Mandated by the Santa Barbara County Environmental Health
Department, the equestrian center must upgrade its existing well system at a
cost of $30,000.
“This will be a tough nut to crack, and we’ll have to
look for community support,” said Executive Director David Hunsicker
in a news release.
Hunsicker
said since the center offers other drinking water and beverage sources for
people, and the horses don’t have specified water quality needs, he was hoping
the health department would make an exception for the center as it has for
others in the past. However, the department insists the center upgrade the well
system or face hefty penalty fees — an expense that Hunsicker
said could shut down the center.
Evie
Tubbs, owner of Destination Equus, said she helped
with the special fundraiser event Central Coast Horseman’s Garage Sale on May
17 to raise money for the fund. From selling over 1,000 pieces of tack, equine
gifts and other “horsey” items, Tubbs said the benefit raised about $3,500.
“This wasn’t intended necessarily to raise (money for)
the whole thing, but mostly for community awareness,” she said.
Head instructor of the Therapeutic Riding Program, Peggy
Fowler, said the program also helped with the fundraiser because “if we don’t
have water, we can’t continue.”
The program has based its operations at the center for
the last 11 years, she said. It houses six horses and one mini horse there.
Fowler said she did not think the program will need to
change venues because she believes the community will pull together to help the
center.
“I’m pretty confident that everybody will work real hard
to get it taken care of. ... We haven’t made other plans (to move),” she said.
The program currently has 34 participants ranging from 3
years old to 58. Anyone who cannot afford the program is provided with a
scholarship, although, Fowler said, private and public members who usually donate
to the scholarship program have been cutting back this year due to the economy.
The program has been functioning on a “shoestring budget”
anyway, she added, on top of the center’s well situation, but it will not turn
away anyone who wants to ride in the program.
Participants with multiple sclerosis often are pain free
and can move around easier after a day of riding. Children with autism find it
easier to form a relationship with a horse, and that spills over into
relationships with their family and friends.
Fowler said there was a little boy, who for 10 month,
only watched his siblings ride large horses because he was afraid. Then, they
tried putting him on the mini horse and he looked down, touched the mini horse
and looked into Fowler’s face for the first time in 10 months — a milestone for
the boy with autism.
Now, she said, he’s riding the biggest horses at the
center.
Hunsicker
said since the center opened in 1993, it has provided the community with “a
wonderful outreach of services” and has acted as a base for the riding program.
“I have to continue to be optimistic,” he said. “This is
a huge part of our community, and it serves a lot of people who need it.”
Reach
Lauren Crecelius at lcrecelius@syvjournal.com.