Dolly and Dooley, two gentle appaloosas, are enjoying the peace and quiet of an early midweek afternoon in the red-and-white painted stalls of the Palatine Park District Stables.
So, too, are their stablemates, a pony named Linus and several dozen other horses with monikers ranging from the whimsical Felix and Shortcake to a snowy character named Arch Rival.
It`s best these beauties enjoy the respite.
In a few hours, most will find themselves busy helping youngsters and adults learn the joys of riding horseback. And come Saturday, the 25 park district-owned horses will be taking part in the training of riders in everything from the basics of placing a bit in a horse`s mouth to the finer points of jumping.
Just over three years ago, the Palatine Park District completed acquisition of an 8.2-acre parcel of land in the northwestern part of the district and went into the business of running a riding stable.
Today, that business is thriving.
Nearly 200 people learn to horseback ride at the sprawling, tree-edged facility near the intersection of Northwest Highway and Dundee Road. It is here, in the arenas, fields and stalls of the complex that the district offers private sessions as well as 32 group lessons, scheduled each week at levels from beginning to advanced.
In addition, the park district`s two wooden barns-a 62-stall barn and arena and a 13-stall barn and arena-are home to 45 boarders (privately owned horses).
”We are pretty unique for a park district program,” said Lili McGovern, stable manager. ”I know of two others, Rockford and Decatur, which own riding stables, but we are one of the few publicly owned stables, at least in Illinois.”
And a busy one at that. Students` brass-trimmed black trunks and wood chests, stuffed with the brushes and linaments needed for grooming the horses, line the main entrance of the large barn. In one small room, more trunks line the walls, along with dozens of saddles stored four high on special racks. In the tack shop are boxes and shelves and racks filled with black velvet equestrian helmets and leather boots, bits, bright-checked blankets, rich brown leather saddles, hoof picks and bottle after bottle of liquids and linaments, from Mane `n Tail conditioner to aloe vera hoof moisturizer.
In Du Page County, the Du Page County Forest Preserve District owns a riding facility that was purchased along with Danada Forest Preserve in 1980. That facility, according to Sandy Rodman, a forest preserve spokeswoman, operates only from April to October with riding lessons on donated horses. The facility has no boarders.
At Palatine Stable, though, activities are continuous and year-round. On any given evening or weekend, the stable`s main 310- by 60-foot arena is busy with children and adults taking lessons and boarders exercising their horses. The stable specializes in English-style hunt-seat lessons for its general program.
Students learn to ride by progressing through the district`s 25 school horses, some of which are easier and some of which are more difficult to ride, McGovern explained.
On this afternoon, instructor Sue Jagels of Woodstock has just finished a novice jumping class with 13-year-old Sarah Hutcheon on Felix and 14-year-old Jenny Comeaux on Arch Rival.
”I love the instructors,” says Hutcheon, leading her horse to his stall. ”In 1 1/2 years, I`ve never fallen. But I still get nervous when (the horses) spook out.”
The majority of the stable`s students are children, with the average age 9 to 10 years old, McGovern said, though there are also lessons offered for adults during the week. Youngsters in private lessons can begin as young as 5, though for group lessons children must be at least 7 years old.
”We feel that as a public facility, we need to provide service to the broadest base,” said McGovern, ”which is the beginning rider.”
Such a park district facility is also making the dream of horseback riding accessible, and affordable, to far more people in a region with a long equestrian tradition. The $160 resident fee for group lessons includes 11 one- hour sessions.
McGovern, 36, of Forest Park, heads up a staff of about 25, with 10 instructors, four barn hands plus grooms. A graduate of the University of Iowa with a degree in recreation, McGovern began horseback riding six years ago. She arrived at the Palatine Park District Stable in June 1989 from her previous position at the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce.
The stable also has an advisory committee made up of representatives of the stable`s main customers: boarders, parents and adult students. The representatives meet monthly with McGovern and a park district official to discuss the operations.
Debbie Kleeman of Wheeling, the parent representative on the committee, explained that she and her daughter, Beth, now 14, began coming to the stable two years ago, paying out-of-district lesson fees, and have found themselves becoming part of the stable`s everyday life.
”I thought this riding stuff would go away after a couple of months,”
Kleeman admitted, ”But it`s getting worse. My daughter takes two lessons a week, and we`re half-leasing a horse from the park district now, so we`re there at least three more times.”
Kleeman said she is pleased with her daughter`s increasing skill and with other benefits: ”It`s great exercise and you have to have a lot of self-discipline to control an animal that large. I see it carry over into her schoolwork.”
Shirley Seifert of Rolling Meadows would agree. Her 5-year-old daughter, Stephanie, and 9-year-old daughter, Christina, took lessons last year. Christina is continuing lessons this year because, Seifert said, ”she loves horses.
”Other people had recommended the stables, and the reputation was so good,” said Seifert, ”and every year they get better. It`s a community place where children can go in a nice atmosphere.”
And, as her daughter Christina pointed out: ”You get to ride the horses. And the teacher (Jennifer) doesn`t get mad at us. She`s really nice and patient. And she loves horses.”
Added Mom: ”One point all of us parents notice is the self-confidence the children get. And that carries into their school work and life.”
The Palatine Stable fronts on Northwest Highway where it intersects Dundee Road. It had been a privately owned facility for many years and went up for sale in 1988 when the owner, Dan Plaza, decided to retire.
Park District President Robert Schultz said the district had been looking for land in that area when the stable went up for sale. He said, ”If there had been a hot dog stand there, we would have bought it and gone into the hot dog business.”
The park district issued $1.3 million in bonds to finance the project and provided $300,000 from the bond issue for immediate improvements to the facility. The district took possession of the land on Valentine`s Day 1989, McGovern said, and in November 1991 turned a small profit.
Schultz said the stable operations ”have exceeded my expectations. We started turning a profit much sooner than I thought we would. That`s good news because it`s not a drain on the taxpayers.”
Renovations continue at the property: Additional windows have been added on to the arena area, now allowing people to watch classes in session. Stalls are being updated. Electrical facilities have been brought up to code. According to McGovern, $250,000 has been spent on renovations so far, with the $350,000 needed to run the stables each year generated solely from stable operations.
McGovern said she and the park district have learned by trial and some error how to run the stable successfully. Originally, all levels of lessons were advertised in the park district brochure, just as they would be for any other park district program. Today, McGovern said, residents will find only beginning lessons listed, along with an advisory that anyone who wants to be in a more advanced lesson must be evaluated by the staff.
”I`ve had people sign up for novice jumping lessons who have never ridden before,” she said.
As a publicly owned facility, the park district is providing services that are equivalent to those offered by a number of privately owned stables in northwest Cook County and in the more rural areas of southern Lake County and northern Du Page County. The issue of competition, however, has not arisen. McGovern said, ”I don`t really feel we are in that much competition (with other stables). We are a larger operation than most of them, and we`ve carved out a pretty nice niche for ourselves.”
Her opinion is seconded by several private stable operators. James Fraser, manager of Lakeview Stable, which is located in Palatine just west on Dundee Road from the park district stable, said, ”I think it`s been helpful to me to have them there.” Fraser explained that Lakeview caters to horse owners who want to compete on horse show circuits with hunter-style horses or with American saddlebreds. These more advanced owners have different interests than those who may be beginning at Palatine. ”We`ve gotten quite a few customers from there because they outgrow it. We cater to the competitive side of it.”
Kris Yankula, trainer and owner of Market Hill Farm in Streamwood, said she believes the park district program is helpful to all private stables because it helps to broaden the market. Yankula said she operates an active riding school that draws beginners from some local park districts, as well as catering to those who want to show their horses on the competitive circuits.
”I don`t see how the park district stable can hurt any of us. The more people who get interested in riding the better off we all are,” Yankula said. ”Everybody has different expectations and goals. Some people just want to learn to ride so they can go on trail rides. There are some people who want horses as pets and then there are people who are very serious about showing.” McGovern said she has noticed that individuals beginning with horseback riding often follow a predictable cycle. They take lessons, move up in ability and then, after about three years, either move on to other sports or get hooked and consider buying a horse. A number of Palatine students have purchased some of the park district`s school horses, she said, and remain as boarders.
Being sold to owners is not the only way school horses can retire from their work, McGovern said. The stable`s students and boarders also recycle alumninum cans to raise money to retire aged horses. ”We had a beloved old pony in her 30s who really needed to retire named Katy,” McGovern said. ”We were able to find her a home (with one of the instructors) and collected enough cans to buy her from the park district and even send her with enough food for several months.
”School horses that are sold or retire are replaced by purchases from a reputable local horse dealer,” McGovern said. In the future, she added, she will probably be doing more buying and selling of horses in order to add to the stable`s appeal. McGovern said she pays roughly $1,000 per horse.
McGovern said she is hoping to improve the district`s lesson program with a formal curriculum, including a form of testing or checks before a student is allowed to advance to another level and with increased involvement for parents with children who are taking lessons. ”As our students become more serious, the parents want more involvement. I am trying to give the parents more understanding about how the kids are progressing.”
Another recent addition to the park district`s program are dressage lessons. Dressage is an advanced form of riding, emphasizing subtle communication between horse and rider. The lessons are offered by a dressage trainer and his assistants who are leasing a smaller indoor riding areana and some stalls from the park district. ”That is a little unique for a park district facility,” McGovern said. ”but it gives us the chance to offer something we couldn`t do otherwise.”
Palatine stable operates programs not only for park district residents but also for a number of other park districts that offer five- and six-week beginning sessions for their residents. Rolling Meadows, Hoffman Estates, Buffalo Grove, Salt Creek and Wheeling park districts regularly use the Palatine program. In addition, the stable offers classes for handicapped students through the Northwest Suburban Special Recreation Association.
McGovern said she hopes that other park districts will become involved both in using the Palatine stable and in buying and operating stables within their own boundaries. Looking around the property she manages, McGovern said that with the improvements the facility needed, ”no individual could have come in and run this place without a lot of funding behind them.”
She looks at that reality and fears that without public participation, suburban stables could become and endangered species. ”I really think the future (of riding stables) is in public hands,” she said. ”If the park districts don`t step in, it`s possible there will be no riding for our grandchildren.”
