WILLIAMSBURG — Williamsburg Horse Show Club supporters gathered at the Farm Show building Friday night to voice their opposition to the group’s discontinuation.

The reaction follows the Williamsburg Farm Show board’s decision to disband the horse show club, as they voted Dec. 12 to replace the existing rink with a tractor pull. An email was sent to club organizers a week later, asking them not to share the news on social media platforms.

Over the last two weeks, the organization has received community support from riders of all ages, hoping for the club’s reinstatement at the farm show.

Horse show club volunteer Dawn Miller believes the organization was “community-designed and community-built.”

She said the horse shows were originally intended for children looking to advance their equestrian skills before attending upper-level competitions, such as 4H, at an inexpensive cost. The shows helped kids decide if they liked horseback riding before asking their parents to spend “thousands of dollars to show it,” she said.

Since the farm show decided to disband the club, Miller said a change.org petition to save the club has received a “great response” online, garnering support from about half the Williamsburg community.

Considering the existing tractor pull located behind the softball field, Miller suggested that the board expand on the original tractor pull and keep the horse rink and club intact.

“And that gives you two activities,” she said.

Kelly Stine pointed out that there was “no opposition” in reinstating the horse show, as equestrians make up a large part of the Williamsburg community.

Standing alongside young riders Friday night, Stein said the horse shows encouraged sportsmanship, patience, hard work, ambition and dedication in children.

“Truly, everyone was cheering for each other” at the Williamsburg horse shows, she said.

Stine said the organization was working toward offering children with disabilities the chance to show their horses one day, taking steps to become the first area organization to provide this opportunity.

“This would have been so inclusive,” she said. “An opportunity that would have drawn people in from even farther.”

Farm Show’s statement

After allowing two individuals to speak in opposition to the change during public comment, Farm Show Board President Jeff Walason then read a six-page statement on behalf of the board, saying that the Williamsburg Horse Show Club is “a committee answering to the farm show board.”

When the Williamsburg Horse Show Association ceased operations at the farm show grounds about five years ago, he said the farm show was left with two buildings and a fence, “essentially closing the horse show at the time.”

According to Walason, the farm show created the current horse show committee and funded all items the club needed to function, such as jumps, PA systems, ramps, gates and more.

He said the horse show committee is not a self-funded club, as the committee didn’t purchase needed items to restart the show, and they don’t currently pay for insurance, electricity or maintenance.

The two designated board members, who also represent the horse show, were absent during the Dec. 12 farm show board meeting, and they haven’t attended a meeting since April.

After a “lengthy discussion” about a potential tractor pull, the board voted 13 to 2 in favor of dissolving the horse show. They issued horse show committee leaders a private statement that he said was not meant to be shared with the public.

“The committee members had no right to release the information prior to the farm show making a release,” he said.

Once private information became public, violating the email’s terms, he said the organization’s Facebook page was deleted, the horse show’s banquet was canceled and the farm show had “every right to change the locks on the buildings in the horse show area.”

He also said pictures of the tractor pull being built on the horse rink were “stolen” by the cleaning staff, resulting in the termination of staff.

After saying the farm show is not required to hold public meetings, Walason said the statement was the board’s final comment on the horse show’s discontinuation.

Speaking out

When the board voted to close the public session of the meeting, supporters began to yell at members because they were disappointed with the board’s silence.

Stephanie Miller of Calvin asked to object to the board’s consideration, but Walason said there was a motion on the floor and that the public comment section of the meeting ended.

“It was truly disgraceful because they don’t have order,” Miller said outside the building, referencing that many boards use Robert’s tools of parliamentary procedure.

Miller was one of about 20 other supporters who stood outside in the cold weather after the meeting, expressing their frustrations with the board’s reactions.

The board’s decision “was already made,” according to Bobbi Gearhart, leader of the Williamsburg Horse Show Club. “They didn’t want to hear us.”

“No eye contact was made,” she said. “Everyone looked down at the table. One board member was scrolling through her phone.”

Others were left devastated, including Martinsburg mother Erin Fagans and her 12-year-old daughter, Hannah Fagans.

The Williamsburg Horse Show Club was where Hannah was able to “fine-tune” a few mistakes before recently placing fourth in a state-level competition, her mother said.

“If I didn’t have this show, I feel like I wouldn’t have made it in states, placed and become a better rider,” Hannah said. “Now all these beginner kids who come and start riding aren’t going to make it.”

Considering that many riders traveled from near and far to participate in the Williamsburg horse shows, Hannah said those plans were ruined by the board’s decision.

“All these kids that were going to show and wanted to become better riders, all their dreams are crushed now,” she said.

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.