An Uphill Fight to Keep the Island in the Saddle
By Nicole Cotroneo
July 1, 2007

A year and a half ago, Lakewood Stables in West Hempstead was a dilapidated, rat-infested place fated for the bulldozer. But local residents persuaded developers who wanted to build 18 condominiums on the 1.2-acre tract to withdraw their proposal and instead buy the horse stable in hopes of revitalizing it.

Today the renovated stable is back in business, bustling with boarders and riding students.

For horse enthusiasts, this is a small but shining victory. Even though Nassau and Suffolk rank high among counties in the state for number of horses — fifth, with 6,300, and sixth, with 6,200, respectively, according to the most recent survey by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, in 2005 — Long Island equine officials say the industry is struggling because of high operating costs and increasing development pressure.

While no current data exist to show how many horse farms are operating on Long Island, people in the industry say the numbers are decreasing in Nassau County and barely holding steady in Suffolk County. For every new farm or riding facility that opens, they say, a handful of small private stables fold.

The closing two months ago of Manhattan's last riding stable, Claremont Riding Academy — in part, its owners said, because of high taxes and insurance costs — sent a shudder through the Island's horse community. Claremont's surrender, several of the Island's equestrians said, was a little too close to home.

Lakewood Stables is not making money yet. While customers boarding horses there have increased from 3 to 20 since Alex Jacobson and Benjamin Haghani purchased the business in January 2006, $70,000 in annual property taxes, and other expenses, make profitability difficult, Mr. Jacobson said.

"We spent a ton of money just cleaning up the farm," he said. "We're operating in the red just for the benefit of the community. The No. 1 reason that keeps me and my partner in it are the smiles on people's faces."

Operating a horse farm is a labor of love, said Susan Lomangino, who three years ago opened Highwind Farm, a 60-acre boarding and riding stable in Mattituck, with her husband, Tom Yovino. They have been able to keep the business afloat without dipping into their own pockets, she said, but they do not expect to post a profit.

"Horse farms don't make money," Ms. Lomangino said. "Every expense is higher because we live on an island. The price of gas goes into the cost of hay because we have to have it trucked in."

Kathleen Kleinman, president of the Muttontown Horsemen's Association and an equestrian for nearly 30 years, said she had seen many friends move their horses off Long Island because of exorbitant costs. She has also watched the landscape change: Wooded horse trails and horse farms have given way to roads and large houses, she said.

Development pressure is the primary threat. "You can never make in the horse business what you can make if you sold your property," Ms. Lomangino said.

Recognizing this, the Nassau Land Trust, based in East Norwich, has been working with its Suffolk County counterpart, the Peconic Land Trust, to aid horse farm owners under pressure to raise capital or sell. Conservation easements and county open-space preservation programs have proved workable options, said Lloyd P. Zuckerberg, chairman and founder of the Nassau Land Trust.

"If you sell the development rights to the county or donate them to a land trust, you still own your land," he said. "You've just sold your rights to develop it. Or, you could choose to give away just a portion of it. It's very versatile."

Mr. Zuckerberg pointed to the preservation of the Ryan Horse Farm on Shelter Island as a model.

The Ryan family, who owned the farm and leased it to Hampshire Farms Equestrian Center, agreed to sell Suffolk County the development rights to most of the 76-acre property, said John v.H. Halsey, president of the Peconic Land Trust, which helped coordinate the deal. The family then sold the property to the equestrian center, along with a few lots that retained their building rights. This way, Mr. Halsey said, the farm's new owner, the equestrian center, could sell the lots to recoup part of its investment.

"There's no silver bullet," Mr. Halsey said. "It's how you adapt the set of tools you have."

Until recently, boarding stables were not considered agricultural operations under state law and were therefore disqualified from land preservation programs. Agricultural recognition by the Legislature was a critical victory, said George W. King, a retired Army colonel who is president of the New York State Horse Council.

Now the council hopes to see enactment of legislation, passed by the Senate and now before the Assembly, that would exempt horse-boarding facilities from the state sales tax.

The approval of an "inherent risk bill" that has been introduced in both houses would also help ease the burden on horse farm operators, Colonel King said. It would bring New York in line with 46 other states that legally recognize the inherent risk in equine activities and limit the liability of horse farm operators.

Ms. Lomangino cited the high cost of liability insurance as one of the unexpected expenses she has incurred since opening Highwind Farm to the public.

Ms. Kleinman said she believed liability also contributed to the disappearance of riding trails. "Legal advisers wanted less to deal with and allowed things to be built over," she said.

Nevertheless, the proposed equestrian legislation, coupled with conservation opportunities, is giving the horse community hope that it can avoid Claremont's fate.

"At some point you have to draw a line in the sand and say we have to fight this," Ms. Kleinman said. "It's late, but the tools are there."