Wesley Clover Parks facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wesley Clover Parks |
|
|---|---|
Entrance to equestrian park
|
|
| Location | 401 Corkstown Road Ottawa, Ontario K2H 8T1 |
| Area | 500 acres (200 ha) |
| Owned by | National Capital Commission |
| Operated by | Wesley Clover Foundation |
The Wesley Clover Parks is a large outdoor park in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It's a great place for sports, nature, and especially horse riding! The park is located where two big highways, the 416 and 417, meet.
Wesley Clover Parks officially opened in 2014. Before that, it was known as the Nepean National Equestrian Park. The Wesley Clover Foundation took over running the park and the nearby Ottawa Municipal Campground.
Contents
What You Can Find at Wesley Clover Parks
Wesley Clover Parks covers a huge area of 500 acres (200 ha)s. That's like 500 football fields! It has many cool features for horse lovers and nature explorers.
Here's what you can find:
- Stables and a big indoor arena for horses.
- Several outdoor sand rings for riding lessons and practice.
- Lots of open grassy areas where horses can roam.
- A special cross-country course for horse riding competitions. This course has different difficulty levels.
- A large wooded area where local wildlife lives.
- A campground if you want to stay overnight.
Fun Things to Do at Wesley Clover Parks
The park is a busy place with many exciting events and activities all year round.
Some of the main horse events include:
- Ottawa Equestrian Tournaments
- Ottawa Horse Day
- Wesley Clover Parks Bronze/Silver Hunter/Jumper Horse Shows
- Ottawa Horse Trials
Other groups also use the park for their own horse shows and events. Past events have included Polo in the Park Ottawa and the Ottawa Dressage Festival.
Wesley Clover Parks is also a popular spot for other activities. Many charity runs, endurance races, and festivals happen here. It's a great place for outdoor sports and fun events.
The park also grows over 100 acres of hay to feed its more than 55 horses and one donkey. This helps the park be more sustainable. They even have over 300,000 honey bees living in 6 hives on site! This helps support the local bee population.
A Look Back: The History of the Parks
The idea for the Nepean National Equestrian Park started way back in 1974. A person named Ted De Long wanted to create a place where anyone could learn to ride horses. He wanted it to be affordable, even if you couldn't buy your own horse.
The park was also meant to help girls get involved in sports. At the time, many city sports programs like hockey were mostly for boys. The park aimed to offer both English and Western riding styles. It also planned to have other activities like horse-drawn skiing!
The stables were built in 1976. The indoor arena took a bit longer and was finished in 1981.
In 2012, the City of Ottawa stopped managing the park. The riding school closed, and the horses were sold. But then, the Wesley Clover Foundation stepped in. This foundation is a non-profit group connected to a famous business person named Terry Matthews.
The Foundation plans to invest a lot of money to make the park even better. They want to build a new riding school with help from Canadian Olympic rider Ian Millar. They also plan to improve the show grounds, add new seating for visitors, and create new horseback riding trails.
The park will also have non-horse activities. These include new sports fields, a home for the royal swans, an outdoor skating rink, and trails for skiing and hiking. There will even be a nature school for young children. The goal is to bring in more international horse events and encourage more people to enjoy outdoor sports.
In 2014, Anne, Princess Royal (a member of the British Royal Family) visited the park. She dedicated a riding ring, which is now called The Princess Royal Riding Ring.
A modern artificial turf soccer field was built at the park. This field was used as a practice area for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Exciting Events You Might Remember
Wesley Clover Parks has hosted many memorable events.
- The first Ottawa International Horse Show was held from June 17 to 21, 2015. Famous riders like Ian Millar and Amy Millar competed. Elizabeth Bates won the big Brookstreet Grand Prix event.
- The first Ottawa National Horse Show took place from July 13 to 17, 2016. Ian Millar won the $50,000 Brookstreet Grand Prix.
- A special riding clinic with famous trainer George H. Morris happened in October 2015.
- Superstar singer Shania Twain performed a concert here on June 27, 2015. It was her only outdoor show in North America on that tour! About 24,000 people came to watch her perform.
- The Ottawa Fall Horse Trials were held on September 25, 2016.
