Horse Lovers Work For Expanded NW Facility at Latta Nature Preserve

Mecklenburg County is one of the largest counties in terms of population in the state. Also Mecklenburg County and its immediate surrounding counties have the largest equine population in the state.

We all know that there are two or three privately owned equine show facilities combined in these counties, but none of these have all the amenities that we have here at Latta. Straight from the horse's mouth this is why the show promoters want to come here. Latta Equestrian Center offers 192 stalls, two show arenas, two warm-up arenas, 26 RV sites with eletric and water, restroom and shower facility, mutipurpose building for meetings and small events, and a general store.

For the general public Latta offers daily trail rides, arena rides, carriage rides, pony ride birthday parties, and all types of special events. There is no other equine facility that offers all of these services at one location.

There is still one problem that is faced here at Latta. We are limited to the quality of these services by not having a covered arena. As far as the horse shows there are a lot of show promoters that will not book at a venue that does not offer a covered arena. The contestants spend a lot of time and money to get to a show for it to be rained out. Without a covered arena the show usually has to stop if it rains hard before or during the show. Also in July and August it is limited on what can be booked because of extreme heat. A cover would prevent this. Also birthday parties, arena rides and summer horse camps have to be cancelled because of rain or extreme heat when there is no covered arena.

This issue of a covered arena here at Latta has come up several times in the last fifteen years with no apparent success. The current operators of the equestrian center, Country Time Carriages LLC, along with Mecklenburg County Park and Rec have come up with a plan to try and raise $250,000 to contruct a metal roof to cover one of the arenas. A kickoff party will be held to recruit interested people to serve on a steering committee this year to get the fundraising campaign underway. Please send an e-mail to scottmcclure@carolina.rr.com to be kept informed of these events.