Nearly two years after a fire halted its construction, an equestrian center near the shores of the Jordanelle Reservoir is open to the public and ready to fill its stalls.
Part of the SkyRidge luxury housing development, the facility was previously set to open in 2023, but SkyRidge Managing Director Jack Johnson said a fire engulfed the barn and the structure was a total loss.
“It was 90% complete, and it burned down,” he said. “The state fire marshal and the local fire marshal, they could not determine what started it.”
Johnson cut the ribbon on the newly finished equestrian facilities Friday in front of a small crowd of MIDA, Wasatch County and SkyRidge leaders.
Wasatch County and MIDA — the Military Installation Development Authority — are SkyRidge’s development partners. MIDA is a state agency founded to serve veterans and military members. It’s involved in major economic development projects around the state. In addition to SkyRidge along U.S. 40, MIDA helped fund Deer Valley’s East Village just across the highway.
The equestrian center is on the southern tip of SkyRidge. It has a barn, a 7,200-square-foot heated indoor arena, a 20,000-square-foot outdoor arena, a 60-foot round pen and two miles of dedicated equestrian-only trails just north of the barn.
Johnson’s wife, Tisha Green, a horse-lover who was devastated by the 2023 fire, owns three of the nine horses already boarding at the center. She’s also managing the facility and said that as a lifelong rider, she always dreamed of owning a barn.
“I love this barn, it’s a beautiful barn,” Green said. “The whole facility is so wonderful. The horses are so happy.”
The barn has 32 waterproof stalls as well as a kitchen and room for storage. Green said the horses especially love the 72’ covered European walker.
The facility is open to the public daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Since MIDA is a funding partner, programs will be offered at discounted rates to veterans and military members, including 50% off trail rides and lessons. SkyRidge also provides transportation services for service members from Hill Air Force Base to the equestrian center.
Green said the equestrian center is meant to educate locals about horses and be a venue for events.
“We're also going to have horse shows here, which we desperately need in Utah, because there just isn't enough,” she said. “The art of the horse is not really alive right now.”
The center also wouldn’t be possible without Wasatch County.
SkyRidge is on Wasatch County land. County manager Dustin Grabau said previous county councils planned for the area to be a mixed-use development decades ago, and it’s nice to see much of it finished.
He said the equestrian center is a reflection of the county’s agricultural heritage.
“We have farmers who raise alfalfa to feed horses,” he said. “There are a lot of these spillover effects of kids who get jobs at places like this so they can get more experience dealing with equestrian events and all of that, I think aligns really well with who we are as a county.”
Half of SkyRidge's lots — about 250 — have been sold. The development also features a golf course, which will open to the public in 2026.
