The owner of the Koko Crater Equestrian Center says she is worried that an annual riding showcase next week may be the last for the stables.

The city, which owns the concession, has given Dr. Emogene Yoshimura until the end of the month to clean up conditions there. That has thrown a cloud over preparations for a June 14 student riding showcase at the center.

Yoshimura, a veterinarian who has operated the facility for 18 years, says she has been bullied by city officials recently and is losing business because customers are worried that she'll be kicked out. She holds an operating permit that will expire at the end of September, but fears that a decision about her contract may already have been made.

"It's a very scary situation," she said last week, walking around the 10-acre facility nestled at the base of Koko Crater, next to the botanical garden.

"I worry about the horses, about their safety," she said. "I worry about my family. I worry about the customers, that their families won't have a place to ride."

City officials say Yoshimura has not maintained the stables properly and have given her 60 days, from May 1, to fix it up. The requirements include repairing rusty fences, cutting tall grass and cleaning up piles of manure, said Sidney Quintal, director of the city Department of Enterprise Services, which oversees the stables.

The concession will be put up for rebid at the end of this month or early in July, he said.

The stables were built in the 1960s and board about 30 horses. Half are owned by customers and the other half are used by student riders for after-school and weekend training and birthday parties, and by University of Hawai'i-Manoa students for laboratory classes. The facility is busiest on weekends, when dozens of people come to ride.

Quintal, who visited the stables several times last month, said he found the place in "total disarray."

"This is a very important quality-of-life issue with the equestrian community," he said. "Based on what I saw out there, it was basically totally neglected."

The city plans to rewrite the contract with new conditions to ensure the concessionaire keeps the stables in better condition before the concession goes out for rebid, he said.

Yoshimura will have the opportunity to qualify for the bid, he said. "However, based on what I'm seeing, considering she has let that place go, she may not qualify," Quintal said.

Yoshimura defended the center last week, saying the city's demands have been for superficial repairs, and she has complied with all the requests to date. Since taking over the concession, she has spent $650,000 to reroute the water-pipe system, extend the sand arena and install new roofs, she said.

"There are things that need to be done, and I'm happy to do them, but we have been treated very badly," she said.

The city's frequent visits have been bad for business, she added. At least one school group has canceled its summer program because of fears that the stables would close.

"They're killing us off while we're trying to survive," said trainer Karen Mathews. "It's been a constant, chaotic situation for our business."

The fire department was called by the city to inspect the stables in May and found "minor discrepancies" that were "not uncommon," said Capt. Terry Seelig, HFD spokesman. These included fire extinguishers that had passed a required inspection date and flammable liquids that were being stored improperly, he said.

The Hawaiian Humane Society visited the stables twice last month and found rusted fencing, but "no obvious signs of neglect or other issues that might affect the well-being of the animals," said spokeswoman Kawehi Yim.

Riders this week, including volunteer horse caretaker Pat Tomasu, said the stables are old but aren't dangerous to horses or riders.

"My horse cost big bucks. He's like a $50,000 horse," she said. "I wouldn't have something that expensive here if it weren't safe."

That sentiment was echoed by Manoa resident D.C. Eikelberger, whose 10-year-old daughter rides at the stables twice a week.

Eikelberger said she is concerned that things may change if Yoshimura leaves and a new concessionaire takes her place.

"Koko Head is the only stable that I've ever been involved in that has an atmosphere, a philosophy that anyone who really wants to ride can," she said.

A new concessionaire, "is going to pretty it up and start charging what you would normally charge for riding lessons and knock about three-quarters of the community out of the opportunity."