Dunmore Equestrian Centre’s annual fundraiser will put on a focus into the indoor riding arena

MO CRANKER

Alberta Newspaper Group

The Dunmore Equestrian Centre is getting ready to host its fourth annual auction at Ralph’s — an event that will play a large role in helping the group create an indoor riding facility in the county.
The event is running Nov. 8 at Ralph’s Texas Bar and Steak House in Medicine Hat and tickets are on sale now.
“It’s a fun event and it’s an important one for the future of the indoor building,” said vice-president Justin Kraft. “We’re hoping to see out our tickets and to have a great night.”
There’s a number of items, big and small, on sale — all of which can be view on Facebook.
With the group now in fundraising mode for the upcoming indoor build; it was pleasantly surprised when an anonymous donor stepped forward to match all donations from the event — up to $100,000.
“Without support like that from the community — this project wouldn’t come to life,” said Kraft. “We’re just a small group trying to make this happen, so financial support like this makes a world of difference for us.
“We’re working before the auction to get tickets sold and to do as much fundraising as possible so we can hit that $100,000 mark.”
Kraft says the initial build of the facility will likely fall between $3-4 million and that people are working consistently to bring the project to life.
The Dunmore equestrian group was also at Cypress County council at the beginning of the month, answering questions and giving reports to council. Kraft says the equestrian group has been working with council to partner on the project, but there are no specifics as of yet.
“We did a public consultation and our presentation was talking a lot about that and the concerns and questions we received,” he said. “We think the presentation was good and we’re just trying to start up a line of communication with the county and our group to see if there’s a partnership that makes sense for both groups.
“We wanted to show council where we’re at and what our vision is.”
Kraft says they have heard community concerns about the build, but believes it will benefit everyone once built.
“In my opinion, we won’t be impacting the small, private riding arenas,” he said. “We plan to be an event-based facility — meaning we plan to bring events to the area that are not currently offered.
“We want to bring people in, rather than steal from existing patrons.
“We want to bring people in for a weekend, have them stay at our hotels, eat at restaurants, and then leave until next time — this isn’t about taking business away from anyone.”

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