Horse owners working to rein in new rules

MIDDLEBOROUGH -- Horse owners are rearing up against stable regulations proposed by the town's Health Department, with plans to speak out at a workshop scheduled for 7 p.m. tomorrow at Town Hall.

Robert Yunits, owner of the Paso Fino del Fuego farm on Rocky Meadow Street, said he has distributed a copy of the draft regulations to every horse owner in town. The rules are an attempt by officials to micromanage horse farms, Yunits said. ''My two stables are better than most people's homes, but they would fail to meet the regulations because they don't have sprinkler systems," he said.

Ellen ''Charlie" Williams, a member of the Southeast Chapter of the Bay State Trail Riders Association, shares his outrage. The stalls in her Rocky Meadow Street barn have proven adequate for her five horses for more than 20 years, Williams said, but they would be too small to meet the Health Department's proposed standards.

Animal Health Inspector Bart Harrison, the author of the proposed rules, said the revisions are ''in the best interest of the animals and of the public health." Harrison said there are about 600 horses in town, and at least 30 stables do not have permits.

Harrison also said he is willing to listen to horse owners' concerns tomorrow.

''I just hope it's not going to be a scream fest," he said.

Harrison said Yunits and some other owners are overreacting, with their set-ups likely to be exempt from the new rules since they are already established. Yunits, however, said the draft proposal does not indicate that anyone would be excused.

Acting as the Board of Health, selectmen last fall asked the town's Agricultural Commission to work with the Health Department to develop new stable regulations. Commission chairwoman Darlene Anastas said her panel appointed a subcommittee that included some of its members, horse owners, and a veterinarian. After several months of work, the subcommittee produced some general regulations on a single page, accompanied by a packet of guidelines outlining good management practices for horse and stable owners.

The proposal was forwarded to the Health Department.

But by the time the Agricultural Commission's proposed regulations arrived, Harrison was finishing his own draft, which was more detailed and restrictive. For example, the commission's proposal has no minimum lot size, while Harrison's requires 4,000 square feet per horse. Harrison's regulations also set minimum stall sizes, ceiling heights in barns, fence heights, and size requirements for lean-to structures.

The Health Department ''never contacted us so we weren't aware they were doing their own regulations," Anastas said.

She also called Harrison's package punitive.

''If it's a permitting process, I think it should be friendly and helpful, to encourage agriculture to remain in this town," she said. ''Every planning decision that's been made specifies it's a priority that the town retain its agricultural character."

Some horse owners have voiced support for the Agricultural Commission's version.

''I don't want to fight with anybody in the town, but I do want [officials] to understand the horse owners' point of view," said Yunits, who described Harrison's proposed regulations as ''ridiculous."

Health Inspector Jeanne Spalding said the Health Department's proposal is simply a draft, intended to be fine-tuned at meetings like tomorrow's workshop.

The Agricultural Commission's proposal ''has a lot of good information in it, and shows they did a lot of hard work," she said. ''Our job is to educate people, and the handouts they did will be helpful."

Anastas, who said her commission's charge is to represent the town's farmers, said she hopes tomorrow night's session will be ''a friendly workshop so we can get something done."

Spalding said the meeting is intended as a working session for health officials and the Agricultural Commission, not a forum to gather public input.

A similar controversy arose last fall in Duxbury, after the town's Health Department proposed revisions to its stable regulations. After sharp criticism by horse owners, the town formed a study committee composed of horse owners, a veterinarian, and local health and zoning officials to review the proposed changes.

Christine Wallgren can be reached at CLWallgren@aol.com