| Moderated by: Steve Adkins | Topic closed | |
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S. Smith Moderator
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Should the horse show be held at the new town park? Should the horse show be given more room? Should permanent fencing and structures be built for the horse show? Do you think there's enough room at the park for the horse show and other groups, especially when space in the parking lot is considered? How do you think this conflict should be resolved? |
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ff12 Member 
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As far as parking goes, people could park at the school, shopping center town hall, swim club , area churches, etc and the Horse show could provide free shuttles. Or , since it is the horse show , wagon rides. |
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S. Smith Moderator
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You're right, ff12. I think the horse show people said they needed 15 acres to have the show, but that included area for people to park. My understanding is the park pllan allowed 8 acres, but when you include a parking lot for 200 cars, the total is more than 15 acres. |
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rasin Guest
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I think the Horse Show organization have so much emotional investment in it they had trouble seeing the forest for the trees. (guess pun intended!). Having it at the town park gives them an opportunity to broaden the appeal. With the changing demographics of Oak Ridge and the surrounding area they need to add things other than just the horse related activities. I enjoy the rodeo but other than that don't see much to get me to go during the day. |
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zippitydoodah Member
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From that article in the NWO, it sounds like even the horse show people don't know what they want. Some of them are saying let's compromise and the rest are saying if you don't give us what we want we're just going to go away and be mad. The park committee guy even wrote a letter and said we want the horse show at the park. Everybody can't get everything they want. I think there are more kids playing ball that will use the park space all the time than the horse show who will use it one weekend a year. I think you have to serve as many people as you can. If they can't be satisfied with what there being offered, I think the horse show should just go elsewhere. |
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TCat Member 
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Here are my issues/concers about having the Horse Show at the Town Park based on what I have seen and heard: 1. Two out of the 3 main events are not "horse related" and could be considered borderline animal abuse. I understand that bull riding and "mutton busting" brings in more money, but are these events part of the original spirit of the Horse Show? 2. As has been mentioned there does not seem to be any agreement or cohesian within the group. There has not been a strong show of support from the group or a designated spokesperson. 3. The Horse Show requests/demands have been presented with a sense of entitlement not a sense of partnership. 4. No other group in this community as demanded as much time or as many concessions as the vocal contingent in this group has. 5. The bull riding ring leaves a "scar" on the park land that is not easily repaired. Should a 2 day event impact a public property that much? 6. The park is only just beginning to be constructed. If 5 years down the road the community sees the need to expand the ballfields or add something else, there may not be the same amount of open area for the Horse Show to use. What will they do then? Ask that some of the preserved wooded area be chopped down to accommodate them? As the mayor said at the Town Council, the town and the park group wants to have the Horse Show in Oak Ridge. There is open space available in the park. If they can use it, great. If they can't or they want the security of a "permanant" home for the show, perhaps they can save some of their profits for a few years and invest them in purchasing an area of land that will suit their needs. |
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mstone Member
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Het TCat, You bring up some interesting points. Without trying to defend one side or the other or come off as argumenative, can I point out a few things I learned while talking to all of these folks about the horse show? I'd like to take your points one at a time.... 1. Two out of the 3 main events are not "horse related" and could be considered borderline animal abuse. I understand that bull riding and "mutton busting" brings in more money, but are these events part of the original spirit of the Horse Show? I'm not sure what the "original spirit" of the horse show was. I think you'd have to ask some folks that have been around a pretty long time. Bull riding and mutton busting may not be everyone's idea of events for a horse show, but evidently it's part of the ORHS tradition. Arts and crafts sales aren't "horse related" either, but they are part of the event that everyone enjoys. I'm sure as the horse show continues to grow and develop there will be added activities and events. That's probably how it got as big as it is today. 2. As has been mentioned there does not seem to be any agreement or cohesian within the group. There has not been a strong show of support from the group or a designated spokesperson. There is agreement within the group, but no one direction. All want to see the horse show thrive. How and where this can/will happen is the real issue. Not one person I talked to wanted to see the horse show held anywhere but in Oak Ridge. How to get it back, how soon, and where to place it are the issues. There are about a dozen different ways to accomplish all of this. That's where things start getting a little confusing because there is no single plan that everyone has agreed to. 3. The Horse Show requests/demands have been presented with a sense of entitlement not a sense of partnership. You have to realize that the horse show folks are absolutely focused on this one subject. While their approach may seem demanding, it's more out of a deep passion that they present their positions and arguments. Most horse show folks see the event as something they help give to the community. I think that is a true reflection of their partnership with the town. 4. No other group in this community as demanded as much time or as many concessions as the vocal contingent in this group has. I think you need to add the word "small" to this statement. There's a "small" vocal contingent in this group. The horse show group is rather large. When you add the volunteers for the event, it gets even larger. As you know, any time you get more than 2 people together there's going to be some differences of opinions. That's especially true when you're trying to pull off a very big event. I'm not sure that the vocal are necessarily the majority. 5. The bull riding ring leaves a "scar" on the park land that is not easily repaired. Should a 2 day event impact a public property that much? I'm not sure that "scar" is appropriate. That makes it sound like a meteor struck the ground and burned a crater into the landscape. The horse show was held at the school for years and I don't recall anyone standing around gawking at the scarred field where the bull ring once sat. Summerfield doesn't seem to have suffered scars to it's landscape - at least not from the horse show. Scars from their town council are discussed in another forum.  6. The park is only just beginning to be constructed. If 5 years down the road the community sees the need to expand the ballfields or add something else, there may not be the same amount of open area for the Horse Show to use. What will they do then? Ask that some of the preserved wooded area be chopped down to accommodate them? It was my impression that the horse show would be part of the park for years to come - at least everyone I spoke to held this view. If the community sees the need to expand the ballfields or add to the park, I would hope that the town's traditions and heritage would receive a great deal of consideration. Let me ask your question in revesre... If the horse show is deemed a "permanent" part of the park with land set aside for it, and the community sees the need to expand the ballfileds or add something else, will the community expect some of the preserved wooded area be chopped down to accomodate them? Remember, the park is supposed to be for ALL residents to enjoy. That means hikers, bikers, horse show folks, ball teams, dog owners, children, and grown ups. Some want ballfields, some want open space to play with the kids or have a picnic, and some want woods. I think that's the idea behind a town's park - something for everybody. Ultimately, the ORHS may decide to purchase its own land and facility. Until that time comes, I'll side with the mayor and the town council to say let's keep the ORHS in Oak ridge at our town park. Thanks for letting me rant a little. |
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S. Smith Moderator
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mstone wrote: 1. Two out of the 3 main events are not "horse related" and could be considered borderline animal abuse. I understand that bull riding and "mutton busting" brings in more money, but are these events part of the original spirit of the Horse Show? As a very longtime Oak Ridge resident, I remember one of the events they had long before bull riding and mutton bustin' was the calf scramble. In this event, which was open to 14- and 15-year-old boys (and girls starting about the mid '70s), they'd line up all the contestants. When the event started, the contestants would run across the ring and try to put a halter on one of several calves (not tiny little calves either) and then get it back across the finish line. The first one across the line with their calf won. I don't know how tough it was on the calves, but some of the participants definitely came out of there with bumps and bruises. This wasn't a true "horse show" event in the traditional sense, but more a spectator event for the enjoyment of the community. In those days, the annual horse show was one of the biggest things to happen around here every year. |
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