Insurance constraints are increasingly shaping how Gabriola Island's equestrian community can ride and train together, as local property owners pull back from hosting group activities over concerns about liability and home insurance, according to a report from the Gadriola Sounder.
Local rider Jet Carruthers told the Regional District of Nanaimo's Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee (POSAC) that a lack of public equestrian facilities has become a significant gap in the island's parks infrastructure, despite a long-standing horse community.
“While there are a few private riding areas on Gabriola, private property owners don’t want to take the risk of having other riders in their arena due to challenges obtaining liability insurance,” she said, as quoted by The Canadian Press, adding that reluctance to open private facilities is now a key barrier to community riding.
Fellow rider and long‑time Gabriola Horse Group member Kerry Marcus said the issue has widened from arenas to broader property coverage. Owners with horses are finding it harder to secure or renew home insurance, she said, where previously it had been routine. As a result, informal clinics with instructors and coaches that used to be common have dropped off sharply.
The situation reflects a familiar pattern in Canada’s equine and farm markets. Standard home policies rarely contemplate commercial‑style exposures such as boarding, lessons or organized events, and more risks are being pushed into specialist farm and equine packages that combine dwelling and outbuilding cover with farm and commercial general liability. Those policies typically respond to participant and third‑party injury, but underwriting appetite is narrow and pricing has risen in line with broader liability and property market hardening.
Carruthers has proposed that the Regional District develop a public 30‑by‑60‑metre riding arena at Rollo McClay Community Park, using previously disturbed land to minimise environmental impact. The facility could host clinics, gymkhanas and lessons, and potentially double as a dog‑use area when not needed for horses.
Parks staff pointed out, however, that one suggested location is now a gravel soccer pitch and another has been converted into overflow parking, underscoring competing demands on finite park space. Electoral Area B director Vanessa Craig also noted that a community arena was not raised during consultation for the Gabriola Recreation and Parks Master Plan and said the district must prioritise projects already identified as multi‑year priorities, though the idea will stay on a watch list.
Marcus believes a public arena would nevertheless gain broad support within the horse community and could help recruit new participants through more visible, structured activities such as horsemanship classes and equine‑assisted therapy.
A shift from informal private use to a shared or municipally run facility would also change how risk is allocated. Across Canada, municipalities typically require community groups using public spaces to carry commercial general liability – often $2 million or $5 million – and to list the municipality as an additional insured.
On the other hand, many local governments have seen their own liability and property premiums rise on the back of extreme‑weather losses, inflation and cyber risk, putting scrutiny on any new recreation exposure.
Within the equestrian sector, several provincial and national associations offer group liability programs for clubs and events that extend cover to landowners when their property is used for organised activities. At the same time, some sports and recreation underwriters now exclude “stables and riding academies” from standard multi‑use facility policies, forcing these risks into specialist markets with tighter terms and higher minimum premiums.
The Gabriola Horse Group is set to discuss the arena concept at its March 29 annual meeting, including whether a grassroots model is feasible.
Any move toward a community-run facility would also require answers to familiar questions around minimum limits, participant waivers, safety protocols and the use of additional-insured endorsements to protect both public authorities and private landowners.
