Saint Lazare's first Horse Day held on June 3 was declared a "great success," by Mayor Geneviève Lachance.

"A lot of people and stables participated and everyone was very happy," Lachance told Néomedia.

The idea of celebrating Horse Day was born when some residents felt the city's long-time horse heritage was being forgotten. "They asked whether they could organize a committee with the city which is what we did," said Lachance. 

"The committee looked into what we could do and came up with the idea of having an Open House to promote the equestrian community, its heritage and highlight their activities. This is our first event," she added.

Lachance said the equestrian community, "Kind of isolated themselves in the past. Their goal is to open up their heritage to the public so that people can learn about why we have a horse on our municipal logo and dedicated horse trails," she said.

"It's important for this community to be seen and interact with our residents so they're more accepted and understood. We don't want to lose this heritage that makes us a unique city," said Lachance.

Ten stables were registered for the event including one in Rigaud and another in Vaudreuil-Dorion. "People from St. Lazare visited those barns as well," she added. 

The city will not consider resurrecting the former Festival au galop which ran from 2015 to 2017.

"The committee is not there to create huge events that fall on the shoulders of the town. It's really for the horse community to take charge,  come together and create events to get people to know about them," said Lachance.

"Horse Day showed us that we don't need huge events to be successful. It was enjoyed by everyone. It wasn't a complicated event to organize and it was the community that brought it together. It doesn't need to be thrown onto the shoulders of the taxpayers," she added. 

Horse Day was created in 2018 by Ontario Equestrian and is now a national event.