Founders of New Horse Therapy Program At Equestrian Center Say They Are In Limbo; Boarders Are Seeking Clarity
By Tina Traster
The Town of Ramapo is in talks to sell the town-owned Ramapo Equestrian Center to Rockland County for the Rockland County Sheriff’s Mounted Unit.
“We’re expecting to complete a sale sometime next year,” said Ramapo Town Supervisor Michael Specht. The Supervisor did not reveal the asking price for the 56-acre wooded property the town purchased in 2005 for $1.8 million and funded with bonds. But the property located at 1152 Haverstraw Road in Suffern has a market value of $7.5 million, based on the 2026 assessment role.
The purchase of the property would mean that Sheriff’s department’s mounted unit would relocate from its digs at Hasty Hills, just off Route 202 in the town of Ramapo, to the nearby Ramapo Equestrian Center.
Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco confirmed talks are in progress and is waiting for the county to effectuate the sale. The Sheriff said the Mounted Unit’s horses have been stabled and trained at Hasty Hills on 1183 Haverstraw Road, which is part of Patrick Farm, since the 1960s. But the farm has long been the subject of potential development, and Falco said, “We know the developer wants to develop it, and at some point you have to move on.” The developer’s project is undergoing SEQRA review with the Town’s land use boards.
The Mounted Unit, which is used for crowd control and other details, includes eight horses, including Clydesdales and Percherons.
“The horses do a lot of work, just like police cars,” said Falco. “They’re used for crowd control, or whenever they’re requested. Each officer on a horse is equal to ten on the ground because they are 10-foot high. They can respond to things.”
Falco said the Mounted Unit is deployed countywide but regularly patrols Suffern, Haverstraw, and Spring Valley. It also helps build good public relations, Falco said, because the horses are a tool to engage people.
Hasty Hills is used for training Rockland County law enforcement as well as mounted units statewide. The five-acre operation includes paddocks, stalls, grazing areas and quarantine sections. Falco says one advantage of the Ramapo Equestrian Center is its indoor riding arena, which Hasty Hills lacks.
“We want to be able to train 12 months of the year,” Falco said.
Meanwhile, it is unclear what will happen to the Ramapo Equestrian Center’s boarders as well as a newly launched equine therapy program.
Falco said the county “will not be in the business of boarding” because of potential liability but acknowledged he’s in discussions with horsewoman Dana Mase and her husband Barry Mase, who’ve recently launched a one-on-one equine-assisted wellness program that works with children, teens and adults who struggle with emotional issues.
“Once the county acquires the land, there will have to be discussions about liability issues,” said Falco. “If they are sued, if someone falls off a horse, who are they suing? The people who are teaching them or are they suing the county? All this needs to be talked about after the purchase.”
The program, New Horizon Riding Club, works privately with clients who use their relationships with horses to build confidence, trust, emotional regulation, and a stronger sense of connection. The program, which costs $250 per hour, but requires a minimum commitment of four sessions, also works in tandem with a client’s existing therapeutic care. The program does not accept health insurance.
Therapy sessions include riding, grooming, caring for a horse, mucking a stable or communing with horses.
“The horse gives us another way in,” said Mase, founder and executive director of New Horizon Riding Club. “We’re not simply trying to teach someone how to ride. We’re using the relationship with the horse to help someone work through something in his or her own life. Trust develops, confidence develops, and sometimes a person begins to see themselves differently.”
Barry Mase, Dana’s husband, said the program has attracted about a dozen clients so far. To date, one of the couple’s two horses, Lacey, is boarded on the property but the Mases feel like they are in limbo because they’re not sure whether the potential sale to Rockland County for its mounted unit will include an opportunity to continue their work on the property.
Barry Mase said the couple have met with town and county officials but have not been able to pin down any answers or the timing of a potential acquisition. They have seven horses that need rehoming from upstate farms, but they are reluctant to get too far underway if Ramapo sells the property without any provision to keep their program afloat.
“We know the facility well,” said Barry Mase. “There are three aisles at the center. One is completely empty. That’s the one we are using now. But it’s hard to invest without a real understanding of what’s happening. Everyone involved in this community is living in fear, afraid it will be knocked down. We are in a holding pattern.”
The Ramapo Equestrian Center offers training and lessons in English pleasure, dressage, equitation, hunter/jumper, ad show riding. It also has a full-care horse boarding facility. It hosts pony rides, birthday parties and summer camps. And it collaborates with therapeutic programs such as Full Circle Equine Centered Activities.
Riding trails are located near Harriman State Park.
But the center is “deteriorated and deteriorating” said Falco, adding the county will have to hire architects and engineers to identify the source of water issues and rot. The county will need to make a significant investment to upgrade the site.
