Friday, May 8, 2009

Abandoned Horse Farm


Lately I've been driving down Ellington Road on the outer Eastern fringe of Jefferson County and have been very curious about a certain horse farm there called Betsy Webb Stables, which had been seemingly abandoned and left to rot. Fields unmowed and waving in hay, debris everywhere, the fence falling apart, and nary an Appaloosa in sight.

Usually when passing by it, I happen not to have my camera with me (When, oh when, will I learn to keep it with me at all times?). But this morning, after getting all tanked up on caffeine after Catclaw's daily morning meeting at Starbucks, I was all set for a photo expedition.

But when I got there, I'll be damned if they weren't bulldozing the place! I watched in horror as a couple o' Komatsu excavators made a mess of what had been a lovely blue barn.



However, all is not quite lost. Doing some research online just now, I found the site is not abandoned after all - the existing farm is being razed to make room for Webb's newer and grander project - the Louisville Equestrian Center, which will reportedly consist of "a single-purpose riding complex with three buildings — two large indoor riding arenas and a barn with 100 climate-controlled stalls". Could be a pip.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I used to ride at Betsy Webb (Ellingsworth) and that barn served its purpose. It was pretty rundown after years of use. RIP old Betsy Webb barn. The new place is awesome, state-of-the-art! A huge step up.

Thanks for posting the pictures. It's interesting to see the demolition of the first place I took a lesson.