Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park is clear to host horse shows in the years ahead, as its managers have completed a major stormwater management project that forced the venue’s closure earlier this year and put its future in jeopardy.

The Ridland Group, which leases the facility, announced this week that it has completed the major infrastructure project to keep contaminated stormwater out of San Juan Creek, an important waterway that supports aquatic habitats and flows into Doheny State Beach. The work resolves a dispute that threatened to shut down the park again this month, securing its future as a show venue. 

The horse park closed abruptly April 25, when nonprofit clean water advocacy group Orange County Coastkeeper announced equestrian activities had to stop immediately due to The Ridland Group’s failure to complete infrastructure improvements outlined in a 2018 agreement to mitigate stormwater runoff from the show grounds. The closure forced the relocation of several shows, and the U.S. Equestrian Federation subsequently reallocated some other 2024 show dates scheduled for the venue due to its uncertain future.

In late May, Coastkeeper and The Ridland Group reached an agreement to reopen the facility through mid-November, contingent upon certain planning and construction deadlines being met. While The Ridland Group’s Bleinheim EquiSports reapplied for seven of the 10 show dates it initially had been allocated at Rancho Mission Viejo, USEF gave it only five of those shows. The shows originally scheduled for the San Juan Capistrano, California, facility but moved elsewhere in California included the high profile Adequan/USEF Junior Hunter National Championships—West, which went to Del Mar Horsepark, and the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Final—West, which moved to Desert International Horse Park.

In September, Bleinheim relinquished management of another major show, the Las Vegas National.

When the Las Vegas National management change was announced, Robert Ridland, who runs both The Ridland Group and Blenheim EquiSports with his wife, Hillary Ridland, explained in an email that his focus was on completing work at Rancho Mission Viejo to secure the park’s future, with construction starting immediately at the end of Blenheim’s September show series. The company, he wrote at the time, was “in the midst of two back-to-back sold-out shows, and 100% of our focus is on the long-term vision for the riding park.”

With the infrastructure work now complete, The Ridland Group has met its obligations to Coastkeeper. The year ahead will simply involve observing the system to ensure it works as expected, a Coastkeeper representative said.

“We extend our sincere congratulations to The Ridland Group for completing this project ahead of schedule,” Garry Brown, founder and president of Orange County Coastkeeper, said in a statement. “We are excited to observe the new system during the upcoming rainy season and are confident in its success.” 

Coastkeeper hopes the stormwater capture system can serve as a national model, proving that large-scale equestrian centers can be effective watershed stewards.

The riding park is now ready to host equestrian events next year. USEF has not yet released a complete hunter/jumper show calendar for 2025.