All-day family fun will be at hand when a parade and festival spotlighting horses and New Jersey’s open space comes to town.
The fourth annual Open Space Pace will take place on Sept. 19 at Freehold Raceway, Park Avenue, Freehold.
The free event, which seeks to raise awareness about open space in New Jersey, will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a parade of horses from the Monmouth County Hall of Records, East Main Street, to the harness track.
The parade will feature the marching bands from Freehold Township High School and Freehold High School.
The festival at the track will include an opening ceremony, a petting zoo, educational exhibits, live harness racing, vendor tables and food trucks. A concert featuring Burlap to Cashmere and The Nerds will begin at 3 p.m.
“We host an annual event at Freehold Raceway to try and increase awareness about the relationship between the equine and agricultural industries,” said Brett Taft, president of the Open Space Pace and vice president of acquisitions and integration at UMH Properties, Freehold Township.
Taft said that some New Jersey horse farms have moved to neighboring states and open space has been lost to the retail and housing industries.
According to the Open Space Pace website, New Jersey has lost the competitive advantage it once held to surrounding states that have instituted policies that allow casino gambling at race tracks. A portion of the gambling revenue goes directly to horse racing purses.
As a result, the purses at New Jersey’s race tracks have been cut substantially. Without competitive purses, training farms, breeding farms, and hay and grain farms have been forced to move to states that have more to offer, the website states.
The Open Space Pace was founded in 2011 by Samuel Landy, president and chief executive officer of UMH Properties.
Landy, of Monroe Township, is a horse owner and trainer who owns Congress Hill Farm, Monroe Township, with his wife, Laurie.
Taft hopes to attract 5,000 people to the event this year and said it has grown since its inception.
“The Open Space Pace is an umbrella charity that supports other equine nonprofit events,” Taft said.
The grand marshals for this year’s event are Eugene and Gloria Landy, owners and breeders of standardbred race horses, as well as supporters of equine and agricultural nonprofit organizations.
The Open Space Pace is a nonprofit organization with a mission to celebrate New Jersey’s official state animal, the horse, and to promote open space in the state. For more information, visit www.openspacepace.org.