With regard to the application for Blue River Horse Center to use the Silverthorne rodeo site for their summer activities, I would like to encourage the Summit County commissioners to consider the application favorably. I have been a volunteer and board member for five-plus years and have seen many transformations, both human and equine, while at the center. Many children come to us with no experience of handling large animals, and to see them blossom in confidence and awareness is incredibly rewarding.

Being closer to the Summit County towns will enable many more volunteers to reach the site easily, especially those without their own transportation. While we are aware of the potential difficulties of the site — availability of water, security for the horses and manure disposal — these have been addressed, and we believe that properly equipping the site with water, hay, security, fencing, etc., will be a great benefit to the community including providing a much better resource in case of evacuations.

We really appreciate the support that the community has shown us, and we hope to be able to offer programs beginning in May 2021. To sign the petition, please go to Change.org.