Brookfield Riding and Driving Association news
By Karen Nowak
(Brookfield, NY – Jan. 2012) The Brookfield Riding and Driving Association, a non-profit organization, was created in September 2010 to promote the equine businesses in our area, the horse show grounds at the Madison County Fairgrounds and the beautiful Brookfield Trail System.
The Equine Industry brings in considerable money to the economy of New York state – directly through sales of horses, breeding, boarding, training and lessons; and indirectly through the many businesses it helps support such as hay (local farms), feed stores, tack stores, farriers, veterinary services, fencing, farm equipment and repairs; car, truck and trailer dealers and building supplies.
In addition, horse shows and events bring people and revenue into local stores and gas stations, restaurants and motels, bed-and-breakfasts and campgrounds. All of this translates into jobs (directly and indirectly) as well as tax revenue for our town and county.
Last, the equine industry helps ensure open spaces both for recreational use and in the purchase of farms.
The two largest segments of the equine industry are the recreational and show segments. We identified several critical needs for our area:
* The fairgrounds are greatly underutilized for equine shows and events. Bringing more shows and events to the fairgrounds will help keep the facility maintained and economically viable, as well as bring more people and business into the town of Brookfield.
* Schooling shows for ridden dressage. While there are several large United States Dressage Federation-rated shows in the central and eastern New York region, there are only two schooling shows offered in Madison County, and neither one is prior to Dressage at Saratoga or Dressage at Stockade, the main shows in which dressage riders from our area compete.
* Schooling shows for carriage pleasure driving. The exact same situation exists for carriage driving as it does for ridden dressage. There are several large American Driving Society-approved shows in the Central New York region, but not a single schooling show.
People in our area who enjoy driving their horses are reluctant to show, due to the lack of schooling shows to prepare.
* This lack of schooling shows for dressage and carriage driving is not limited to our area. Eastern and southern New York suffers a serious lack, as well, and these individuals are more than willing to travel to our area for schooling shows.
* While there are several organizations and clubs that utilize the Brookfield Trail System, it is greatly underutilized due to lack of publicity. In addition, these groups are largely unaware of the local services, hay, tack shop and local foods and produce available. Last, these groups did not have a local contact person or group to direct them to local services.
* If we are to encourage those in the equine industry to come to Brookfield, we have to have the facilities to attract them. Our extensive trail system is one draw, but without shows in a reasonable distance, we will not attract equine professionals such as breeders, trainers and competitors.
These people specifically look for areas with local shows as a place to start out their up-and-coming horses. As we lose more farms to the serious downturn in dairy farming, marketing them to equine professionals is logical action to maintain our open spaces and rural lifestyle.
We took the following actions to achieve these goals and bring more people into the town of Brookfield:
1. We joined the American Driving Society as an affiliated club to promote the equine events and businesses in our area, particularly the many carriage paths in the Brookfield Trail System.
The Brookfield Trail System has been listed in their official Recreational Driving Trail Guide, which is published nationally as well as being available via the internet.
2. We started an outreach program to those organizations and groups which utilize the Brookfield Trail System.
3. We hosted a spring fundraiser recreational trail ride from Taylor’s Tack and Field to the Moscow Road section of the Brookfield Trail System. Taylor’s Tack and Field was chosen as the starting and ending point in keeping with our mission to promote local businesses.
4. We participated in the Brookfield town-wide garage sale in June, selling baked goods made by members and other items donated by members. The proceeds were used to purchase paint and other items to renovate the interior of Horse Barn 1 at the Madison County Fairgrounds.
5. Our first major project was to completely renovate the footing of the horse show arena at the Madison County Fairgrounds. The footing had not been replaced in 20 years and had deteriorated badly over the past decade, rendering the arena unusable for the majority of equine events.
We obtained a number of estimates for renovation from professionals, which averaged between $40,000 and $50,000. Those figures were out of the question and, thanks to an allocation of $10,000 from the Madison County Board of Supervisors in June 2011, we renovated the arena ourselves, using heavy equipment from one of our members with assistance from our association members, citizens of the town, our town supervisor, two of our town councilmen and our highway superintendent, who all graciously donated many hours of their time.
The renovations were completed in time for the Madison County Fair, and we came in under budget. This project proved what can be accomplished when members of a community work together!
We heavily promoted the horse show arena renovations, and the result was the largest attendance at the Madison County Fair Horse Show in almost two decades. One of our members generously donated a number of high-quality jumps to add to the more professional appearance of the fair horse show.
6. We hosted our first American Competitive Trail Horse Association Competitive Trail Challenge using the Fairground section of the Brookfield Trail System in September to great reviews. Eight of our members completed the required training and became obstacle judges for ACTHA rides, enabling us to not only host these events ourselves, but to lend a hand to ACTHA rides in other areas.
The luncheon was catered by The Beaver Den, again in keeping with our mission to promote local businesses. Starting in 2012, this will become a semi-annual event utilizing the Fairgrounds as a starting and ending point for stabling of horses and camping for competitors.
7. We hosted a seminar in December titled “Horse Emergencies: What to Do Until the Vet Arrives” with veterinarian Rachel Fraser of Leatherstocking Equine as our speaker. The seminar was well-attended by horse owners from Madison, Chenango and Otsego counties.
8. We have begun work on a brochure for users of the Brookfield Trail System outlining the services and products that are available in this area. These brochures will be available online and at all the camping areas in the Brookfield Trail System.
9. We applied for and were accepted into the Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Incentive Program. The Jockey Club will sponsor and award cash prizes for Thoroughbred horses at the 2012 Madison County Fair Horse Show. This will increase the “draw” of the Fair horse show and bring in competitors from a wide area of New York state.
10. We have 10 shows or events scheduled for 2012 at the Fairgrounds: two ACTHA CTC rides, three English/Western Open Horse Shows (including the Madison County Fair), one Youth English/Western Show, two Ridden Dressage schooling shows, a three-day Driven Dressage Festival and the Jeff Dye Memorial Trail Ride & Poker Run Leukemia Fundraiser.
11. We are regular contributors to Horse Bits magazine and the Madison County Courier and, starting in 2012, will be regular contributors to the Mane Stream magazine. Our events are publicized in Horse Bits, Horseman’s Yankee Pedlar, The Northeast Equine Journal, Steed Read and the Mane Stream horse magazines. This increases our coverage and advertising to all of New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Karen Nowak is president, Brookfield Riding and Driving Association. She began showing hunters in her teens and later in life expanded her horizons to ridden dressage and driving. For the past 20 years she has owned, bred and shown Hackney Horses, which are a critically endangered breed.
