Detroit Horse Power has provided free summer horse camps and an after-school program to middle school and high school-aged Detroit youth at partner horse barns outside the city. The goal has always been to reactivate a sizeable vacant land site in Detroit to build an urban equestrian center. The project supported by the Knight Emerging City Champions program is to document the history of the land and horses in the city, from which Detroit Horse Power is building. 

Detroit Horse Power has crossed many significant milestones in the past six months. The organization closed on purchasing the 14-acre demolished Detroit school site where the urban equestrian center will be built, received a $1,400,000 award from Wayne County, MI, and held a ceremonial groundbreaking with more than 300 attendees on October 21. 

Community members from the neighborhood around Detroit Horse Power’s site have been ecstatic about the progress of this significant development, building on years of engagement with residents to prepare for this moment. This progress is also a big deal for Detroit Horse Power’s students, who cannot wait for consistent access to their horses in their community. 

Detroit Horse Power’s most significant challenges have been funding and navigating all the requirements of a significant development like this. Building relationships with individuals, foundations, corporations, and governmental entities takes time, and Detroit Horse Power’s capital campaign reflects years of stakeholder cultivation. Similarly, finalizing construction documents, confirming a guaranteed maximum price contract, and securing building permits are also time-consuming and have adapted to mile-long setbacks.

Remaining persistent in the face of obstacles and leaning on an experienced team of professionals has been
crucial to progressing through these challenges.

The next six months will focus on beginning the construction process toward the grand opening of 2026. Documenting the history of this property and horses in Detroit are key objectives that will help ground the new facility and everyone who comes through its doors in the context of what has come before. 

A Year in Reflection

David’s participation in the Knight Emerging City Champions program came at the culmination of a decade of hard work building up his organization, Detroit Horse Power. He had dreamed of participating in this fellowship as early as 2014 (before even incorporating as a legal entity) and applied six times before his acceptance.

This experience coincided with pivotal milestones along David’s journey to transform a large parcel of vacant land within Detroit into the largest urban equestrian center in the nation. Reaching this goal will radically scale the free youth programming with horses that Detroit Horse Power has been offering while also strengthening the environment in which their students grow up.

While participating in KECC, Detroit Horse Power purchased the 14-acre demolished Detroit school site where David had been building strong relationships with neighbors, completed construction documents, submitted their building permit application, received their largest single commitment to the capital campaign, and held a powerful groundbreaking ceremony. David hopes they can open this unmatched new space by Fall 2026.

Detroit has a unique opportunity, as the city lost population and industry over decades. That cycle of people and businesses moving away, losing tax base, services declining, and more stakeholders moving out has been painful. No other city can devote 14 acres of land to horses and youth opportunity.

Others around the country will come to envy Detroit’s position, if the city is intentional about prioritizing community-focused solutions that empower residents and especially the next generation.

David is grateful that the Knight Foundation and 8 80 Cities have embraced this unorthodox land use proposal that he co-created with neighbors and youth leaders. Detroit Horse Power is increasingly passing the reins to the talented students and alumni who have come up through their summer camps and after-school programs and are now teaching the next generation of Detroit equestrians.

That work has been limited by the students’ access to horses through partner barns across southeast Michigan. In this model, students are always guests in others’ spaces, with a defined end time and no consistent relationships. The new facility will dramatically change that.

It offers a true home base that students and the wider community can own and count on.

Participating in KECC has been an important step along this journey to provide equitable access to the power of horses and innovative open-space solutions to strengthen Detroit’s future.

About David Silver

David is a former competitive horseback rider who moved to Detroit in 2012 to become an elementary school teacher. Ten years ago, he left the classroom to start Detroit Horse Power to make the life-changing opportunities horses provided him available to kids like his Detroit students. 

Follow David on Instagram @detroithorsepower, on Facebook @dethorsepower #DetroitHorsePower
Visit Detroit Horse Power website.