Anderson group to discuss horse tourism with state ag commissioner
By Mike Ellis
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The county and Weathers need each other, said Glenn Brill, Anderson County’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism director.
Weathers has a goal of increasing the state’s agriculture, forestry and agri-tourism (including horses) from $34 billion a year now to $50 billion by 2020. To do that, Brill said, Weathers needs the help of local and regional partners.
Anderson County is hoping to lay claim to being one of the state’s major players in horse tourism, which the local group will be pitching as agricultural economic development, one of four pillars in Weathers’ “50 by 20” plan.
“The Department of Agriculture is hearing from Aiken (County) and Camden about developing equine facilities,” Brill said. “We need to get on the department’s radar screen.”
County council member Cindy Wilson said the horse industry brings more than $37 million a year to Anderson County’s economy and the county has the second-most horses in the state. Both Oconee and Pickens counties also are high on that list of horses per capita and are actively working with Anderson County to develop horse tourism in the region.
“The potential to help our county’s economy is huge,” Brill said. “If you look at those multi-day equine events, who goes to them and how much they spend, it’s big deal for our county. It really is.”
About 20 people interested in horse tourism met Monday near Clemson University’s T. Ed Garrison Arena to develop plans for a grant application. The grant, which has been discussed at previous horse tourism meetings in the past two months, would be for about $200,000 from the state’s recreational trail fund.
County grant writer Steve Newton is working with the university on the grant and said the application is in the preliminary stage and final applications are due by March 23. The next step is to come up with an official plan with cost estimates, he said.
The group that met Monday came up with an unofficial working plan to pursue improvements to an existing recreational trail. The consensus plan now includes work on a parking lot at Fant’s Grove Trail near Clemson, permanent signs throughout and at the beginning of the trail, a portable bathroom and running water at the trailhead and possibly hardening of the trail itself if money allows.
Wilson said the trails also are for people such as hikers, mountain bikers and bird watchers.
That plan for the grant money, which has not yet been awarded, would not add another horse feature. Many of those interested in horse tourism have pushed for the addition of new horse facilities, such as steeplechase, cross-country and three-day events, which they hope would bring in larger and more varied horse events accompanied by high-spending horse owners.
While those ideas would not be paid for with the potential grant, at least part of the improved recreational trail could be used for those events in the future, said Charles Williams, director of the Garrison Arena.
“We should be doing things to improve and enhance the equine industry in this area, which is already big business,” Williams said. “With the grant we felt like we needed to work on a project that was, for a lack of a better word, doable that we could obtain success with and use that to spur further improvements.”
Wilson said she has pushed for such a focus on horse tourism for years and the new developments are encouraging but only a beginning.
Wilson said that “$200,000 may sound like a lot but it is only drop in the bucket of what will ultimately be required. This is not going to be overnight development and completion. But we have a good start now that our local government is recognizing the importance of this industry’s bottom lines and the quality of life.”
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