Officials with Spruce Meadows want the city's boundaries to be redrawn so the Calgary show jumping facility can become part of a neighbouring rural municipality.

Despite its urban neighbours on the southern edge of the city, Spruce Meadows is a an agricultural operation, with all the sights, sounds and smells that go with rural life.

To pinch off future debates about whether such a facility should be allowed inside a city, Spruce Meadows officials want the entire property be annexed into the Municipal District of Foothills.

Randy Fedorak, who is handling the annexation deal for Spruce Meadows, said it's important the facility be governed by a jurisdiction where farms take priority.

"It establishes Spruce Meadows as an agricultural operation," he said. "If we cannot maintain that, we will cease to exist. It's that simple."

Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier is supporting a land deal that would see the city annex 104 square kilometres from neighbouring municipalities to satisfy the city's growth. But he says he has no problem letting Spruce Meadows go the other way.

"As ironic as that may sound, it may be the right thing to do as we look at planning in the area to ensure that what is truly a world class facility remains that."

The annexation application is still in the early stages, but Spruce Meadows officials hope to the facility will be a permanent country cousin to Calgary by next summer.