- The Wasatch Pony Club faces uncertainty after their track was bulldozed without warning.
- Weber County official Marty Smith said he had tried to get a meeting with club leaders to inform them of the change.
- Discussions are underway for shared use or relocation, but costs could be high.
OGDEN — For many parents, kids and leaders involved in the Wasatch Pony Club, horses are everything. District Commissioner Morgan Heiner said she realized that at a very young age.
"Horses are like everything to me. All of us can say we like, live and breathe horses," Heiner said. "There's no way to casually do horses. Either you got the horse bug or you don't."
Heiner said the club exists for the kids who compete and dedicate their free time to events like dressage, show jumping and cross-country. On Thursday, however, she said many parents and families were blindsided to learn most of their cross-country track was gone.
"The county just bulldozed it without letting us know," Heiner said. "There's a lot of land here that is completely unusable to us now."
Heiner said she had learned that county leaders might instead install an off-highway vehicle course, but she was not told that it was certain or when it might happen. The change is especially tough for teens who compete in the club, like Caroline Mayer. She saw the bulldozed course for the first time Wednesday while bringing her horse, Cheese, out to practice.
"Seeing this get torn out, it's just kind of hard," Mayer said, trying to hold back tears. "I want to compete at the bigger levels, and I finally have a horse that could probably take me there, and then it gets torn out."
Marty Smith, Weber County director of culture, parks and recreation, said he had tried to get a meeting with club leaders to inform them of the change and that some of them were informed. In a statement to KSL-TV, he said the county needs to maximize revenue per square acre in order to maintain the fairgrounds' viability.
"This decision reflects the declining participation and revenue from jumping events compared to the growing popularity and financial success of other equine events and other activities, such as motor sports," the statement read.
Smith also told KSL-TV that any equipment belonging to the pony club that was damaged or destroyed will be restored or replaced.
Heiner admitted the popularity of equestrian events their club is involved in are declining, and that venues around the country are making similar moves.
"The only, like, equestrian events that are, like, kind of making money are bail racing and team roping," Heiner said. "But basically with all these equestrian facilities being knocked out, we didn't expect us to be next, especially overnight."
Heiner is hopeful, however. She will be meeting with the owners of the motor sports track to discuss possible shared use, and there is the possibility of moving the cross-country track to another corner of the fairgrounds just to the east, though she said the land there is more marshy. Either option could cost tens of thousands of dollars.
"I hope we can all figure out something that works best for us," Heiner said. "I've already reached out to other facilities, and it's just so hard to build something like this. It's so expensive."
