Cecil County — An International Leader in Equestrian Activity

This article was originally published by I-95 Business Magazine on April 12, 2022.

By Meredith Glacken – Home to the Maryland 5-Star at Fair Hill, the 86th running of the Fair Hill Races, internationally recognized breeding operations, training facilities, therapeutic riding programs, and more, the horse industry has always fueled the beating heart of Cecil County, Maryland. In recent years, the region has become an even more active hotbed of equine business.

“There’s always been a lot happening with horses in Cecil County,” says Joann Dawson of the place she’s lived and worked for more than two decades.

Dawson and her husband Ted own Fairwinds Farm and Stables in the town of Northeast, Maryland, where they keep 26 horses on 52 acres of idyllic landscape. The couple moved from Delaware in 1999, in search of a location with enough land to run a working horse farm that was also close to economic centers. They settled on Cecil County as the perfect place to start their business. Dawson says it has grown to include riding lessons, a wedding venue, film locations, a bed and breakfast, and more.

Fairwinds is also a Maryland designated Horse Discovery Center, inviting people of all ages to experience and learn about horses – often for the first time. “Our purpose is to welcome people and teach them something. We have had a lot of people who just stopped by to watch a lesson or take a trail ride and they come back again and again,” she notes.

Dawson says that more visitors were tapping into those opportunities during the Covid-19 pandemic. “We went from 70 riding students before the pandemic to 120 students now. People wanted to get out of the house and were looking for outdoor activities where they could be socially distanced. We got a lot of people on horses for the first time.”

“We love what we do, and we work seven days a week,” she continues. “We love introducing people to horses. There’s a lot of pride in horses in this state.” And she’s right. According to the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Horse Industry Board, there are approximately 200 equine organizations in the state and 16,000 horse farms and stables, many of those located in Cecil County.

“About 52 percent of Marylanders consider themselves horse enthusiasts,” says Jeffrey Newman, who is CEO of the Maryland 5-star at Fairhill equestrian event. Newman heads the new annual riding competition at Fairhill International in Elkton, which boasts world-class training and eventing venues. “5-star” is the top level of eventing for the dressage, showjumping, and cross-country riding disciplines, and the Maryland 5-Star is one of only seven prestigious 5-star riding competitions in the world, and one of two that take place in the U.S.

Newman says that Cecil County was the obvious choice to host the four-day elite sporting event. “It’s ideally situated 45 minutes from Baltimore, 45 minutes from the Delaware border, and 45 minutes from Philly – all places that, along with Maryland, have very active equestrian communities.”

2021 was the first year for the four-day elite sporting event, and attendance exceeded expectations with more than 21,000 tickets sold. The competition featured 184 competitors from all over the world and brought in more than 13,000 visitors from out of state. In addition to those who attended in-person, an estimated 140,000 viewers from all over the world tuned in to watch the event’s more than 13 hours of live coverage on broadcast television as well as online on the USEF Network and Horse & Country livestreams.

Maryland 5-Star attendance is expected to rise over the next four years and could welcome as many as 80,000 spectators to Fair Hill annually, according to Newman. County Executive Danielle Hornberger says Cecil County’s local economy got a major boost from the arrival of the competition. “Spectators and competitors who were here for the event booked rooms, shopped, dined, and supported our local businesses. It was a wonderful week to showcase Cecil County to the world.”

The Horse Industry Board estimates that Maryland’s competition sector has a total economic impact of $270 million annually and supports more than 3,000 workers. Cecil County will showcase the Maryland 5-Star competition again this year from October 13-16. “The organizing committee is hard at work planning this year’s Maryland 5-Star at Fairhill,” says Hornberger. “We’re excited to grow this event year over year and create an unrivaled atmosphere for seasoned horse professionals and first timers alike.”

In addition to family horse farms and competition facilities, Cecil County is also home to a variety of other equine businesses. “Cecil’s horse industry is incredibly diverse,” says Maureen O’Shea Fitzgerald, the agriculture business coordinator for the Cecil County Department of Agriculture. “There are therapeutic riding centers, breeders, even farms where racehorses go to retire.”

“Our therapeutic riding centers offer differently abled people unique opportunities to experience the thrill of riding and our breeding farms are world-renowned and equipped with cutting edge technology,” she continues. “This wealth of activity comes with an added benefit, as all of these farms and equestrian facilities protect so much land.”

Horse farms in Maryland comprise 705,000 acres, which make up 25 percent of Maryland agricultural lands, and represent 10 percent of all land in the state. In Cecil County, Winbak Farms cares for Maryland’s largest piece of contiguous preserved farmland. Specializing in breeding, raising, and selling horses, Winbak operates on close to 3,000 acres of lush pasture, making it the industry’s largest single family owned and operated breeding farm.

“It’s remarkable how much our equine businesses do to safeguard our rural communities’ beautiful landscapes, agricultural upbringing, and even the Chesapeake Bay,” says County Executive Hornberger.

Cecil County sits atop the northernmost stretch of the Chesapeake Bay and five rivers intersect nearby. With a thoughtfulness for protecting the land and the local environment, many farmers and equine businesses plant cover crops in the winter to prevent soil erosion and runoff into these waterways. Farms in Cecil County are singled out year after year for their excellence in cover crop planting by organizations like the Sand County Foundation, whose mission is to support and promote voluntary conservation on working lands through science, ethics, and incentives. In addition, Cecil County’s well-maintained horse pastures during the warmer months function as natural water filters and fix carbon in the soil.

County Executive Hornberger says she is proud of Cecil County’s equestrian heritage and the local contributions it makes to the state and country, as well as internationally. She expresses her hope that the county will see even more people visiting in the next few years to appreciate the horses, watch events, and support the local businesses.

“Right now, Cecil County horses are the highest valued in the state. They rank 18th in the country. And it’s not hard to see why. They’re special animals. I’ve spent time around horses since I was a kid, so I’m thrilled that more people are beginning to discover them here,” Hornberg says. I95

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