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The Missoula Equestrian Park has been in existence for over twenty
years. The planning that began the Park was started in 1983 by a small
group of horse enthusiasts. They incorporated as the Missoula Horsemen’s
Council in 1984. By 1997, the Council had achieved an IRS designation as
a non-profit, charitable 501 c-3 organization.
At the present time, the Missoula Horsemen’s Council oversees the
care and maintenance of 100 acres stretching from the Community Gardens
on Spurgin to North Ave, and from Tower Rd to 37th Ave. We are overseen
by the Stewardship Committee of Big Sky Park which in turn is overseen
by County Parks. There is a mandate guiding our development that we must
abide by in order to keep this land as an equestrian park. While most of
the land is preserved as a natural habitat as per our mandate, we do
have a wide variety of venues for riders.
There is a 1.7 mile perimeter trail for riders and pedestrians alike
to walk and jog while enjoying open space. There is a quarter mile track
for equestrian use only, designed for more intense workouts, both in
duration and speed. There are several smaller trails crisscrossing the
park, used by walkers, bikers, and riders. The Backcountry Horsemen
installed a training obstacle course on the perimeter trail. Within the
perimeter trail, in the natural habitat, there is a complete
cross-county jumping course, testing horse and rider from the level of
the ever-hopeful Smurf through pre-Novice, Novice and up to Training
level for competition, with some Preliminary level jumps for practice.
We are proud to have had Steve Buckman design and construct this course
for us.
The arenas are located in the more developed areas. They include one
regulation dressage arena, two fenced arenas, one with a sound system
and grandstand seating, one large warm up arena, and a round pen. There
are fifty stalls, two wash racks, and parking for show trailers.
The work done to establish and maintain the Park has been mostly by
volunteers. We are funded by sponsoring events and donations of money
and materials. It is a wonderful regional facility serving the
open-space needs of the community, and the educational and exercise
needs of the nearby schools, as well as the obvious needs of the horse
community from all over Montana and the nearby states. |
