Cliff Yamashita, a retired tow truck driver, owns Miley and her new colt, Titan. Like most of his fellow boarders, he likes to go riding at nearby Point Pinole Regional Shoreline. He said he would probably have to sell both animals if he gets kicked out.
“I can’t afford the other stables,” he said. “Nobody here can. There are nicer stables, sure, but they charge you for that. As long as the horse is taken care of, it doesn’t mind what the stable looks like.”
Inspectors from the city and from the animal control department visited the property this month. A spokesman for the animal control department said the animals all looked fine.
“The horses were all healthy, with food and water,” said Steve Burdo, a spokesman for the department. “There were no issues of abuse or neglect.”
Code enforcement officers issued abatement orders and installed padlocks on the gates leading to what they said were the illegal dumps next door, but allowed the horses to remain. Horse owners said the city inspectors told them they did not even know there was a stable on the property. City Manager Bill Lindsay said the stable had operated “under the radar.”
At that, the horse owners whinnied in disbelief. It’s not easy, they said, to hide 100 horses for 17 years.
News from SFGate.com. My thoughts on the role of urban stables and the squeezing out of working class horse culture are here.