SIMI VALLEY – NRHA Million Dollar Rider and NRCHA World’s Great Horseman Randy Paul started a new chapter in his brilliant career March 1 when he moved into Bob and Laura Day’s Day Creek Ranch in Simi Valley.

Paul, who has trained non pro Laura Day and a variety of her horses in recent years including NRBC finalist Easy Slider, will focus on both reining and reined cow horse at the 260-acre Day Creek facility, which also is the home of eventing trainer Michelle Emmermann and hunter-jumper trainer Stacie Ryan.

“I am happy to be here,” said Paul, the 2009 NRCHA World’s Greatest winner on Smokeelan. “I enjoy it. Laura and her gang here are fun to be around, and I think we’re going to have a lot of success.”

A conversation late last year between Day and Paul spawned the move, as Day Creek was undergoing changes and Paul had just finished a year training in Pilot Point, Texas, after decades of success in Arizona.

Day Creek manager Kitti McNeel says renovations of the ranch in preparation for Paul, including a new cattle pen, are nearing completion this week.

“The timing just worked — for Randy and for us,” said McNeel. “We have been spending time getting things reorganized here to accommodate his needs, and we’re pretty much settled in now. We don’t have the cows here yet, but we will soon. Randy wants to draw from both the reining cow and the reining industries.”

“It’s just great having him here,” she added of Paul, who also is an accomplished musician, songwriter and bit-maker. “He’s obviously got the show record, but what I didn’t realize is he’s such a great non-pro coach. It’s really been just a great match all the way around — both sides.”

Although Paul, an NRHA Futurity Champion and multiple-time AQHA World Champion, calls 2013 a “regrouping year”, he has futurity horses ready for both the NRCHA Snaffle Bit in Reno and the NRHA Futurity in Oklahoma City.

“I think this fall, we should do good,” said Paul, who was the 13th reiner to pierce the $1 million mark in 2008. “I’m looking forward to it.”

In addition to the new cow pen, Day Creek Ranch, features a 160 x 350 reining arena, a state of the art 40-stall show barn, a half-mile track with footing for stops and loping, and eight miles of groomed trails. The ranch’s accessibility and proximity to the Burbank airport will appear to his clients from out of state, McNeel said.