Residents of Indian Trail equestrian community concerned for future of neighborhood horses

INDIAN TRAIL, NC — Horses splashing in the water or rolling in the dirt. That’s what you likely will see as you enter the Bonterra Village in Indian Trail..

This equestrian community soon may not have equestrians. Last week, more than 800 residents found out the HOA decided to not renew the lease with the owner of Bonterra Stables, Fonda Maddalone.

“Stunned, shocked. Especially, in the way that they had done it,” said Maddalone.

Maddalone is also a Bonterra resident. She bought the stables eight years ago to preserve the grounds that have been around for 20 years.

Maddalone and others in the neighborhood say the HOA made this decision to not renew her lease in a meeting done with little notice to the community.

“Our entire community was absolutely blindsided. We had no idea this was possibly ever coming. Completely done in the dark,” said Annette Bolster.

Bolster was one of the first to move to the neighborhood 19 years ago. She said she moved there for the horses.

“I’m devastated. I can’t even imagine waking up every morning and not hearing those horses in my backyard. I mean, that’s the draw of our community. That is the whole heart of our community,” explained Bolster.

In a letter sent to the community last week, the HOA laid out possibilities for the future of the stable which include exploring potential future uses for the facility or reimagining the barn to serve a larger portion of the residents.

They attorney representing Bonterra Village HOA wrote WCCB this statement:

The barn has been under a lease with a third party that has offered stable services to members in the Association.  For certain important business reasons, the board of directors determined that it could not renew the existing lease.  This has, unfortunately, resulted in some of the members of the Association, who are clients of the current tenant, having to make alternate arrangements for their horses.  To be clear, the stable is not being shut down.  The current lease is not being renewed.

The Association has a plan to review and work on the issues facing the barn and, with help from legal counsel, hopes to make the barn available again to stable members’ horses.  As part of this plan there is a meeting of the membership scheduled for July 7th where there will be a full and open discussion with the membership on the status of the barn.