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Purposes of Lake Oswego Hunt

The purposes of Lake Oswego Hunt have evolved over the years since its creation in 1936.

• Past Purposes of Lake Oswego Hunt
  • 1936 – 1980’s
  • 1980’s to 2005
• Present Purposes
  • Community Outreach
  • Historical Significance
  • Organizing Documents and Member Requirements

• Future Purposes

Past Purposes of Lake Oswego Hunt

1936 – 1980’s

The Lake Oswego Hunt, Inc. (LOH) was originally formed as a non-profit corporation in 1936, and built a wooden barn, stables, inside riding arena and polo field on donated land. The 1936 Articles of Incorporation stated the LOH purposes at that time to be to:

1. Conduct, foster and promote benevolent charitable enterprises.
2. Enlarge public interest in horse-related sports and thereby reduce cruelty to horses.
3. Provide, without profit, suitable facilities for equine sports, competitions, demonstrations, and meetings of interested people.
4. Provide horse-boarding facilities.
5. Be open to the public.
6. Improve the physical and mental capacities of individuals through equine sportsmanship.

Since its early years, LOH has been an important part of the community life of Lake Oswego, Oregon, with regularly scheduled polo matches drawing attendance of the public, and many other horse-centered activities and shows for its members and the surrounding community. The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Posse, formed during WWII to patrol the Oregon Coast for U-boats, were members of LOH.

HIDDEN: The Lake Oswego Hunt’s historical importance to the community of Lake Oswego during this period is well documented in the attached report, “Lake Oswego Hunt: Investigating Alternative Landscape Scales: A History of Landscape Change in the Equestrian Lifestyle”.

1980’s to 2005

1. The education of the general public and its members in the humane care, training, and showmanship of equines through the conduct of its equestrian riding school and facility, the Lake Oswego Hunt and Riding School, and through continuing education and clinics;
2. To offer comprehensive equitation programs for children and adults (horses and equipment supplied) from beginning riding and equine care to upper level programs in the following disciplines:  Hunter/jumper, combined training and dressage.  These educational courses, classes, and clinics to be structured in design and content to affect a decrease in the neglect and cruelty to horses through education of the general public, with a specific emphasis on instruction in humane horsemanship to youth and teens (See Rules for Humane Treatment of Equines);
3. To provide a healthy, instructional and supportive environment to youth and teens in which to promote equine sport and further the human and horse connection; and to thereby affect a decrease in juvenile delinquency.
4. To foster abused, neglected, and/or abandoned horses whenever space and resources permit;
5. To maintain, preserve, restore and protect the historical significance and structural integrity of all physical structures and grounds.
6. To provide exhibitions, open to the public, throughout the year, creating opportunities for the surrounding community to enjoy and appreciate this nationally significant historical property (listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986).

The LOH Riding School is open to the public and is non-discriminatory by policy Its curriculum emphasizes the proper care of horses, developing competent riders and engaging the public in equestrian sports.  The Riding School, in addition to its regular classes, offers week-long day camps during spring break and summer vacation.  Since its inception, the Riding School has instructed over 4,000 students, averaging around 200 students annually.

The Riding School program is supplemented by advanced training programs in Dressage, Eventing, and Hunter/Jumpers.  This array of equestrian programs provides a positive and supportive environment for youth and teen-agers, specifically teen-age girls who comprise a large portion of the riders at LOH.  Competition, while available, is not stressed in the Riding School.  Successes are demonstrated in “graduation” ceremonies, akin to a musical recital.  Advanced training programs include competitions as an important facet of learning.

In the 1980s LOH also began a therapeutic riding program for handicapped and disadvantaged individuals.  This program was the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.   For the past four years LOH has also hosted the Oregon State Games for Special Needs – Equestrian, making its facilities and grounds available for this state-sponsored event.

In 2004, LOH began hosting local high school equestrian team practices.   From 2004 until 2008, LOH hosted the Iron Mountain Vaulters and an equestrian vaulting program. Vaulting is an equestrian sport that involves balance, coordination and a strong human-horse connection.

Present Purposes

LOH Community Outreach

In the 1980s, LOH began two sets of equestrian competitions, which it continues to sponsor annually:

1. LOH Summer Horse Trials and,
2. LOH Summer Dressage Show.

Both of the above events are the longest continuously running competitions of their respective kinds in the Pacific Northwest.  The Horse Trials are a series of confidence-building equestrian events, popular with both riders and the general public.  The Summer Dressage Show is also a popular and well-known equestrian event in the Pacific Northwest.  It typically pulls in several hundred spectators over its 3-5-day run.  Both of these events are open to the general public and surrounding community at no charge.

For several years, LOH has also put on a “Festival of the Horse”, an introduction to various breeds and uses of horses, with exhibitions and displays of many aspects of horsemanship and horse capabilities.  Most of the shows and clinics at LOH are free to spectators, and are advertised to attract community interest.  The numbers of spectators have ranged from up to a hundred for small shows to about 5,000 for the Festival of the Horse.  The barn is open to school tours and parents bringing children down to see the horses on a daily basis.  Recently a nearby college brought by several students who had never seen a real horse, only pictures.

Historical Significance of the Lake Oswego Hunt, Inc.

In 1987, LOH was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  This recognition established, on a national level, the importance of Lake Oswego Hunt’s historic and social role in its surrounding community, the unique architectural structure of its buildings, and LOH members’ desire to preserve this living history for the community.  LOH is the only non-residential facility in the Lake Oswego, Oregon community, having historic status, which is still in its original use.

In 2003, the Lake Oswego Heritage Council at Heritage House (also a nationally recognized historic property) installed a plaque at LOH recognizing its historic place in the community. 

The preservation and restoration of the Lake Oswego Hunt historic facility as a working riding venue is an on-going activity, and complements the educational activities about current horse-care and the changes in norms from the early 20^th century to today.

The Lake Oswego Hunt formed a Historic Preservation Committee, comprised of 13 individuals, who meet monthly to discuss and plan for the historic preservation and restoration of the building and grounds. 

Periodic historic tours describing its role in the community, and its architectural and historical uniqueness, contribute to the educational role of LOH.

Organizing Documents and Member Requirements

In 1992, the members voted to amend the Articles of Incorporation to ensure that if LOH were dissolved, the proceeds after payment of debts would be given to charitable organizations devoted to the health, well-being, and sporting excellence of horses.

LOH subscribes to the Rules for Humane Treatment of Equines and the USA Equestrian Statement of Principle.

In the mid-1990s, volunteer requirements were developed for members, enabling LOH to reduce costs and generate greater net income from shows and events which support its educational and other charitable activities.

Future Purposes

Future activities include continuation of current educational activities, including speakers on horses and horse health issues, continued support of the Riding School and its riding camps, therapeutic riding instruction, bringing Pony Club (an international organization providing education about horses and horsemanship) back to LOH, and other public events and clinics educating riders and non-riders alike about equine topics. 

LOH will also continue use of its facility for boarding horses, for putting on shows and events, and providing a venue for education activities of other charitable groups.  In May of 2005, the LOH hosted a tribute to a local stallion  which has been selected for national recognition, and in the same month, the City of Lake Oswego recognized the facility’s historic status with the presentation of a plaque.

LOH will also continue to provide continuing education via its professional programs in Dressage, Eventing and Hunters/Jumpers for Riding School graduates and more serious competitors.  These programs enable LOH to connect with and help support the larger equine community in the Pacific Northwest, providing a meeting place for competitions and for organizations supporting our educational mission.

LOH continues to provide boarding facilities for up to 70 horses, including the Riding School, members, and the general public.

LOH will, through the activities of its Historical Preservation Committee, prepare a formal historic and preservation plan organizing this effort in compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.