The Friends of Lord Stirling Stable is running its final hunter pace Nov. 8. After more than 40 years of involvement with the Somerset County Park Commission’s stable in Basking Ridge, N.J., the organization that did so much for the facility is disbanding.
The Friends was started in the 1980s by women who rode together on Thursday mornings. They wanted to run some special events at the stable and met with the Somerset County freeholders (now called commissioners), who suggested they organize Family Fun Day and two other events.
Always going above and beyond, they wound up organizing five events. That was just the beginning. The group that started as an informal entity became a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in 1984.
It not only has run activities such as the hunter paces and 5K runs, but the dedicated members funded many projects at the stable, including a “pony pavilion” where pony rides are held; a sprinkler system to keep dust down in the indoor arena; purchasing stall mats to reduce the cost of bedding and providing jumps, as well as new footing for the indoor arena.
The Friends of Lord Stirling Stable organization was involved in many projects. (Photo courtesy of FLSS)
Friends’ President Barbara Huber became involved with the group in 2019, shortly before the stable shut down for Covid and dispersed its horses. The Friends offered dog walks during that time, but when the stable reopened, the Park Commission didn’t want the group to keep its dog walk supplies in the indoor arena annex any longer. Huber said the Friends were told they were an outside organization, and if they could keep their supplies there, that set a precedent.
After that, “Every step of the way, it got more difficult,” said Huber.
She recounted that Carrie Springer, the commission’s administrator of leisure and community services, told the Friends’ president, “It’s a different age now in terms of the county parks. They want to know that each park is bringing in revenue.”
Huber said, “that means the park wants the FLSS (Friends) to pay ‘user’s fees’ for any activity we put on, and get permits requiring that we provide proof of insurance, get ADA compliant porta johns, and other add-ons. We used to be able to ‘piggy back’ using county-contracted porta johns. Now, a porta john rental cost is between $300-$500.
“So instead of being able to put on events for the benefit of the stable, we need whatever money we bring in to pay the bills (that) we require to operate. We were just kind of stymied.”
The disbanding of FLSS “is one of my great sadnesses. We worked so hard to find common ground with the Park Commission,” said Huber.
After years of meeting with commission personnel, “the suggestion was made that we should disband to eliminate our overhead costs and just volunteer to run stable-organized activities. The county has a great need for volunteers to run their activities and raise funds.”
Springer told her, “You can just fold and just volunteer and pass along the money.”
A 501(c)(3) can’t do that,” Huber responded.
“It was a skeleton group of us trying to run things, and we’re tired,” she said, estimating there are more than 40 members.
“We’ve done our bit; we tried very hard.”
The final pace for the Friends, which was scheduled for Sept. 27, was postponed to Nov. 8 because of the storm threat on the last weekend in September.
Dan Hayes, the park commission director, said he hopes those who belonged to the Friends “continue to volunteer for different events. The hunter pace is a program that is very much going to be taken over by the Park Commission.
Hunter paces have been a mainstay of the Friends of Lord Stirling Stable. (Photo courtesy of FLSS)
“Some of the other events they have done in the past, we can continue to offer them as programs and hope all the people who are interested in supporting and being volunteers, (will) volunteer. We have a way of registering volunteers so they can be covered by insurance. We hope we can continue to have a vibrant relationship with anyone who wants to volunteer. We’ll tap the people who care about the program to help us.”
Hayes added, “Somerset County is committed to our equestrian program. Since post-Covid, we have invested; we put a new barn up, we are rebuilding our herd, we are rebuilding our lesson programs. We have the trails. We’ll take advice and assistance from wherever it makes sense.”
The director added, “Members of the Friends I’ve met have done a great job and care about the stables and our programs, and that’s very much appreciated. I value the contributions they have made. Perhaps the organization will surface again as a solid source of fundraisers and advice for the stables.”
