Dawn Halstead, accompanied by her dogs, an Australian shepherd and a blue heeler, has for years been visiting Southern Nevada from Canada. Those treks also include bringing along her two quarter horses and training them at Horseman’s Park in East Las Vegas.
When Halstead began frequenting the park about 10 years ago, there were other riders getting in practice runs and plenty of community events, she said.
On Thursday, Halstead rotated between riding Steely, a 4-year-old quarter horse, and Fizz, a 6-year-old sandy brown quarter horse. She couldn’t help but feel lonely.
There were no other people, horses or dogs at the 33-acre park off Flamingo Road.
“The park is beautiful, it’s a beautiful space,” Halstead said. “I just hope people get to use it.”
The park’s future is in the hands of AEC Management of Sanger, Calif., which early this year entered into an agreement with Clark County to take over the park’s operations.
“They have our interests and are not only receptive toward our interests, but willing and going above and beyond to help us get our local events going again,” said Tilly Jenski, a local horse trainer.
Horseman’s Park, located past Sam’s Town on Flamingo, opened in 1971 as a place for the equestrian community to host rodeos, horse shows and other events. The park includes a main arena with lights, an announcer’s booth, 600-seat grandstand, 320 stalls, a 12-bay horse wash rack, a practice arena and RV hook-ups.
The park was once a haven for the local rodeo scene, with barrel racing and roping events put on frequently by a thriving group of equine-sport enthusiasts, Jenski said. However, those events were priced out over the past decade by the previous management company asking hundreds of dollars to compete in a single event, she said.
That forced the Jenski family on the road to find space for their 8-year-old daughter to compete in the Wrangler Junior Rodeo Association. Most weeks, that means a two-hour commute to a facility in Lincoln County, where events for children and participants new to the activity are reasonably priced, she said.
Horseman’s Park still hosted a handful of events annually, but many of those didn’t involve those participants in the local rodeo scene, Jenski said.
That lack of use caught the eye of officials with Clark County, who were determined to update the park “so that everybody can enjoy that park and that it attracts wonderful events year-round.”
Megan McGill, who co-owns AEC Management with her husband, Bert, told commissioners they want to “feed the park” with more events, especially those hosted by locals. She understands the need: Her children are active on the high school rodeo circuit.
“We understand how this community lives and how it thrives,” McGill said in December. “I just want everyone to understand that it’s not about bringing the big people in; it’s about seeing a gem that’s dulled a little bit, as you can hear your own community speaking. We want to help rejuvenate it.”
Some in the Las Vegas rodeo community were uncertain about the change to a management group out of California, Jenski said. But that quickly changed.
“Megan McGill, she’s on our side, she’s one of us,” Jenski said. “She’s also a rodeo mom, so that resonated with me, and she wants to help us and has our interests at the forefront of what she’s doing and the positive changes that are happening.”
The fees for Horseman’s Park, which were readjusted in January, range from $400 to $750 a day for the community depending on the arena they’d like to use, while commercial rates are from $1,200 to $1,800 a day, according to Clark County. There’s an additional fee of $15-$20 a day for stalls; $15-$20 a head per day for pen rentals; and a $50 arena fee for single-day community youth events.
McGill said there will be someone manning the park at all times, as per their contract with the county. She’s also worked closely with community members like Jenski to promote various rodeo events, Jenski said.
They are setting their sights on restarting the Clark County Barrel Racing Association based out of Horseman’s Park. The association became dormant about 15 years ago due to a lack of volunteers willing to organize events.
Jenski said she initiated the Clark County Western Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit that hosts barrel racing events within the association “to bring back real racing for all ages, and all levels at an affordable rate for the local community.”
She’s also volunteered to help McGill and her team hold clinics for the community that target children, Jenski said.
AEC Management is working on ground and facility improvements to ready Horseman’s Park for their first events under a new operator, which will take place this summer and include a “Patriotic Race” to honor military veterans as well as a “Breast Cancer Awareness Race” to raise money for a local person living with breast cancer.
“The morals, principles (and) values that Western heritage encompasses need to be revived in this county and readily accessible — sportsmanship, pride, integrity, teamwork, respect, work ethic,” Jenski said. “We need it readily accessible at the local level, (and) we are looking at reviving that through our combined efforts.”
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