At its Oct. 21 meeting, the board of selectmen honored the Granby Horse Council’s 45 years of service to the community. Horse council member Kristal Fiorentino gave a slide presentation covering the council’s origin and activities during the past four decades.
In 1979, a team from Yale University was doing an environmental study of McLean Game Refuge that involved trail usage. Lael Farm owner Barbara Greenwood was asked to organize a group of responsible horse people to create a unified voice to represent and communicate horse-related issues. Thus began the Granby Horse Council (GHC.)
A few years after the formation of the GHC, the Town of Granby proposed a drastic revision of the zoning regulations that would have zoned out many of the horses (and other animals) residing on modestly sized properties. The GHC mobilized a turnout of approximately 500 very vocal homeowners at the planning and zoning meeting where the revision would be discussed. Planning and zoning was receptive to the concerns and enlisted the council’s help in writing new zoning regulations that accommodated backyard horses and other animals. In time, people with equine-related interests were elected to the P & Z, giving even better representation to those with animal interests.
In 1992, an article in the Hartford Courant titled For the Horses and Horse Enthusiasts, Granby Offers a Home on the Range. It noted, “In this little town of 9,600, there is no horse industry, no race track or equestrian training center to entice the horsy crowd to settle here. Once a farming community, Granby is now an outlying countrified suburb, yet it offers horse owners something they see disappearing in other towns across Connecticut—a zoning code that makes keeping a horse on your own property affordable and trouble-free. The regulations are a testament to the foresight of what may be Granby’s most powerful single-interest group, the Granby Horse Council.”
The GHC’s mission has evolved to promote the protection of the rights of equines and horse people in the town of Granby and its surrounding areas; the education of horse owners and the public; educational and charitable causes in the community; trail riding, parades and demonstrations; and maintenance of local multi-use trails and exercise rings at Salmon Brook Park and Holcomb Farm.
Membership in the GHC is open to all. Owning horses is not a requirement, but loving them is. The council produces a newsletter to inform those interested in its activities. To learn more, go to GranbyhorsecouncilCT.com or follow on Facebook at Granby (CT) Horse Council.
