Purpose of Petition:

To bring to the attention of the Salt Lake County Mayor, Commission and Legislature the need for The Salt Lake County Equestrian Park to:

1. Stay as is – An Equestrian Facility

2. Get much needed funding for capital improvements.

The people signing this petition are in favor of and urge the County and legislature to leave the Equestrian Park as is and increase funding to maintain and improve the existing race track, arenas and stalls. The Salt Lake County Equestrian Park is the largest equestrian park in the State of Utah. Used by thousands of horse owners and special event/interest groups (ie soccer, BMX, a variety of business and entertainment shows, etc.) yearly, repurposing the park and eliminating the equestrian facility would impact thousands of people who depend on the horse industry for not only income but a way of life.

We have used the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park for 30 plus years. As long time clubs, organizations and users of the Equestrian Park, we are petitioning to keep the Park an equestrian venue. Following are very important factors to be considered:

• The County has hundreds of special interest parks for soccer, baseball, golf, etc., but only ONE Equestrian Park.

• The central location is perfect for many different types of equestrian AND non-equestrian events.

• There are regional and national equestrian shows that come to this park because of the central location, arenas and the facility as a whole. There are many other events that would come if additional improvements were made.

• Economic Impact (Equestrian Park Task Force Evaluation of Programs, Functions and Services Report April 2010 – April 2011) The EQTF determined that there is a substantial economic impact to Salt Lake County due to the programming and usage of the Equestrian Park. The National Reining Horse Association held its regional show at the park in 2009 and the NRHA estimated that the economic impact of that show was $3,500,000. Another example is the Intermountain Kennel Association holds its regional show at the Park every year. They estimated the economic impact of the show to the community was $550,000. The EQTF determined that there were approximately 44,000 overnight, out of county visits, to the park in 2009. It estimated there would be an additional 15,000, overnight out of county visits, to the park with the addition of a covered arena and an additional 40,000, overnight out of county visits, with the addition of Event Center “B”.

People that come to the park, whether they come for 1 day, 3 days or a week; whether they drive 2 miles or 200 miles spend money and bring revenue to surrounding businesses including gas stations, convenience stores, fast food, restaurants, tire stores, grocery stores, Veterinarians and hotels. The Park is a one-of-a-kind centrally located equestrian venue used by horse-people from Salt Lake and surrounding counties. The 4 outdoor arenas are in use by riding clubs every week night from April through October and some contract for year round use. The indoor arena is booked nearly every weekend throughout the year and is in very high demand.

The Park provides us with year round boarding and arenas for boarder’s use. Equestrian clubs and horse owners from throughout the county use the facility to ride, both outdoors and indoors 365 days a year. The race track is used by the American Quarter Horse Racing Association, Utah Chariot Racing Association, and other racing organizations year round. The track is a vital year round training track for racers, many of them boarding horses at the park. There are no other parks like this in Salt Lake County or anywhere close.

The show barns, outdoor and indoor arenas are used by numerous organizations and clubs throughout the year, including:

·       Utah Barrel Racing Association www.utbra.com – has held a contract and used the outdoor north arena for over 25 years for barrel racing jackpots with 100+ entries weekly during the summer. Races are held in the indoor arena through the winter with 100+ entries 2 – 3 times per month. Members use the arenas nightly through the summer and weekly in the winter for riding and conditioning their horses.

·       Barrel Buddies www.utbarrelbuddies.com – has held a contract for over 20 years for use of the outdoor north arena for weekly riding and barrel racing jackpots with 70+ entries each month. Their club members use the arenas nightly through the summer and weekly indoors in the winter for riding and conditioning their horses.

·       Intermountain Kennel Assoc Regional Show -http://www.intermountainkennelclub.org/ Holds their regional show every year bringing in hundreds of people to the park.

·       Utah Mounted Thunder http://www.utahsmountedthunder.com/

·       Utah Paint Horse Association http://www.utahpainthorseclub.com/ has held a contract for 10+ years bringing their National Paint Horse show in for 7 days with over 400 entries

·       Wasatch Horse Show Association

·       Zane Danise Roping and Team Penning http://www.zdroping.com/ has held a contract for 15+ years holding practice nights weekly and roping events in the indoor arena with 500 + entries.

·       The Utah Cutting Horse Association

·       The Utah Reining Horse Association

·       Utah All Breed Horse Association http://www.uabha.com/

·       Utah Hunter Jumper Association http://www.uhja.org/

·       Utah Arabian Horse Club http://www.utaharabians.com/

·       Utah Dressage Society http://utahdressagesociety.com/

·       Andalusian Horse Association

·       Utah Polo Club

·       The Utah Horse Council https://www.utahhorsecouncil.com/ has held a contract for 15+ years holding the Utah Horse Expo - a week long equestrian event with 5000 average attendance and a barrel race with 300+ entries.

·       Utah 4H http://utah4h.org/ the greatest impact will most likely be to Utah’s 4H Association - one of the most important groups using this facility. Their focus is teaching youth leadership and responsibility skills which is far too lacking in many of our youth today. In additional to their equine program their curriculum includes citizenship and civic education, service learning, environmental stewardship and soil conservation. 4H uses the park weekly during the summer and holds their Utah State horse show there and are greatly involved with the Salt Lake County Fair. 4H and FFA still play a big part in The State of Utah and if the equestrian park goes away, they would literally have nowhere else to go.

Turning the park into a public park, closing down the equestrian facility or relocating to Salt Lake City would have a negative impact on thousands of riders from all over the State of Utah. This would impact clubs and organizations who’ve been riding together, some for over 50 years. We have a one-of-a-kind park. We urge Salt Lake County to invest into this existing park and follow through responsibly after the millions of dollars already spent on the amazing indoor and covered arenas and outdoor arenas. This facility has the potential to be a world class facility hosting regional and national horse events with improvements like additional stalls, RV parking and hook-ups, improved arena footing, long overdue equipment upgrades, additional restrooms and improvements to existing stall barns for boarders. These are reasonable requests for a park used every day of the year by equestrians and organizations that literally have only this one park to use. The current location has proved to be ideal.

The Equestrian Park Coalition (www.equestrianparkcoalition.com was formed for the following:

Mission:

To protect and enhance the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park and Events Center for all user groups, by educating, mobilizing, and developing the resources to creating lasting solutions.

Purpose:

The Equestrian Park Coalition strives to protect and enhance the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park to:

·       Protect, improve and revitalize the Equestrian Park in its current location.

·       Educate user groups, the public and elected officials about the usage, successes, issues, and solutions to enhance future growth.

·       Support & Strengthen local businesses and the growing equestrian industry.

 Goals:

·       Bring together all Venue users and positively impact The Salt Lake County Mayor and Council’s understanding of the facilities need to stay an equine and events center at its current location.

·       Obtain and invest additional County funding for improvements to make it a premier equestrian and events facility that the County and community citizens can be very proud of.

·       Gain long term support from Salt Lake County Mayor, Council and Parks & Recreation. 

·       Improve management to include people with an understanding and commitment to equestrian facility and event needs - citizens who are knowledgeable and passionate about wanting the facility to succeed.

·       Seek out and obtain large regional and national equestrian events to improve revenue

·       Seek long-term advocacy with Salt Lake County for future management and expansion

 Fundraising:

Funds will be raised by donation - www.gofundme.com/saveequestrianpark

Funds will be used for legal counsel, lobbyist expenses, public meeting venues and other effort supporting expenses as deemed necessary by the Equestrian Park Coalition Board.

Left over funds will be donated to non-profit organizations as deemed appropriate by the Equestrian Park Coalition Board.

Donations can be made by check to The Equestrian Park Coalition, through our Go Fund Me account, through our online petition site and our website www.EquestrianParkCoalition.com  Donations can be mailed to South Valley Large Animal Clinic, 1791 West 11400 South, South Jordan UT 84095.