Earlier in March, a few strongly-worded letters that took a jab at Osoyoos’ Desert Park Equine Facility & Racetrack came to the surface.

In one of the letters written by Manitobans Debbie and Marvin Buffalo, they write about their experience at Desert Park, outlining specifically the lack of maintenance at the facility.

Debbie said she remembers there were boards with nails sticking out on the ground in the pens, dead birds in the stalls, and an unsafe racetrack that wasn’t watered or harrowed well.

The Buffalos were supposed to stay at the park, training their seven horses from October 2020 to April 2021, but left early in March.

They conclude their letter by suggesting that the facility needs a change in management for them to even consider returning.

“I truly feel that somebody needs to try to take the place over, not a board. Unfortunately, even if they have their best intentions, which I am afraid they don’t, there’s so many different people,” said Debbie.

Bobbie Fisher, former president of Desert Park, writes that Johnny Aantjes, a Penticton businessman (who has expressed an interest in Desert Park), should take over the facility.

Desert Park Society and the Town of Osoyoos had a meeting with Aantjes a few weeks ago to discuss his goals and expectations for Desert Park. Due to a non-disclosure agreement, the specifics of the meeting are unclear.

However, Rod Trites, president of Desert Park Society, said that even before their meeting, Aantjes approached the board to let them know that he had letters which he will send to the media.

Aanjtes said he first became aware of some concerns at Desert Park through some customers at his animal feed store, The Feedway.

“It has been a lot of years that the society has been running the park, and in my opinion, they’ve had a lot of years to make something better out of it and it hasn’t really happened” said Aantjes, adding that “it might be a time for a little bit of different direction and different management.”

A letter by Jared Brown also encourages a change in management, while claiming that the current board are “self-serving” folks.

Desert Park Society is a non-profit organization, with all the board members being volunteers. The new board was elected in July 2020.

The park has been overwhelmingly busy for the past year as many horse trainers who normally go to the U.S., have instead come to Osoyoos. There are currently 80 horses at the facility, 70 of those being race horses.

According to their presentation to Osoyoos Town Council on Jan. 26, Desert Park reports a 50 per cent increase in revenue in 2020 over 2019. They expect a successful 2021 as well with a 60 per cent revenue increase over 2020.

Trites lives across from the racetrack. In the mornings he has a cup of coffee from his house and watches the horses training.

His interest in joining the board started with wanting to have a part in helping conserve the facility.

“Our objective at that time, as new board members, was to preserve the property, try to find ways to increase revenue for the property, and to basically investigate as to where the money needs to be spent,” Trites said. 

He also stated that the board did understand there was an ongoing lack of maintenance in the property for a long time.

So when the new board took over, fixing maintenance issues was a priority for them. Trites explained how they already finished doing electrical inspections for all the barns. The society is continuing to work through a long list of goals for the coming year to improve the facility. This includes repairing the sewer system for RV sites and replacing older equipment.

The lack of watering on the racetrack was a concern for a number of tenants, according to Trites, but he said the board, unfortunately, has no control over the water.

The Town of Osoyoos controls the water, deciding when to turn it on and off. They normally turn it back on in April. However, the water had been turned on last week to help out Desert Park, said Gerald Davis, Director of Community Services for the town.

When he recently went to the facility to check on it, something Davis does on a regular basis, he said the place looked great, with a lot of horses training there. 

Davis added the concerns that have come up recently might have to do with the fact that some trainers came to Desert Park expecting a top-tier, class-A track, when in reality, the society is more like a class-B track. Trites agreed with this statement.

“The individuals you’re referring to who complained about the track, and complained vehemently, it was their first year here. They generally go to Arizona, and I think they were expecting a class-A track like they would have in Arizona. But unfortunately, that’s not what we are,” Trites said.

“I’ve seen their [letters] saying the track is unsafe and yet their horses were all on that track training. So I’m not sure if they honestly believed the track was unsafe, why they would put their horses or themselves at risk to be out training,” said Trites.

The town has a licence of occupation agreement with the society which is due to expire December 2021. Those who have recently come out with complaints are strongly recommending the town not renew their lease with the society, but take another direction instead.

Davis said he has spoken to Aantjes, but it has not been a formal proposal. Both Davis and Trites have expressed their openness to discuss with Aantjes how he could contribute to the park itself. Trites said the society would be more than happy if Aantjes decided to donate money or equipment to the facility and in turn provide his businesses with advertising, perhaps even name a barn after him.

However, Aantjes has made it clear that he would rather have a hands-on control of the place.

“What it’s going to take for that place to turn around is a significant investment in time, money and management; I’m not very good at being under somebody else’s direction. I’d much rather take the ball and run with it,” said Aantjes.

The society is going into their third meeting with town council this week to specifically discuss and work on their agreement.

“According to the agreement, [the board is] doing exactly what they said they would do as per document. They’re not doing anything other than norm. There’s no reason to think that what they’re doing is jeopardizing the park or anything like that,” said Davis.

“We’re keeping on track with our goals. We plan on going through with our negotiations with the town. And we’ve done substantial improvements to the property since this new board has taken over. And we are moving forward as opposed to going backwards,” said Lee Mcleod, vice president of Desert Park

Mcleod said that this is the first time in a long time that the park has received so much notice, and the reason it’s getting noticed is because of all the changes the new board is making.

“The interest in the park has been excellent; it keeps growing day by day,” Mcleod said. And it’s because of this attention, he suggests, that people on the outside are interested in the park itself.