Foxhunting over Horizon Farms, once owned by the late William McGinley, MFH during the 1990s of the Fox River Valley Hunt, faces an uncertain future. The property was purchased by the Cook County Forest Preserve District this year. At a meeting held to hear public opinion on uses for the almost 400-acre site, many Barrington residents voiced support for equestrian use but disapproval for foxhunting and mountain biking there.
Located in Barrington Hills, Horizon Farms is said to be under a conservation easement. Barrington Hills has long been associated with equine interests. It is home to Hill ‘N Dale Farms which belongs to Richard Duchossois, owner of the Arlington Park racetrack and boasts tack shops and school teams named Broncos and Colts.
Horizon Farms is the Forest Preserve District’s largest land acquisition since 1968, according to the Barrington Courier Review, a publication of the Chicago Sun-Times. The purchase is currently being litigated, but Forest Preserve District officials express confidence in a court ruling favorable to their purchase.
It’s a sad irony that foxhunting, an activity that meant so much to McGinley who preserved the land in perpetuity, might be banished from it.
Click for more information in Bridget O’Shea’s article.
Posted June 20, 2014
