SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Two business groups with different visions for the 40-acre Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park made respective public presentations Sept. 21 to the City Council, as ongoing discussions continued toward the beautiful facility’s future.

Jennifer Welch Nicholson, who started at Riata ranch as a 9-year old and later navigated the organization through tumultuous times and to international renown, has been nomnominated for the Donita Barnes Lifetime Achievement Award.

TOKYO, Japan — After a year’s pandemic-driven delay, the U.S. Dressage Team opened its 2020 Olympic Games with a silver medal in Team Dressage — the first time a United States dressage team won team silver since the 1948 London Olympic Games.

SAN DIEGO — Rescuers used a helicopter on July 21 to save a horse that had fallen into a steep ditch in the Carmel Valley area of San Diego.

SAN MARCOS — Early investigations by San Diego County Sheriff’s Bomb and Arson unit have yet to reveal the cause of an overnight fire at Liz Bolton Stables where a home and several trailers went up in flames.

AMARILLO, Texas — Sandy Arledge, who has influenced a generation of horsepeople for decades and brought leadership to regional and national associations alike, is one of nine 2021 inductees into the prestigious American Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame. Arledge heads a quartet of people, while five horses also will enter the AQHA Hall.

GUTHRIE, Okla. — The Hooey Jr. Championships during Wrangler BFI Week are designed to showcase today’s youth superstars, and the Jr. BFI did that perfectly on March 18.

While 18-year-old Texans Kreece Thompson and Kaden Profili took the Jr. Open at the Hooey Junior to split $54,000, a pair of California teens captured the Junior 10.5 Division and earned $20,000 of their own.

DEL MAR — The 22nd District Agricultural Association has conducted a second public hearing in less than three weeks to explain details of its closure of the Del Mar Horsepark for 2021. Del Mar Fairgrounds officials who manage the popular facility announced the closure in December, then held on online meeting Jan. 12 to a dismayed, rapidly growing list of petitioners against the move.

A second online meeting on Jan. 29 when California Horsetrader went to press, was scheduled at 1:30 p.m.

In a December email, 22nd DAA board President Richard Valdez said that continuing with an equestrian presence at the 64-acre Horsepark would require “a significant and immediate investment of funds to address water quality requirements, which is simply not possible given the dire effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the fairgrounds’ revenues.”

Before the Jan. 12 meeting, advocates of keeping Horsepark open for equestrian shows, a riding school and other activities released a report that the facility’s water issues likely originate outside the property.

In a published report, testing lab ALS Group USA Corp. of Irvine examined water samples taken during seasonal rains Dec. 28 upstream and downstream from the horse park. The upstream samples showed significantly higher amounts of coliforms, pollutants that come from human and animal waste.

Carla Echols-Hayes, a Solana Beach resident and horse park advocate, told the San Diego U-T newspaper that the results “indicate that the Horsepark is not the source of any additional contaminants to the San Dieguito River Valley waterways.”

Potential litigation by environmental groups was another cause of the closure, according to a Rancho Santa Fe Post article Jan. 24 by Phil Trubey. In the article, Valdez said that although they had not received any litigation threats, it was the possibility of such a lawsuit from San Diego Coastkeeper and Surfrider Foundation that made them decide to cancel all horse activities at Horsepark for all of 2021. Valdez cited a lawsuit settled in 2018 brought by Orange County Coastkeeper against Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park, a multi-use facility that hosts soccer tournaments and large horse shows. According to the report, in settling that lawsuit, the city of San Juan Capistrano paid Coastkeeper $1.9 million in attorney fees and also paid an additional $1 million directly to environmental groups.

In his article, Trubey said he asked both San Diego Coastkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation their respective positions on Horsepark.

Matt O’Malley, Executive Director and Managing Attorney for San Diego Coastkeeper, told RSF Post that the group has not threatened any lawsuits on the Horsepark, and “we do not wish to shut the park down.”

Also in the article, Alex Ferron, chair of the San Diego Surfrider Foundation, said “Surfrider is not currently involved with this issue — or rather, have no horses in that race.”

The Horsepark is located next to the San Dieguito River about two miles east of the fairgrounds. Fairgrounds staff will attempt to move horse shows to the fairgrounds, where there have been infrastructure upgrades “that can accommodate large-scale equestrian events.” Part of a recently completed two-year, $15 million infrastructure project were upgrades at the fairgrounds that include a holding pond, a constructed wetlands treatment area and other improvements to the racetrack infield. The fairgrounds has also built a stormwater treatment plant to comply with state and local regulations designed to protect nearby waters.

To be added to the mailing list that receives Horsepark updates from the 22nd DAA, send your request to planning@sdfair.com

SAN MARCOS – An advisory five-person trails committee — none of whom are equestrians — voted 5-0 in a virtual meeting Jan. 13 to recommend to the City of San Marcos that e-bikes be allowed on the city-run trail system.

The matter now moves to a Feb. 17 Parks and Recreation Committee meeting. City staff will be recommending that the Parks and Rec Commission request the trails advisory council to further explore and analyze e-bikes on city trails —and to bring back any findings or policy changes. Parks and Rec would then determine whether or not to recommend approval to the City Council at a future date.

Public comments received by Feb. 10 will be included in the agenda packet. All public input should be emailed to toshinski@san-marcos.net with “public comment” in the subject line.

Under present municipal code, e-bikes and other motorized vehicles are prohibited on San Marcos City trails.

More online: https://bit.ly_1trailmtg

DEL MAR — The Del Mar Fairgrounds announced last month that the Del Mar Horsepark — the region’s last venue capable of hosting major horse shows year-round — must suspend horse boarding and shows in 2021. There are 38 horses boarded at the horse park by three trainers who have monthly stall rentals that expire at the end of 2020, and they were given through March 2021 to vacate, according to published reports.

There also is a 2021 show calendar filled by a variety of show organizations that have — as they have for many years — booked the facility to stage their events.