Tenants cite problems at horse center

The manager of the Orange County Fairgrounds Equestrian Center, Rick

Hanson, has been accused of failing to keep riding facilities clean

and safe, raising tenants’ rents without notice and making remarks

characterized as intimidating and offensive.

When some equestrian center riders and tenants leveled those

charges at a fair board meeting Thursday, Hanson and some of his

employees and customers denied the problems were as severe as

presented.

The fair board hires the manager of the equestrian center and can

enforce contract terms such as those involving the condition of the

facility. But the board has no authority over how much the manager

charges tenants who keep horses or do business there.

Although fair board members said they want to ensure that the

equestrian center is safe and clean, they added that some of the

complaints were out of their jurisdiction.

“Obviously the Hansons have a PR issue,” board member Dale Dykema

said.

The problems started in April when stall cleaning and other

services were cut back, said Mailei Bennett, who owns the Riding

Academy of Orange County, which operates at the center.

Others described dirty food and water troughs and uneven riding

surfaces.

They said when they mentioned these to the equestrian center’s

management, they were ignored.

To illustrate her complaints, trainer Kathy Hobstetter set out

containers of murky brown water that she said came from horses’

drinking troughs. She told board members two riders have been injured

because of uneven footing in an arena, and that equestrian center

employees have made inappropriate remarks to her.

“I have been repeatedly told that I am too old, ... that I am not

built well enough to get the extra perks,” she said. “I’ve been told

that I need to go away so they can have my clients.”

But several equestrian center tenants and trainers said the

management has been helpful and courteous to them, and employees said

they haven’t seen the problems described.

Wendy Machovsky, office manager for Hanson’s company, Equestrian

Services II, said after the meeting that some of the accusations were

a surprise.

“This is the first time we’ve heard most of this stuff,” Machovsky

said.

Hanson said he has never heard about riders being injured in his

facility, and at the meeting he seemed taken aback by the complaints.

“The sexual harassment things, I don’t have a clue what they’re

talking about,” Hanson told board members.

“The stalls may not be perfect all the time, but when something is

brought to our attention, we deal with it immediately.”

Fair board members agreed to have the buildings and grounds

subcommittee look more closely at the condition of the facilities,

although fair chief executive Becky Bailey-Findley said she hasn’t

seen problems at the center.

“I think that we do have a duty, really, to make sure that it is a

safe, clean environment over there,” fair board vice president Debbie

Carona said.

After the meeting, Hobstetter said she’d like some sort of

mediation with the equestrian center management to work out the

issues.

“If they had maintained the quality of care and then raised the

board [fees], and if they had listened with a business ear when we

came in with these issues, then we wouldn’t be here today,” she said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

[email protected].