Who is Messing With Our Rohr Park Horse Arena, Message Board and Parking Lot?
Yesterday was a beautiful day to be out and around in Bonita. Cool, crisp weather for a walk or some soccer practice with the kids as the rain was on halt. Many people jumped in their cars and headed over to the Rohr Park Horse Arena parking lot, only to find out that the entry gate was locked and they couldn't park-and-play.
My phone started ringing early and people were not happy. I don't know why I got the calls but when you provide news to the community, the community sometimes thinks you hold all the answers. I don't. But I was willing to go take a look.
Sure enough, the entry gate was locked and the parking lot was inaccessible. Such a waste of good play space!
People locked out of the park | Click on images to enlarge
Why? I honestly cannot tell you why this is happening. We have never had any conflict with the Rohr Park Horse Arena until about three years ago. Up until that time, all the horse people worked in unison. In fact, this gate is a fairly recent addition.
The Rohr Park Horse Arena (located in a public park) was officially locked from the public by the City of Chula Vista and the Sunnyside Saddle Club from April 2023 to November 2024—a total of 19 months. No exercising your horses, getting the kinks out before a ride, teaching your grandchildren to ride in a safe, confined space . . . nothing, no access. The Sunnyside Saddle Club had met with the City of Chula Vista behind closed doors and privatized the arena for their exclusive use. None of the other horse owners (500 horses) in Bonita found out about it before it was too late. Backyard horse owners were referred to on social media as "free loaders" by SSC Vice President Terri Dillon. I don't believe that Muriel Watson, arena donor, would be happy about this situation.
The average Sunnyside Saddle Club horse show appears to have only 10-15 horses performing. A private arena for 10-15 horses while 500 horses are locked out. Where's the fairness in that? I am confused why people cannot figure out that generosity and inclusiveness goes a very long way in creating goodwill. You might be interested in reading "Who Owns Rohr Park Horse Arena?"
Because of the lockdown of the arena for 19 months, it allowed the City of Chula Vista (owners of Rohr Park) to consider that the arena was under-used and would serve better as soccer fields. Having no arena could translate to the downsizing of the horse population and possibly an eventual decline to the point of extinction. Many in the community are still very much involved in trying to retain this important, historical horse arena. Whether you are a horse-owner or horse-lover, Bonita-Sunnyside is a horse haven.
The foolishness started up again midsummer 2026 with the sprinkler system coming on daily in the horse arena. Nearly every day, the arena would be found with a large puddle in the middle, causing uneven ground and a slippery situation for horses. This has been going on for about three months.
Water puddles in Rohr Park Horse Arena, not from the rain but from sprinklers going off helter-skelter at all times | Click on images to enlarge
A few times, the sprinklers came on when the arena had horses in it. Luckily, no one was injured when the horse spooked as it was hit with the water jet.
It made no sense. The only time you need to water an arena is the night before a show. Daily watering and creating big mud puddles is disruptive to the footing of the ring and creates low spots and uneven ground.
The park is open from 7AM - 10PM. All watering of the arena, if necessary, should be done outside those hours, in the middle of the night when the arena is not in use.
According to the City of Chula Vista and the Parks and Recreation Department, they don't water the arena and have nothing to do with it. They said that one person has a remote and that one person is controlling the watering of the arena.
The only thing accomplished was to grow a massive amount of goat heads, also named devil's thorn, that stick to the bottom of your sneakers. I worry if they could get in the frog (tender spot) of a horse's hoof and cause lameness.
More water puddles in Rohr Park Horse Arena | Goats Head burrs in the bottom of sneakers from walking in the arena | Click on images to enlarge
In August, I had published an article on a cancelled Sunnyside Saddle Club horse show and had given kudos to the Bonita Valley Horsemen for their immaculately clean round pen. A few days later I visited the horse arena area to find the BVH round pen a mess. Not a normal mess like horses make but a human mess. Someone had dumped all their trash—not just in a pile—but carefully all over the round pen. I found clothing, flossing picks, an entire roll of paper towels wadded up in pieces (all perfectly clean) and a menagerie of random items that someone had been saving up for this very purpose. Extremely odd. I decided to be the adult in this situation and cleaned it all up, restoring the round pen to its original pristine state.
But here's where the story gets weird, even dangerous. While cleaning the round pen, I noticed something funky with the double gate. One of the gates was chained to the post but the other was not. Both gates need to be chained to the post to keep the gate secure.
A horse owner could potentially put their horse in this round pen to exercise. They would most likely not notice the sabotaged gate that could pop open if the horse bumped it while playing. With the second gate unlocked, it could release suddenly and spring open, allowing the horse to run loose very close to the busy, nearby Sweetwater Road. Who would do this dastardly deed?
The pen was donated (twice, it was stolen once) by the Bonita Valley Horsemen. They used to have their lock on it but it was cut off and a new lock put on with only one key.
But I digress, back to my story. Seeing the danger of this situation, I drove home and came back with my own chain and a brand-new lock. I locked up both gates together, preventing a bad predicament before it happened.
Only one gate is changed to the post | Round pen gate popped open | My chain and lock securing both gates | Click on images to enlarge
I immediately contacted the Bonita Valley Horsemen President, Janeen Reed, and told her about the situation. I gave her the code to the lock in case she needed it. When I returned a few days later, my lock had been removed and a keyed Master lock was securing both gates. I have yet to retrieve my chain and lock that I borrowed from my barn. It is my understanding that one person has the keys to everything, including the park gate to the arena parking lot.
My last concern is with the Rohr Park Community Message Board, located in the southwestern area of the arena parking lot. I was told that one person from the Sunnyside Saddle Club said that the message board belongs to the Saddle Club. That is not true.
Kudos to Eagle Scout Dylan Funk for creating this handy message board for the Rohr Park Community! | Empty board is shown on the right side, with only a flyer posted for the Sunnyside Saddle Club | Click on images to enlarge
The message board was the Eagle Scout Project of Dylan Funk, Troop 874, in October of 2023. It was dedicated to . . . the Rohr Park Community.
Recently, someone has been removing all the business cards and papers that the community posts on that board. I've seen the message board cleared at least three times of everything. That is not cool.
If you catch the person in the act of dismantling the message board, please take a photo and send it to sunnysidecommonsense@gmail.com. I will post the photo in the SCS "Hall of Shame" for all to see!
This behavior needs to stop. We don't want to give the Chula Vista Mayor and Council any more reasons to get rid of the Rohr Park Horse Arena.
Written by Susan Heavilin | November 2, 2026 | Sunnyside Common Sense
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