July 2019 Issue

OUR TH YEAR 3 - PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT 280 LANC., PA 17604 Vol. 26 No. 7 (Continued on page 18) July 2019 Inside... By Suzanne Bush “They strung us along. I don’t think they ever had any in- tention of selling it to us.” Alisa Pitt, part of the group that had planned to reinvigorate the ailing and failing Quentin Riding Club, is discouraged and frustrated. She feels defeated after months of wild swings between optimism that the iconic eques- trian venue would rise from the throes of bankruptcy and tax liens, and despair as new massive debts were revealed and the people managing the property’s unwinding stopped communicat- ing with her and her partners. “When they stopped taking our phone calls, that pretty much tells you everything you need to know,” she said. Except, it doesn’t. An Iconic Venue on the Brink Generations of equestrians in southeastern Pennsylvania view the Quentin Riding Club as an icon. It’s where they rode their first ponies into the show ring, where they sampled their first taste of a rated show. It occupies a spot in their imaginations and their hearts that will be hard to erase. But for several years there have been omens that Quentin—if it survived as an equestrian venue—would be vastly diminished in stature. In 2015 then President of Quen- tin’s Board of Directors Larry Minnich announced that the Fall Show, a fixture at Quentin for 80 years, was moving to Swan Lake Stables in Littlestown, PA. At the time he said that entries in the Fall Show had declined and he implied that the show was no longer making any money. “We’d like to have a horse show Fate of Quentin Riding Club is Again in Doubt every day,” he said at the time, “but if it doesn’t make any mon- ey and doesn’t make any sense then there’s no reason to do it. And that was the case the last five years or so.” He went on to explain that the footing in the outdoor rings had been washed away by heavy rainstorms. They didn’t plan to replace the footing until the highway department completed a water remediation project, but that project was delayed. In 2018 the equestrian community learned just how se- rious Quentin’s problems were; they were far deeper than the issue of footing in the outdoor rings. There was a lien on the property for nearly $100,000 in back taxes, and it was sched- uled to be auctioned off by the tax bureau. In addition, one of the officers of the club start- ed a GoFundMe page seeking contributions to help keep the facility afloat. Finally, the Board and membership of Quentin agreed to sell the facility to Pitt and the partnership she represented. The vote was a resounding 38-6, and Pitt was enthusiastic about sharing some of the plans she and her group had for Quentin. “Our ultimate goal is to pre- serve Quentin and its legacy,” she said. “The biggest plan is a boarding facility. We do have a The Quentin Riding Club has been an equestrian facility since the mid-1800’s and a private club and showgrounds since 1934. A group’s plans to purchase and renovate the facility for equestrian use has been stymied as the club’s entire debt remains unknown, a clear title was unavailable due to non-payment of taxes, and QRC officials stopped returning their calls. New law requires NJ auctions to post horses’ ID in advance. Will it work? … page 4 Eighteen year old launches his professional hunter rider career at Devon … page 6 Have you seen Joey? Therapy horse mistakenly sent through NH auction … page 17 …and much more! Our annual Trailer & Transport feature! pages 12-16