Saddle ‘em Up and Move ‘em Out : City to Break Lease With Canyon Park Horse Stables

The San Diego City Council Monday ordered the termination of a 15-year lease with Horseman’s Park Inc., the operator of a stable in Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve, but a deputy city attorney said it could be months before litigation to evict the firm is completed.

Horseman’s Park signed a lease with the city in 1982 to provide horses for rent on the preserve’s trails and operate boarding stables. But the operator has on several occasions fallen behind in its rent, and has been unable to purchase an insurance policy to cover the rental horses.

The rentals were discontinued in June because the city feared that it might be liable for any injuries. Deputy City Atty. Harold Valderhaug said 60% of the business at Horseman’s Park stemmed from the popular rental program.

Last month a City Council committee warned that Horseman’s Park would be found in default of its lease if $2,500 in back rent was not paid to the city and if the operator could not obtain “an acceptable liability insurance policy from a city-approved company.” Valderhaug said the rent has since been paid but an appropriate insurance policy has not been obtained.

Ann Rast, consultant to the council Public Facilities and Recreation Committee, which recommended the action against Horseman’s Park, said the “insurance is difficult to obtain, and costly.”

Horseman’s Park officials could not be reached for comment Monday, but Valderhaug said the firm has vowed to fight the eviction. “Horseman’s Park will be open while this is litigated, if they resist the city’s attempts to take this action, which I expect them to do,” Valderhaug said.

The city hopes to find an operator who can obtain the insurance necessary to run the rental program. Conrad Coleman of the city manager’s office said the Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve Advisory Committee and Task Force “favors a broad spectrum of equestrian activities in the park, and horses for hire is a key element in such activities.”

Coleman also recommended that horse trails be more regularly maintained, and that guides be required to accompany people renting horses, should the program be reestablished. Those actions, Coleman said, would “substantially reduce the potential for injuries to riders.”