The York Hills Story Continues . . .

It would be difficult to explain how the first season at York Hills has impacted Becky and me, but we can say with confidence that the new friends and acquaintances we have made rank at the top. Wow, our first season is over and we are looking forward to 2008.

Anyone who visited us this year knows how uncertain our future was. The passing of Dr. Fitzkee, the delayed start, the personal property auction and the real estate auction made everything seem blurry. Our constant message to all was to pray hard and don’t give up. We had many written and verbal messages of encouragement from all our riders and we hoped for a positive outcome not only for the trail park but for our friends involved in the estate settlement and the future property owner. That all came together on September 24 when the new property owner held off all bidders on 37 tracts that cover 635 acres and sealed the deal in the last 40 seconds of the auction. It was a tense time to say the least.

Our new property owner has been an acquaintance of mine for many years and I was very pleased to see him acquire the property. His name is Rocky Squier. He’s a businessman, timber man, horseman, a shaker and a mover, which is exactly what this property needs. He has the foresight and resources to care for it and has shown interest in allowing the York Hills Horse Park to continue.

2008 is going to be a year of transition and is going to require a lot of patience, support, and help to make our park successful. Already many changes have been taking place and I’ll try to give you a run down. The following areas have been cleared to allow for farming. The Golf Side, Flat 40, the Rail Side fields, the field behind the cabin, half the Pheasant Cove field, the field east of the cabin across the dirt road and parts of East Stonewall have all been cleared and are going to be hay fields. West Stonewall is untouched. This farming will not affect the trails because in these areas our trails were already on the perimeter. The scenery will change from brush and grasses to alfalfa hay. I also have added a trail that runs through the woods along the ridge at the back of the Golf Side field now called “The Meadow”. I also cut a trail through the woods over the hill behind the Flat 40. These two trails help minimize the need to ride along the edge of those fields. I also am working on a new trail called “Hidden Valley Loop” which is behind the Fitzkee woods and has some good hills like those in Timber Ridge. I am hoping to put an inner loop in Timber Ridge and Cherry Hill. I am going to build a trail at the north end of East Stonewall that will connect the Parker Trail and am also going to put a trail from the 290 road crossing up to the old home site on the Albion Road for a picnic area. I ordered all new trail signs, enclosed the gable ends of the pavilion, restored a real nice weather vane and am building a cupola. There are some other plans I have but am not at liberty to share them yet.

The following buildings have been burnt. The white barn, hog house and garage at “The Meadow”, the two houses next to the big horse barn, the white corn crib on East Stonewall and the black barn and crib in the woods. Also a lot of the old fence, all the junk and scrap are gone. It is a major clean-up. When you were riding you may have noticed trees with pink numbers on them. You won’t see them anymore because they have been cut, logged and hauled away. At last count there were 191 and some more that were missed were taken bringing the total to over 200. This was a mild logging of the woods and after the clean up; I don’t think you will miss them. There are many tree tops in the trails and we are getting started on moving them. Please be patient at the beginning of 2008 season until all the transitional changes are complete. I think after the adjustments, our park will be better.

I’d like to talk about the operation of York Hills. We set York Hills up under a business format for liability reasons but our real reason for starting York Hills was for the purpose of providing a place for trail riders like ourselves to come and enjoy. The investment we made we hoped would return to us over a five year period and set out only to break even. Please understand that we are only hoping to recover. Becky and my time have all been voluntary. We are both workers and enjoy this venture and it truly is a labor of love for the property, others and horses. I work at my business many hours each week and could use some help. If you are willing, call me and I’ll talk to you about some jobs to be done. This year we had good attendance and some nice special events and after paying our lease payment, we made just enough to pay our insurance premium for 2008. All the maintenance expense, like tractors, mowers, bug fogger, port a pot, all equipment, fuel, cabin, pavilion, etc. fall back on us. We are hoping for some growth this year. Please try to understand that any fees you pay are a donation to keep this thing going. We are also open to ideas on ways to raise some money if someone believes in the park the way we do.

After going sleigh riding two nights ago, it’s kind of hard to think about warm weather and trail riding at this time, but it will be here before you know it. Thank you so much for coming out in 2007 and we are looking forward to seeing you and your friends this 2008 season. Check out Becky’s pictures of transitional activities.

Becky and Dale

The Story Continues 2008