Fellow riders help Atreyu Jacobs, 7, clip on his helmet and prepare for his event in the competition.
The Virginia Horse Center’s charity trail ride hosted 30 people and raised about $600 for breast cancer research in 2022. Last Sunday, only six riders showed up for the 10-mile event. A Saturday therapeutic riding event was canceled due to a lack of interest.
“It kind of broke my heart,” said Lynda McGarry, event manager of the Therapeutic Riding Association of Virginia. “It had been running for at least 30 years.”
The low turnout for some horse shows has forced the new management of the center to diversify its events to bring in more visitors and raise more revenue. The venue now hosts softball tournaments, Christmas basket-making and BMX bike racing. Musical groups want to book shows inside the center’s Anderson Coliseum.
“For tourism, our goal is to fill up the horse center with either very large events or multiple smaller events to make it run at capacity,” said Stephen Shank, who took over as chief executive officer in March. “For 2024 we had 165 days of events. We’re building that to 185 days for 2025.”
More events bring in more money for the center, which must repay two loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Cornerstone Bank. The state of Virginia was originally a partner in the horse center, but “didn’t want to be in the business of having a horse center,” said Sandra Thomas, chief financial officer at VHC. “They were in the business of setting one up to help the equine industry in the state, but they weren’t interested in being part of this ongoing operation.”
In 2007, VHC took out an $11.5 million USDA loan to restructure its debts and previous loans it had taken out.
The horse center struggled to meet the loan payments, prompting action at both the state and local levels. To ease the burden, the center receives 3% from the Lexington City and Rockbridge County lodging taxes. The revenue from the taxes ranges from $700,000 to over $1 million per year.
City and county officials justified sharing the tax revenue because the center attracts tourists to the area, which helps local hotels and restaurants.
Debbie Moore, Manager of the Sleep Inn & Suites hotel, says, “Most of our bookings and revenue, about 75%, comes from the horse center.”
According to an economic impact study, center events attracted 81,000 tourists in 2020.
“When the BMX racers are here in the wintertime, there’s not a hotel room to be found from Roanoke to Staunton,” said Thomas.
Shank says the center’s financial stability has allowed them to turn their focus to attracting new events and working to expand annual ones.
“There are three new quarter horse shows, and we’ve attracted a couple of youth shows and a couple of barrel racing events to help fill up the days,” Shank said.
Last weekend, the center hosted the Southwest Virginia Hunter/Jumper Association’s annual horse show and the Goose Creek horse show.
Even the therapeutic riding group hopes to return. “Spread the word,” McGarry said, “we are still alive and well.”