Friends of Riverbend

We the undersigned are petitioning your decision to eliminate all animal programs at the Riverbend Equestrian Park located at 175 Riverbend Road. This park is the only publicly owned equestrian park in South Carolina and has been since it opened in 1990. For the past 19 years, the park has offered Greenville a one-of-a-kind place for our community. Riverbend offers a therapeutic riding program for disabled children and riding lessons for any level. Riverbend is focused on teaching safety, classical riding techniques and communication between horse and rider. In the past, the park offered group lessons, but due to funding cuts there is only one horse available for private lessons.

The park also offers boarding and use of the property for privately owned horses which is great for anyone living in the city or county. Riverbend offers birthday parties with hay rides and pony rides, a petting zoo, summer riding camps, and even fieldtrips and bonfires for student-adult groups. Riverbend is a public park where anyone can take there family and enjoy the experience and excitement of petting a farm animal or riding a horse or pony.

Greenville is rapidly growing and we need a place like this. Riverbend Equestrian Park gives Greenville an advantage over other counties. Greenville has public ball fields, ice skating rink, dog parks, water parks, even a skate park and we deserve to keep our equestrian park as well. Nowhere in the state of South Carolina is a public place that you can go with your family and experience what Riverbend has to offer. If you take that away Greenville will be no different than any other county. 
We believe the county has not advertised or promoted to its full advantage the unique features that Riverbend has to offer. It is very likely that there are people living in Greenville County that do not know about Riverbend at all, and have been missing out on enjoying a wonderful part of our county. 

I have lived in Greenville all my life and the sudden news of changes at the park saddens me. My daughter takes riding lessons at the park and the staff is wonderful with the children. We hope you realize how important this park is not only to the residents of Greenville but also to the state of South Carolina. We want everyone to have the opportunity to experience the features that Riverbend has to offer.

Please do not take away any of our animals and South Carolina's only publicly owned equestrian park. We want to keep this park open with it's animals and other programs for generations to come.