Talking points

 The Pebble Beach Equestrian Center has been part of local history and culture for 100 years. It is a legacy business providing public horse boarding facilities that are greatly needed, as well as rescued trail horses that visitors may ride to enjoy the beautiful public coastline. 

The Center is the only horse rental facility accessible to the 30 miles of California coastal equestrian trails. It is also the only place where non-horse owners, including people from low-income communities and tourists can access affordable trail rides. Unless you have access to a horse,   trailer and truck, you cannot ride these coastal trails. 

If the facility does indeed close, we will lose vital horse boarding options for locals, a facility that has seen a century of history and positive contribution to the community, access to horse training and riding lessons, and an important community hub. We will also lose tourism dollars from visitors who come ride the coastline on our rescue horses, who will also lose their forever homes.

Riding horses is a hobby to some, but to many, it's a lifestyle and part of our identity. Pebble Beach Equestrian Center has hosted world-class shows, eventing, polo, and film production in the past. It's been a vital source of income for those who work there, and provided a home for the many rescue horses who make up the trail string. Should it close, we will not only lose access to boarding, but jobs will be lost, and the trail string will face an uncertain future. 

Placing rescue horses is hard enough, and with soaring inflation, the price of hay and shavings skyrocketing in the last few years, rescues are overwhelmed and at capacity. These horses have worked hard and brought so much joy to visitors to the center. One look at the Yelp page proves this. With 99 reviews at last count, and an average of 4.6 out of five stars, this legacy business has delivered so much to our community. We fear for the future and survival of the beloved trail string if their home is razed to expand the golf course. 

Our research, which is ongoing, shows that there may be a deliberate action on the part of Pebble Beach Resort to sabotage the equestrian center. We believe that they have been running it into the ground financially to create "evidence" of its failure, that they can then use to support their own agenda: closing the center so they can exploit its facility and land to expand the golf course. 

Why do we believe this? There has been no public outreach, no public engagement, and a pattern of deliberate rejection of income opportunities, including the rejection of a contract with Longines, which is a world-class equestrian horse show circuit. 

Longines, a watch-making company, sponsors some of the most celebrated horse shows all over the world. Their show circuit is so wildly successful that their events regularly generate multi-millions with each show, including direct impact to each locale. A recent example of this took place last year in Dublin, Ireland, where one single show generated 50 MILLION EUROS to the local economy.

That powerful economic impact is not confined to Longines. Rancho Viejo Riding Park in San Juan Capistrano, CA commissioned a study in 2022 that showed that a series of horse shows they host annually generated $62.5 million each year. But don't take our word for it, read the study yourself here. 

We also know that facility management can be brought in that will be successful. The Los Angeles Equestrian Center struggled finaincially for years, and recently brought in ASM Global to run the facility. ASM Global is a business with a wildly successful track record of management and operations around the world, including equestrian centers. And there are other companies out there who could also take on the effective management of Pebble Beach Equestrian Center. In other words, real-world examples exist that show that this center can and should be not only viable, but profitable.

We do not understand Pebble Beach Corporation's motivation to close the resort, causing such distress to the local community that has supported and cherished this center for 100 years. Surely a world exists where both businesses can operate together and be viable, and create a good income for their investors and owners. 

We call on our local community leaders to investigate this pattern of sabotage, to intervene on behalf of our rescue horses; boarders who will be displaced; and employees who will become jobless, and to reverse this short-sighted and terrible decision to close the center.  

We call on our leaders to bring this to the agendas in the public civic forum and let the community make themselves heard on the record. We call on our local concerned citizens and equestrians  to please get involved and help. Spread the word, sign the petition, write your local elected officials, and make a difference. Thank you.