More than a dozen people and a number of animals escaped unharmed as the roof of a riding arena east of Okotoks gave way on Monday afternoon.
“The last thing I remember seeing was a baby carriage go out the door and the whole thing went down and it just rained yellow,” said Morgen Langner, operations manager of JM Equestrian Inc.
According to Langner, the roof collapse on the property along 338 Ave E, east of Highway 2, followed a 1:00 p.m. riding lesson. “All the ladies riding around in there, their horses were getting really spooked up the one side,” said Langner. “Couldn’t get them to go over there. The bangs kept getting louder and more frequent.”
The lesson was ended and Langner went for lunch. When she returned at around 3:30 p.m., noise continued to emanate from the rafters.
“We heard this tick, tick, tick and then a bang and it kept happening right one after the other after the other,” explained Langner. “Then one big one and a bunch of water fell into the arena and then we said everybody out.”
Approximately 16 people including a young child, seven horses, five cats, two dogs and two pigs escaped from the building ahead of the collapse just prior to 5:00 p.m.
“We could have had a lot of lives lost. I was supposed to have a lesson when it went down. There was a group lesson coming in behind them. It could have been really bad.”
Langner says the uncertain future of the building leaves a void in the equestrian community.
“It’s such a family facility here. Everybody here knows each other by first name. We all hang out, we all go for beers,” said Langner. “Personally, I don’t know if we’ll recover from it. I haven’t had a chance to really think about it.”
All lessons have been cancelled and the horses have been relocated to the uncompromised paddocks outside of the arena. Langner says she is a tenant of the facility, not the owner, and it’s unknown what her insurance will cover. “It’s just a waiting game right now.”
Fortis Alberta crews have visited the site to restore power for the water pumps for the horses’ troughs.
The cause of the collapse has not been confirmed. “It’ll be interesting to hear back from the engineers and see what they think happened.”
A similar collapse occurred earlier Monday afternoon at the Millarville Racetrack.
With files from CTV's Brad MacLeod
