SAN DIMAS – Anne Meredith, the tireless visionary who turned an 8-acre undeveloped plot into the bustling San Dimas Equestrian Center 37 years ago, passed away Sept. 2. She was 87.

Meredith, born in 1923 in Bowling Green, Ohio, into a non-equestrian family, once recalled that from age 3 she was insistent to own a horse. Her love of animals went beyond economic considerations.

Her friend, Michelle Campbell, recalls a story Meredith told from the Depression era, when her father – who normally didn’t pay too much attention to his daughter’s horse — started to wonder why his feed bill was so high. “I was feeding my friends’ horses for free, because I couldn’t bear to see them get rid of them,” Meredith once told her.

The City Of Norco’s official mascot, the Mustang “Hail Yeah”, celebrated his sixth birthday July 10 at Starbrite Riding Academy with 500 of his closest two-legged friends (above), ranging from well-wishing Norco councilmen and dignitaries to children with hand-made “Hail Yeah” dolls – as well as plenty of gift carrots (including carrot cake). To enliven the party, O.H. Kruse Feed and Alltech sponsored a Kentucky bluegrass barbeque with Tom Cunningham and his talented band. Scott Helms of Ramona won the raffle for tickets to the Alltech World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Ky., this fall. All proceeds benefitted the Compton Junior Posse, which received $1,729. O.H. Kruse sponsored the Compton Posse to attend a clinic with Hail Yeah’s trainer, Ray Ariss, in the morning before the celebration, which capped off a festive day at Starbrite Riding Academy. At right, Hail Yeah and his trainer, host Ray Ariss, receive a birthday present from Carson Badger, age 9, of Norco.

More photos: http://news.horsetrader.com/media/hailyeah/

NORCO — The Deacon, a well-made American Mustang trained by Gary Wedemeyer of Winton, seemed to come out of nowhere to preach a sermon on the talents of a wild horse with 90 days training. The 5-year-old gelding went on to take the win in the $9,000 Extreme Mustang Makeover Trail Challenge, held May 14-16.

The Norco event encompassed more elements than any other Extreme Mustang Makeover held this season. Not only did Mustangs and their trainers compete in the routine body conditioning, but also in hand and under saddle obstacle courses.
How challenging was the four-mile trail course?

“The only way up the hill was with an ATV or horse,” said Mustang Heritage Foundation Executive Director Patti Colbert. “The ruggedness was a production challenge, too. The very best challenge was thanking the more than 40 volunteers that helped us, and eating at every Norco restaurant where we heard ‘there’s those Mustang people, we love you!’ ”

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!

NORCO — The Extreme Mustang Makeover returns to Ingalls Park on May 14-16, and with it comes one of the most unique and challenging equine competitions in the country. Trainers will compete for a part of the $10,000 purse as judges will evaluate each horse and trainer on body condition, groundwork, and how the horse maneuvers through an obstacle “horse course” that simulates trail and recreational riding situations.

NORCO — While numbers were down this year, more than 200 hundred riders made the trek around the magnificent Lake Norconian on May 1 to pose for a 10th Anniversary of the Pedley Field Photograph.

“The ride was made possible because of a wonderful partnership between the Lake Norconian Club Foundation, City of Norco, the Norco College and NWS Seal Beach,” said organizer Kevin Bash.

This years sponsors were Double-D Rentals of Norco, John Tavaglione, the Harry and Hilda Eisen Family Foundation, Western Waste and Hemborg Ford.
Kevin says this is the third year in a row the ride went without a hitch and not a single accident.

“Many thanks go to trail bosses Berwin Hanna and Bonnie Slagel, the Norco Horseman’s Association, the Norco Mounted Posse, Norco High School JROTC and Environmental Science Class, the Riverside Key Club, the Norco Kiwanis, Norco Parks and Recreation, the City of Norco, the Norco Citizens Patrol, Beth Groves, Brian Petree and the City of Norco, Dr. Brenda Davis and the new Norco College — and in particular George LeTourneau and Gregg Smith of NWS Seal Beach.

Copies of the 10th anniversary photo may be obtained at brigittejouxtel.smugmug.com.

What is “Norco Horseweek”? If you are familiar with “Horsetown USA,” you realize that there are 52 horse weeks a year in Norco. However, for 40 years now, “Norco Horse Week” is something more — a celebration of a lifestyle that is appreciated by this town’s residents and visitors alike. Fund-raisers, the rodeo, the chili cook-off, the parade, the dance — and don’t forget the rides! There’s much to see and do doing Norco Horse Week.

Click here for a full Norco Horseweek schedule and read residents’ favorite memories of events past.

The Norco Hall of Fame is looking for a few good champions to call its own. Nominations for 2010 inductees are under way, and the first step in the process is to obtain the induction application from the organization’s website, http://www.HorseTownUsaHallOfFame.com. Deadline for applications is June 7.

The mission of the Horsetown Hall of Fame is “to honor the trainers, breeders, riders and horses from Norco who have achieved championship status.”

After 16 inaugural Hall of Fame members were inducted in 2008, 13 were added last year.
Fund-raisers for the Hall include the upcoming Horsetown Hall of Fame Gold Tournament on Saturday, April 25. The shot-gun start, best-ball tourney has some great prizes, including $10,000 in cash and a pair of week-long trips — one to Hawaii, one to Las Vegas. It starts at noon at Paradise Knolls.

This marks the fifth year that the community will host a tour of Horsetown USA’s finest ranches, with proceeds benefitting the Norco Regonal Conservancy “Friends of Norco Hills” open space project.

The Fifth Annual Norco Ranch Tour will include stops at DeBruce Mini Ranch, Cutting Horse Ranch, refreshments at S&Z Ranch, White Farms and its Peruvian Pasos, and more for a $10 donation. A view of the Norconian Hotel from Red Cloud Stables and a trip to the Norco High School Ag and FFA departments are on the trip, too.

For more information, contact Norco Horseman’s Association President Danny Azevedo at AZrider@sbcglobal.net.

The Norco Horsemen’s Association turned Nellie Weaver Hall into an Old West Gambling Hall April 10, and more than 500 folks came to play. The big winners were the FFA students at Norco High School, which awards 10 $500 scholarships from this annual fund-raiser.

“It was a great turn-out this year,” says Denise Shoemaker, who helped her husband, Vern, lead the 19-member Casino Night committee for the second straight year of the event’s 14 years. “We’re looking forward to next year!”