Club allows members to keep horses on base Published Sept. 3, 2010 By Mary Sell Manning Air University Public Affairs MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- On a recent late Friday afternoon at Maxwell Air Force Base, while many base members were leaving for the weekend, a few were gathering at the River Road Riding Club for their evening chores. There were horses to be exercised and groomed, stalls to be cleaned and apple-flavored treats to be handed out to the animals that club members see as extensions of their families. Tucked between Maxwell Air Force Base's golf course and the Alabama River, the riding club allows about a dozen members of the Maxwell community to keep their horses on base. "This isn't a hobby for these people, it's a lifestyle," said Bill Anderson, chief of community services for 42nd Force Support Squadron. The history of horses on base is about as old as Maxwell itself, dating back to when horsemanship was a regular part of officers' lives and Maxwell had a 58-stall barn for military horses. In the 1950s, polo matches near what is now the flightline attracted thousands of spectators, according to newspaper clippings proudly displayed by River Road Riding Club members. Today, the barn at Maxwell is home to 14 equines. Their backgrounds are as different as those of the Airmen and dependents that own them. There's Beau, a black and white paint horse recently adopted from Dusty Trails Horse Rescue by club vice president Maj. Aly Vrosh, Air Force Historical Research Agency. There's Pudge (his registered name is Silver Woods Thunder, but he looks more like a Pudge), a gray Welch pony who barn members joke is older than the base itself. There's Freemont, a tall chestnut Hanoverian that was bred in Canada and has traveled to multiple locations -- from Texas to Quantico, Va. to Germany -- with his owner, Nadege Soubassis and her family. Aside from a monthly fee they pay, members are responsible for caring for and cleaning up after their horses daily. About once a month there is a workday where members do general upkeep around the barn. It's a small price to pay, servicemembers say, to have their horses on base. "It is comforting to know that I can come out here and bring him in from the rain or give him water," said Major Vrosh. "I have a two-minute drive to get to him." Not all bases have barns, which can create dilemmas for servicemembers who change bases with their horses. "It is a lot of work to find places," said Mrs. Soubassis, whose husband, George Soubassis, is an officer in the Army. Mrs. Soubassis estimates she spends about four hours a day at the barn. "I live on base, I have my two kids here. I am so happy to have my horse nearby." Plenty of other people would like to, as well. "We pretty much keep a waiting list," said Gary Russon, barn manager. "If I had more space, I would have more horses." Russon and his wife each have a horse at the barn. He said priority is given to active-duty servicemembers, followed by relatives of active-duty military and then civilians and contractors. Aside from the barn and arena, club members also have access to about 15 miles of trail that they share with walkers, joggers and golfers. "The facility here is phenomenal, it really is," said Ellen Flatau, the club's president and owner of Pudge and another pony.