horsy set when she quit her day job to open a tack store in Langley. Business has been so steady that she's opened a second tack shop, in Vancouver's Southlands flats. Ms. Balcom says the majority of her customers are women with extra cash flow.

"I think that while a lot of their husbands are out playing golf, today's professional woman would like to go out and ride," she says. "A lot of these women are independently successful, so they are choosing to spend a lot of money on an activity they truly enjoy."

She estimates that it costs about $1,000 a month to own a horse and ride it, including about $700 a month for boarding and maintenance costs such as shoeing and lessons.

"I think that's why these equestrian communities are going to be successful," says Ms. Balcom. "One of the big draws is that between neighbours, you could share some of the workload and the cost."

Before Mr. Goodman embarked on the equestrian idea, he consulted Carolyn Lair, a community development specialist with whom he'd worked on marina projects.

"He said, 'I bought this piece of property and I don't know what to do with it," recalls Ms. Lair. "I fell in love with it."

Ms. Lair did extensive conservation research before deciding the land was compatible with horses. Ms. Lair, who moved to B.C. from California, comes from a family hard-bitten by the horse life. She has two sisters who train horses, a niece who makes a living as a horse braider and a brother who's a farrier.

"The lands traditionally used for equestrian activity are all being developed," she says. "We felt that it would be a good match and a way to keep the trails on our land public and a link to municipal trails.

"I think it's very unusual," she adds. "As far as I know, we're the only ones pulling together the notion of the equestrian club with sustainability practices."