Don Litz looked over the crowd and then looked over the valley. He took a deep breath. Finally, his dream was realized.
Maryland Stallion Station opened yesterday with more than 400 visitors touring the grand barn, observing a parade of the five stallions and, like Litz, peering across the valley at historic Sagamore Farm. Litz, 58, long involved in the Maryland horse business, drew on the legend of Sagamore, home and burial place of the exalted Native Dancer, for inspiration in developing Maryland Stallion Station.
"That is it for me," Litz said. "There is an energy, and I think it comes from him, Native Dancer. When I look out over the valley, I can feel the energy of that horse. This is almost like Camelot for me, just being here."
Constructed on the side of a hill in the heart of Worthington Valley in Baltimore County - across Tufton Avenue from Sagamore - Maryland Stallion Station represents the most significant major investment in the Maryland breeding industry in nearly two decades. It consists of 100 acres, a spacious barn with 11 stalls and fields for the stallions of nearly 2 acres apiece.
Litz, president of the operation, said he expects more than 350 mares, about half from out of state, to be bred to the five stallions during the coming breeding season, from mid-February to early July. The mares will arrive by van and stay only for the mating. Then, they will be vanned back home or to area farms that Litz has enlisted for boarding.
Aris Melissaratos, secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, represented Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. at the grand opening and stallion show. He reminded the crowd of Ehrlich's "push" to help the horse industry, an obvious reference to slot machines at racetracks.
"We're with you," Melissaratos said. "We value your industry. We're going to find a way to get it done."
The horse industry in Maryland has lobbied aggressively for slot machines to help it keep pace with neighboring states, whose racing purses and breeding incentives have flourished with proceeds from slots. Melissaratos said that Maryland has about 87,000 horses worth about $700 million and that the state's horse industry contributes nearly $2 billion to the state economy.
"About 685,000 acres in this state are devoted to horse farming," Melissaratos said. "That's about one out of every 10 acres in the state."
