No shortage of space for horse owners

Tuesday, March 5, 2002 | 8:14 a.m.

Owning a horse is becoming an increasingly popular pastime around Las Vegas.

"It's really growing," said Celso Rubio, owner of the Blue Ribbon Riding Academy. "In California it's endless, but it's starting to grow in Las Vegas."

And why not? With millions of acres of wide-open spaces on which to ride, there are always new places to go, new scenery to behold deserts, mountains, lakes.

Rubio has owned his riding school, on South Bermuda Road north of Windmill Lane, for six years. Besides teaching riding and showing horses, owners board their horses at his facility.

"The academy is located out in the desert," he said. "Some people here just go down the street to ride. That way they don't have to use a trailer."

A lot of horse owners ride in the desert around West Charleston Boulevard, near Red Rock Canyon.

"There are bike trails there that horseback riders use," Rubio said.

Riders also like to use Bureau of Land Management property around Lake Mead.

"People just park on the side of the road and ride pretty much anywhere," Rubio said.

Special permits are not required when riding on BLM land (of which there is about 70 million acres statewide).

However, BLM spokeswoman Kirsten Cannon said there are guidelines.

Hikers and vehicles must yield to horseback riders, and riders need to bring enough water for their mounts. Water sources on BLM land, she said, may transmit diseases between domestic horses and wild horses and burros.

According to Cannon some of the most popular trails are at Cottonwood Valley (between Blue Diamond and Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Scenic Loop); Cold Creek (U.S. Forest Service- and BLM-managed land); and Lovell Canyon (U.S. Forest Service-managed land).

Nancy Blondeel, manager of the Las Vegas Equestrian Center at 8855 Pyrle Road, says some of the most scenic places where owners like to take their horses are in Red Rock Canyon, on Mount Charleston and at Bonnie Springs (near Blue Diamond).

Sandy Stoker lives on 2 1/2 acres of land in southwest Las Vegas, near Blue Diamond Road. She owns three horses.

Stoker said she and other riders often go onto BLM land in Red Rock Canyon and travel along old wagon trails.

"We just park, throw a saddle on our horse and go," she said.

Most of Stoker's neighbors have horses. "One neighbor down the road has three," she said. "Some have five or six."

They often ride in the area of their residences.

"We ride as far as we can, till we hit (Interstate) 215," Stoker said. "And we can go almost to Decatur (Boulevard).

"There are still some wide-open spaces in this part of town."