As a former ranch kid and a dedicated trail rider with 7,000 logged trail hours, I now ride in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park. It is the largest City park in the world, with nearly 60 miles of horse trail.

It is a prized and unique feature of a huge city like L.A. to have this Park adjacent to centralized horse-keeping facilities. The Griffith Park system is overloaded and under budgeted, like most parks in the U.S. They deal with a wide variety of demands in the public’s usage of the park areas. The horse riders, a minority, have their own agenda to fulfill.

ENLIGHTENED SELF INTEREST
If it is a danger or nuisance to you, it will be for other riders also.
When I first started riding in Griffith Park, I noticed many things about

Patrick Lyons – Southwest Trailer Sales, Ramona
Makes: Cimarron, Lakota, Bison, Trails West and Classic
See ad on Page 29
Safety. I would strongly suggest horse owners have an annual inspection done on their trailer. Some states require it by law. Due to the economic conditions over the last two years, many people have postponed their trailer maintenance. The age, condition and proper inflation of tires is a big one. Just because a tire looks good does not mean it is safe. Brakes, bearings and floor boards are also critical. A failure of any of these items can cause anything from an inconvenience to a major catastrophe.

Also, make sure their tow vehicle, hitch and equipment are all properly rated to be pulling the gross vehicle weight rating (GVRW) of the of the trailer they are pulling. California is starting to set up check points for trailers to make sure the tow vehicle, it’s hitch and other equipment are properly rated. Many receiver hitches are under rated for pulling dual axle trailers without the use of a weight distribution hitch. Get caught without out one and your trailer just might be impounded.

Keeping the pony dry…
Venice Liston, Riverside, Ca
I’m the mother — but I thought I’d share our story. I was 29 and my daughter, Elishia, was 7 when we first got into horses – and we got her first pony. He was a Shetland Pinto, about 11.1 hand (good thing my daughter is very small … she’s still 5-feet-4 at age 26 today!) We named him Oreo since he was black and white. We were new to horses, and this was our first small ranch. It was a stormy, rainy night after we had rain all day. We only had partial covers, so Oreo was soaking wet. I felt so badly because my daughter Elishia felt so sad for her pony. So, thinking I was doing a good thing for Oreo and my daughter, I brought Little Oreo into my living-room, in front of the fireplace. My daughter was so excited, she got her blowdryer and we proceeded to blow dry him. Well, we got him all dry and fluffy. He looked happy. Then my husband came into the living room and said, “Well now that you got him all dry, when are you taking him back outside to his stall?” Oh, Oh. We didn’t think that far. We just thought we were doing a good thing for Oreo, and I thought I was doing a good thing for my daughter. But poor Oreo, all nice and warm and dry in our living room, had to go outside back to his stall with the partial cover to get all wet again. I think we made it worse. We will never forget that. Now, after owning horses for about 21 years, we know better. Now I have a 3-acre ranch with about 18 horses — some mine, some boarders — and all have full covers.I have made sure of it. Not a one will get wet in the rain. Ever. In fact, I think the horses I’ve raised are very spoiled and they do not even know what rain is. (Don’t know if this is good or bad.) But at least I know, and my daugher knows, forever on my ranch no horse will stand in the rain again!

SHADOW HILLS – With the same spirit that has launched nations, a group of horsepeople in northeast Los Angeles has organized to get its due representation. And it’s working.
The agenda is an ambitious one:

• License all Los Angeles horses
• Educate city sanitation on horse manure as a resource
• Fix anomalies in city codes that deal with animal keeping
• Establish an equestrian “Bill Of Rights”

The nine-member board is just as ambitious, led by President Royan Herman, owner of Peacock Hill ranch and a self-described hot tempered Irishwoman who mixes hard work and passion into her heartfelt cause.

This issue marks three decades of California Horsetrader in the hands and hearts of thousands of equestrians. After 720 issues, more than 100,000 pages and a million ads, success is best measured not by numbers, but by the role our publication has played–and still plays–in the wonderful world of horses. We received scores of “Horsetrader memories,” and here are some of our favorites.

If you have a story, please send it to us! We will be sharing them throughout our 30th Anniversary Year. E-mail: memories@horsetrader.com

SAN DIEGO COUNTY — For Southern Californians, one of the numerous equestrian trails available to the public is the San Dieguito River Park in San Diego County. One of the goals of forming the San Dieguito River Park is to create a multi-use trail system for horseback riders, hikers and bicyclists that will extend from the ocean at Del Mar to the San Dieguito River’s source on Volcan Mountain, just north of Julian. This is a distance of about 55 miles. This linear trail system has been named the “Coast to Crest Trail.”