Undercover Horse Arena To Officially Open

Cowra Showground, Racecourse and Paceway Land Managers will celebrate the official opening of a long-awaited undercover Horse Arena later this month.

The project was started in 2019 but due to COVID, increases in costs and a major flooding event the Arena has only recently been completed.

Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke will cut the ribbon on May 19 at 11am along with the Cowra Land Managers, Cowra RDA and Cowra Pony Club.

The Arena, on Showground Lane, has been funded by a grant of $540,000 from the NSW Government and contributions from the Cowra Crown Land Managers and Cowra Chapter of Riding for Disabled.

The massive Arena will be used by about 40 school aged children with disabilities each Wednesday in the RDA program, on weekends by Cowra Pony Club and will be available for commercial and community use by other horse enthusiasts.

The Arena allows the weekly RDA program to be held despite rain and hot weather. A large group of local volunteers support the participants in equestrian activities in a safe and fun environment. This gives them a sense of achievement, improves their quality of life, is therapeutic and develops life skills.

Included in the project was an accessible amenities block and accessible parking joined by a concrete path, making it easy for everyone to access the site.

President of Cowra RDA Dave Hawkins said previously, the lack of shelter from rain and heat had stopped the program from going ahead at times, but the undercover Arena will allow many more sessions to be held, no matter what the weather.

NSW Crown Lands, part of the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, funded the work through a Crown Reserves Improvement Fund (CRIF) grant and a Showground Stimulus Funding grant.

In addition to the undercover arena, Crown Lands also provided $466,068 to the Cowra Showground Racecourse and Paceway Land Managers to upgrade the Showground’s electrical wiring and installed a new shade structure to the existing grandstand.

More than $1 million in grants has now been provided by Crown Lands since 2020 to maintain and improve the Cowra Showground, Racecourse and Paceway.

Chairman of the Cowra CLM Chris Meiklejohn said with NSW Crown Lands support the Showground was slowly being upgraded to reach its full potential.

“There are many groups using the Showground and facilities and the CLM members want to continue to upgrade and provide safe and modern facilities for the whole community into the future.”

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