No horsing around

You got to love news like this out of Palm Beach County. A development named Equestrian Fields that hosts a yearly National Horse Show doesn't want any horses around.

Note- The Palm Beach Post headline uses the 'word' horsy. Are five year olds now working as headline writers?

Open Post- Third World County, Jo's Cafe, Bright & Early,

WELLINGTON — To the outsider, it would seem a gated community bearing the name Equestrian Club Estates would find its equestrian view a major selling point.

Homes here, nestled in rolling horse country with price tags in the $500,000 range, hug the show grounds that host the National Horse Show in December and the Winter Equestrian Festival in January, February and March.

But that's not the case anymore, residents said. At least, not since Stadium Jumping Inc., which produces both events, erected three stabling tents to house roughly 160 horses on land that used to be paddock and scrub. Now, the horses that were once little more than a quaint backdrop, at a respectable distance, are a stinky, noisy bother a short distance away.

In a lawsuit filed last week, the community's lawyer ticked off a number of horse-related nuisances, from the braiders who work all night tying tangled mane into gleaming rope, to the early morning grooms who rouse the pampered beasts from deep sleep at 4 a.m.

"The grooms utilize loud radio 'boom boxes' to play music and are generally very noisy while performing their functions," the lawsuit said. "The noise level will be of sufficient volume to prevent persons of normal sensibilities from sleeping."

The association's lawyer, Guy Quattlebaum, declined to comment Tuesday, citing pending litigation. The association's president, David Riemer, did the same.

Carmine Paterniti, who has lived in Equestrian Club Estates four years, said he fears what will happen when the stabling tents fill up with horses this season.

"Then you start to get the smells and the noises and the grooms playing radios," Paterniti said.
Paterniti, a former polo player and fox hunter, said he bought in Equestrian Club Estates because he has friends there. The National Horse Show and the Winter Equestrian Festival and do bring inconveniences, he said.

"Once, I had to ask them to lower their lights," he said. "They had these big lights shining from there right into our living room. I'm a horse person too, don't get me wrong, but you have to draw the line somewhere."

Mason Phelps, a spokesman for Stadium Jumping Inc., said the organization pulled all the necessary permits before erecting the temporary stables. He also said a number of equestrian competitors have homes in Equestrian Club Estates and he was mystified why someone would live there if they didn't want to be near horses.

Initial complaints began with Carol Coleman, a rider whose house backs up to the stabling tents, Phelps said. Coleman has shown horses at the Winter Equestrian Festival many times, Phelps said.

Coleman did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

But newspaper articles indicate that residents of Equestrian Club Estates have been complaining about the sights, smells and sounds of horsey competition since at least 1999.