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This would bring a lot of jobs to the area, especially if local firms are used during construction. After it's built, local people will be needed for maintenance and support staff, people from out of town will stay in local hotels, eat at local restaurants, buy gas at local stations, and buy things they forgot to pack from local stores. If you think about this project as a new industry for the area, the economic impact is tremendous. We need new industries that can replace jobs lost. This isn't about building a new toy for horse people, but about providing a way the equestrian community can be tapped to put their money back into the local area instead of having to go out of town to spend those same dollars. "If you build it they will come..."

Thibodeaux, stated “I believe the private sector needs to step up to the plate and make this happen.”

Really? You think the private sector has some obligation to pay for your park? You sound just like the swim center supporters in Greensboro.

Swim center. Equestrian center. Same thing, same demographic except more rural zip code for one. I hope I can get me a job cleaning either the pool or stalls.

If this deal is so Lucrative. How come some wealthy person hasn't already built it years ago? Whenever they ask for Tax Payer Dollars to build something...You know that there is no money in it...

I wonder if the taxpayers paid for a feasibility study that was kept secret until after this project was voted on? Any stimulus money involved? County Manager taking it slow and easy and gathering information so he must not be from Greensboro/Guilford County. I also wonder if any of the staff stands to make a broker's commission on this one?

Sounds like a nother penn plantation to me. What is going to happen when all the local investors are paid out. Who then will be ask to pay. WHAT! I know we taxpayers will get the shaft then. Another Nelson Cole will come to the rescue like he did for the penn plantation. Im still feeling the burn from that one.

"$4.3 million in federal low-interest bonds"

Those are the same bonds that GSO allocated for the hotel project. It's interesting to see what other NC municipalities want to use these bonds for: mostly things like schools, libraries, road improvements, water/sewer upgrades, and the like. Rockingham County, one of the poorest in the Triad and with the highest unemployment, wants to grab $4.3 million for a horse park. The commissioners' priorities do not lie with their constituents, it seems.

This is a Capitalist, not Socialist country. If the Equestrian Center is such a great thing there would be lots of private capital to finance it. That is not happening because the people with money know that it is not a good investment. The County Manager and Commissioners do not need to be gambling taxpayers money. Our tax rates are too high as it is. The County Manager needs to focus on other things or seek other employment.

It would appear that the county fathers have instructed Mr. Robinson that the smoke signals they see from the citizens are negative concerning the Pony Farm. If that were not the case our over paid county manager would be advising to get this thing built now. In a county as economically depressed as Rockingham is how can anyone in their right mind think this is a wise investment ? Remember folks, if the government is your largest employer, you have systemic problems of a rather large magnitude. Oh, and the Civic Center over at Wentworth University, don't get people started on that.

Since I don't live in Rockingham County I want take a stand one way or the other as to whether or not the center should be built. But I find it interesting that when health care reform is mentioned, people start crying "socialist!". But those same people are strangely quiet when public (taxpayer) funds are used for libraries, clinics, highways, parks, and countless other functions, including horse parks.

Why the double standard?

Hard heads, that describes the Rockingham County Commissioners to a "T". Sneaky too, when public opinion doesn't agree with them their favorite move is to "table the issue till the next meeting". Then they drag it out till public out cry clams down. That's what they've done with the "Pony Palace", that's what they're doing with the dog ordinance.

I do not understand how Rockingham County can own a horse park using taxpayer money. I do not recall that anyone voted for it. If it is so great, why haven't private investors already built it. I would say that one reason is that these investors have already heard what has been stated about the Lexington, VA horse park....It is a 'BUST' so, why do we want one? Rockingham County, listen to what "THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE" says. County residents, join "THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE" so that citizens' voices can be heard instead of having items rammed down our throats. Taxes are high enough - work on good jobs - not low-class jobs cleaning horse stalls.

Rockingham County commissioners will find out the same thing a few of the Greensboro Council found out and the Mass. liberals found out a few weeks ago. The people are tired of elected representatives not doing their will. The peoples memory will not fade so quickly this time. Enjoy the benefits (what ever they are) of your positions and spend like you want to until the next election.

The annual economic impact of the equine industry in North Carolina is $1.9 billion. That's right, billion. 72% of these expenditures are made in the county where any particular operation is located. It's no reach of logic to suppose that growth of an industry of this size would have a substantial effect on the state and local economies. North Carolina is perfectly positioned for growth in equine operations. We have the land, the weather, and the human know-how is already in place. If there is an economic impact study that supports a forecast of a substantial growth of industry as a result of the expenditure of a few million dollars, I don't see the Equine Center as any different from an investment in roads, airports or fire departments. Despite the facts that most of us will never fly, and even fewer of us will ever call the fire department, I believe few would deny the economic benefits of these services. Let the facts speak for themselves; if the numbers say they will come if we build it, then let's show some confidence in ourselves and build the Center.

So this promises to be a big boondoggle instead of a moderate sized one.