An agreement involving a California regional nonprofit protecting water quality and the Ridland Group show organization has paved the way for competitions to resume at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park, after activities involving more than 25 horses were barred last month.
Subsequent negotiations were held between the two entities and the city of San Juan Capistrano, which owns the park that is leased by the Ridland Group, the operator of Blenheim Equisports. The property on San Juan Creek hosts a group of shows in the spring and summer. The next Blenheim show was slated to be held there June 7-9.
On Monday, Sarah Spinuzzi, legal director of Orange County Coastkeeper, explained the circumstances that will enable horse shows to be offered again at the park, which also is used for community events such as dog shows and concerts.
“The facility is going to be re-graded such that storm water from the equestrian stabling areas (known legally as the CAFO Production Area) will be retained on-site by June 3,” she stated. (CAFO stands for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation).
“This grading will prevent discharges of stormwater and wash-rack water to the creek. The facility will use the large grass field to pond retained stormwater. Over the rest of this year, the facility will work to improve infiltration infrastructure to be more professionally engineered so that rain events will not cause flooding and will be functional for the facility’s intended use. Future plans also require groundwater monitoring wells to ensure the protection of water quality.”
Violations of the Clean Water Act at the site have been an issue since 2017, according to Orange County Coastkeeper, which sued the city and the Ridland Group that year. An agreement for a “collaborative effort” to protect water quality in San Juan Creek while continuing equestrian activities was reached the next year. There was a five-year timeline for the remediation, plus two extensions, but Coastkeeper maintained this year’s April 15 deadline had not been met and announced the restrictions.
Two Blenheim shows were moved north to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center this month. The U.S. Equestrian Federation permitted relocation of the May competitions “because of the short notice of the closure and desire to not disrupt competitors’ plans to show,” said USEF CEO Bill Moroney.
When it was announced at the end of April that the two shows would be moved, the Ridland Group issued a statement saying it “acknowledges and respects the issues raised by Orange County Coastkeeper regarding the compliance of the Clean Water Act and would like to affirm a wider ongoing commitment to uphold the highest standards of environmental conservation throughout the operations at the Riding Park.”
Meanwhile, the dates that had been reserved for the other Blenheim shows slated for the Riding Park through Sept. 22 became available for applications to USEF from Southern California organizers who have “proof of venue” where the competitions could be held. The Ridland Group was among those that applied.
USEF also had requested that organizers interested in hosting the Junior Hunter Finals West or the Show Jumping Talent Search Finals West, both of which were slated for the Riding Park, make contact by May 20.
“All organizers meeting USEF standards and the license criteria were welcome to apply for events through the duration of the application period, which closed last evening on May 20,” according to a Tuesday comment from USEF.
“The applications submitted through this process are being reviewed thoroughly.”
The federation added it “is working diligently to ensure that competition participants and their horses have access to reliable, safe, and quality competitions in California for the remainder of the competition year. We recognize time is of the essence and are working to resolve the calendar issues as expeditiously as possible.”