At the Saugeen Bluffs ribbon cutting ceremony June 4, left to right, Wayne Yoeman, Chesley Saddle Club, riding Fine Finish; Jim Leask; sponsor and friend Joanne Caldecott from Walkerton; Saugeen Shores Mayor and Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority (SVCA) Board member, Mike Smith; Mary Lynn Morrison; Elvin Martin in the wagon being pulled by Candy (left) and Hershey (right); Luke Charbonneau, SVCA Board Chair and Deputy Mayor of Saugeen Shores; Liz Rowe, Chesley Saddle Club, riding Ekho; Wayne Brohman, General Manager, SVCA; Ron Kaufman, Saugeen Bluffs Superintendent; Randy Wright, Vice President, Chesley Saddle Club, riding Emily; and Judy Wright, Chesley Saddle Club, with her horse, Moonlight. The beautiful metal work marking the entrance to the camp was donated by Ashley Weatherall of Vandepas Welding Ltd.

Hub Staff

The excitement was palpable at the grand opening of the Saugeen Bluffs Conservation Area’s Horse Camp on June 4, one of only three facilities like it in all of Ontario. The camp has already had campers come and stay in the park and staff is now booking into August.

Shannon Wood, Manager of Communications, Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority (SVCA) said, “The thing is, it gets them here and the comments that we’ve heard so far, ‘Well, it’s about time.’”

The camp has a newly developed trail system for horse and rider, a training ring, bunkies and camp sites that can accommodate an RV and a horse trailer. “We’re hoping it’s going to be really good for the area because it’s unique,” said Wood.

Just a few months ago there had been discussions around ongoing financial challenges and how to keep Saugeen Bluffs open and operational; and when the idea came about to turn the 200 acre park into a horse camp, progress happened very quickly.

Luke Charbonneau, SVCA Board of Directors Chair was in attendance June 4 and said that Wood, along with Catherine Billings, Communications Assistant with SVCA, “literally have made this all happen in a matter of about three weeks.” In his opening speech, Charbonneau said that once a business plan was presented and staff were told to run with it, “Boy, did they run.”

“I don’t think I’m going to overstate it by saying they have saved this camp,” said Charbonneau.

On its opening weekend, Billings made a point to go around and chat with all the campers. “I’m pretty excited about this.” Billings said that the campers had come from Chatham, Cambridge, Stratford and London and they had upcoming bookings from Fergus and Caledon. “So they’re coming from a two or three hour radius.”

The other two horse camps in Ontario are in the Ottawa area and Billings said one of the comments that she hears often is that the campers are grateful to not have to take their horses on a 400 series highway to get to Saugeen Bluffs. The noise of multi-lane highways, especially driving under overpasses, is very stressful for horses.

Billings made sure to take her horse out on the trails before the grand opening. “They’re beautiful, like all kinds of really neat vegetation and trees and they’re hilly so your horse takes its time and picks their way through. It’s just a whole big adventure, it’s great.” Billings added that the park is currently home to about 10 kilometers of trail “but it feels twice as long because they’re so hilly and windy.”

Billings added, “People are just really appreciative to have a place in this part of the province to camp with their horse, so yeah, it’s exciting.”

Judy Wright, who was in attendance with her horse, Moonlight, echoed the thought. “There are so few places to ride horses in Ontario,” she said, adding that as soon as you cross the border into the United States, there are plenty of trails. “[The States is] really, really horse friendly,” but in Canada, “when we get places to ride, it’s a gift,” she said. Wright is from Leith and is a member of the Chesley Saddle Club.

In addition to efforts from staff as well as major sponsors and financial contributions, the Chesley Saddle Club was instrumental in the development of the park. Billings said they were the ones who built the trails. “Without them we couldn’t do this,” she said, adding “they tried to keep it as natural as possible.”

Wood and Charbonneau discussed the possibility of connecting the camp’s trail system to trails into neighbouring Paisley and Port Elgin. Wood said campers are already asking if they can ride into town.

Charbonneau added that they were starting to have the necessary conversations in order to facilitate that. Paisley already has hitching posts in town and Charbonneau believes that the Port Elgin Business Improvement Area (BIA) will also be open to the idea. “If they saw that market starting to happen, they’d be real keen to get on board,” said Charbonneau.

The day saw vendors displaying their wares for horse and rider, Elvin Martin had a team of 3 year olds, Hershey and Candy, pulling a wagon to take people on a tour of the camp and the Paisley 4H Equestrian Club was on hand serving up delicious hamburgers and cupcakes. All the while guitarist and vocalist Ron McManus provided the soundtrack with songs like, From a Jack to a King, It’s So Easy, Guess Things Happen That Way and Above and Beyond.

For more information on horse camping at Saugeen Bluffs Conservation Area, please visit svca.on.ca.

Teahan Campbell, whose great grandfather, Garnet Campbell donated the land to the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority in the 1970s, said that her great grandfather had wanted the land to go to somebody who was going to preserve it. He passed away in 1999 at the age of 103.

Ron McManus, vocalist and guitarist, provided a soundtrack of country and gospel classics, for the day’s event, June 4.

Liz Rowe riding Ekho, a Woodland Nymph, came to Saugeen Bluffs Horse Camp grand opening from Wiarton and is a member of the Chesley Saddle Club.

Campers at Saugeen Bluffs and long time riders, Nancy Maluske (left) riding Dollar and Craig Maluske (right) riding Luke, from Wiarton, brought their granddaughter from Exeter, riding Julie, for her first-ever trail ride.