On behalf of the Bowen Island Horse Owners and Riders Association (BIHORA), we are thrilled to share the news that we are finally starting the work on updating our riding ring in Crippen Regional Park!
Over the past two years we have managed to raise $30,000 for the project, with a great deal of help from the Bowen Island Community Foundation Community Impact Grant for $15,000 facilitated by the Metro Vancouver Regional Parks Foundation, and Horse Council BC Core Grant for $5,000.
For the rest of the funds, we owe a huge thanks to the greater Bowen Island community who purchased manure for their gardens, Purdy’s Chocolates, and returned your cans and bottles to the Bowen Island Recycling Depot! We are also grateful to Metro Vancouver Regional Parks for being great partners on this project, and allowing us to continue free-leasing the ring space.
We are now able to renovate approximately half of the riding ring from unsafe, uneven decomposed woodchips to safe, all-weather sand on top of a compacted gravel base. The machine work began this Tuesday, Oct. 18 and runs through Saturday, Oct. 22, by J&E Backhoe. Please be safe and keep out of the ring, and use caution if you are in the area as there will be large trucks coming and going via the Mount Gardner Road entrance.
We will continue to fundraise to be able to renovate the rest of the ring but, in the meantime, we are extremely excited to soon have a safe, usable riding space again!
As a “Grand Re-Opening”, we are planning a Halloween event in the ring as long as we aren’t totally rained out. We are inviting the community to join us for the festivities for all ages! Check out the “Events” section of next week’s Undercurrent as well as our Facebook group (BIHORA) for more details.
