Over 100 horses at Southern California facility at risk of being displaced

More than 100 horses are in danger of being displaced, including some that are too old to be moved and would need to be euthanized, after the city of Lakewood announced it could no longer afford to run the beloved equestrian center.

The Lakewood Equestrian Center also houses miniature horses and some mules. Some of the horses are old and have been retired, while others are used for training and riding.

Taylor Cohen, who works as a first responder and boards her horse at the center, explained that horses provide people with the opportunity to relax and just love their animals.

Hearing news that the city plans to shutter the equestrian center, she said, was devastating.

“Having been a first responder [for] the last 18 years of my life, finding ways to manage the stress that you come into is huge,” Cohen explained. “There has to be other ways [to do that] besides going and seeing a therapist.”

Part of the land the equestrian center sits on is owned by the county. Another portion is owned by Southern California Edison.

The city has announced plans to wipe the equestrian center out and build a park with pickleball courts, though, according to Cohen and others, this comes with a huge problem.

“There’s nowhere for these horses to go,” she said. “Some of them won’t be able to be moved because of age or health issues. There’s actually no place around that will be able to board all these horses.”

Lakewood City Council halted their vote on the issue to give people more time to come up with a proposal for taking it over, but the facility needs at least $6 million in repairs and Edison is owed more than $40,000 on the lease, leaving some people who use the center at a loss.

“We have nowhere else to go,” Noah Grove, who boards his animals at the facility, told KTLA’s Jennifer McGraw. “Huntington Beach Equestrian Center, their full and have a 35-horse waitlist. I’m actually from Huntington Beach. I drive 18 to 30 minutes to get here, depending on traffic, and I’m up here sometimes twice a day.”

Riders like Makella Mahan are hoping someone can grab the reins of the facility and save this haven for her and the horses.

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“Honestly, all these beautiful horses would be out of a home, and I think that would be very sad,” she said.

For its part, city officials have said they don’t necessarily want to close the facility and are hoping to come up with a plan, along with the equestrian community, for making the center profitable or even getting it to break even.

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