This is the fourth and final artilce in a multi-part series from Patch about the economic and other impacts of the declining equestrian industry in Fairfax County. 

Part 1: Fairfax County Losing Equestrian-Related Revenue Due to Lack of Planning was published Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Part 2: Richmond Highway Development May Spare Woodlawn Stables was published Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Part 3: Laurel Hill Equestrian Facility Moves Forward was published Thursday, Feb. 23.

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There still exists a market for equestrian activities in Fairfax County, despite challenges to local horse-related infrastructure from housing, business and transportation development.

Though a relatively small portion of the population, equestrians in the county drive a significant amount of business, as owning, riding and caring for horses in Northern Virginia is quite expensive.

More than 23,000 Fairfax County residents participate in horseback-riding activities, participating in equestrian activities at a rate 5 percent higher than the national average. In 2010 sales in Fairfax County and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church related to the horse industry totaled more than $26.3 million.

That financial activity could shift to other areas in Virginia and Maryland, as several equestrian facilities wait for local governmental and private organizations to settle on make-or-break decisions:

• Richmond Highway development might spare Woodlawn Stables. 
• The Bureau of Land Management might allow one concessionaire to continue her boarding and lesson program at The Stables at Meadowood and another to operate Simple Changes Therapeutic Riding Center from there. 
• Public-private partnerships might build an equestrian facility at Laurel Hill Park.

Fractured Groups, Common Goals

While individuals endeavor to protect the stables, farms and trails remaining and advocate for new facilities, the groups they lead or represent in some cases are fractured. In many cases, it appears that one group doesn’t know what another is doing.

Georgine ‘Gegi’ Winslett, owner of the Winslett Advantage and TWA Horse Shows and a local trainer, said this is not advantageous.

“We need not lose sight of our own interests and goals, but we also need to be aware of other groups, individuals and associations around us that are part of the same, bigger industry, because horses do not have as universal an appeal and common knowledge across the population as they once did,” Winslett told In Stride, the magazine of the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association.

For now, at least, these opportunites remain in or very near to Fairfax County. (If you know of any we've missed, please let us know in the comments section following this article.)

Boarding and Lesson Stables

Angelica Run Farm
Boarding and Lessons
1927 Hunter Mill Road, Vienna, VA
703-938-8969

The Sanders Ranch - Battlefield Equestrian Center, Inc.
Boarding and Lessons
16009 Lee Highway Centreville, VA 20121
703-266-4884

Bull Run Stables
Boarding and Lessons
6001 Bull Run Post Office Road Centreville, VA 20120
703-266-6342

Jarvis Stables
Boarding
10808 Harley Road, Lorton, VA 22079
703-339-9682

Justice Snowden Farms
Boarding and Lessons
2405 Parker's Lane, Alexandria, VA 22306
703-721-9500

Little Burgundy Farm, LLC
Lessons
5715 Sable Drive, Alexandria, VA

Mulford Riding School
Boarding, Lessons, Trail Riding
Centreville, VA
703-946-7595

Oliver Stables
Boarding
10810 Henderson Road, Fairfax Station, VA 22039
703-978-4341 or 703-216-9584

Rokeby Farm Stables
Boarding and Lessons
830 Dolley Madison Boulevard, McLean, VA 22101
703-528-8761

The Stables at Meadowood
Boarding and Lessons
10406 Gunston Road, Lorton, VA 22079
571-642-2800

Tamarack Stables
Lessons
9905 Old Colchester Road, Lorton, VA
703-339-5160

Union Ridge Equestrian Center
Boarding
6780 Bull Run Post Office Road
Centreville, VA 20120
703-975-8732

Woodlawn Stables
Boarding and Lessons
8907 Richmond Highway, Alexandria, VA 22309
703-780-4344

Equestrian Groups

• Battlefield Equestrian Society
• Commonwealth Dressage and Combined Training Association (CDCTA)
• Clifton Horse Society
• Fairfax4Horses
• Friends of Frying Pan Farm Park
• Friends of Turner Farm
• Great Falls Horse Network
• Hunters Valley Association and Hunters Valley Riding Club
• Mason Neck Horse Coalition (MNHC)
• Northern Virginia Coalition of Equestrian Organizations, Inc. (NVCEO)
• Virginia Dressage Association – Northern Virginia Chapter (VADA/Nova)
• Virginia Region Pony Clubs

Tack Shops

The Clifton Saddlery - Feed & Pet
6319 Multiplex Drive, Centreville, VA
703-830-7200

Dover Saddlery
43717 John Mosby Hwy, Chantilly, VA
703-327-4423

The Saddlery, Inc
731 Walker Road, Great Falls, VA
703-759-3500

Therapeutic Riding Programs

Lift Me Up!
9700 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA
703-759-6221

Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program, Inc.
P.O. Box 184, Clifton, VA
703-764-0269

Simple Changes Therapeutic Riding Center
10406 Gunston Road, Lorton, VA
703-402-3613

Full Disclosure:  Burke Patch Editor Susan Larson has worked at boarding, breeding, lesson, trail riding, fox hunting and polo facilities in Illinois and Virginia.  In 2005 the United States Capitol Police Horse Mounted Unit honored her for her support as barn manager during their tenure.  She is a past member of Clifton Horse Society, former volunteer with Simple Changes Therapeutic Riding Center, and current member of the Mason Neck Horse Coalition.  She boards her horse at The Stables at Meadowood.

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