Now here’s an opportunity that will send you spinning! On Feb. 10, the California Reining Horse Association will host a FREE Reining Clinic at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center with five top championship reiners, including Tom Foran, Brenda Brown, Mike Berg, Monica Albair, and Daphne Foran. Space is limited, and reservations are required. Contact the CRHA office via email at CRHAsecretary@aol.com or visit http://bit.ly/8clinic to access the entry form, release form or to register for vendor space during the event. This will be a day to remember for both participants and spectators. Reserve your spot today!

The CRHA was formed in 1993 and is an affiliate of the National Reining Horse Association. The Southern California-based group promotes reining in the region with events throughout the year and offers its members a variety of opportunities to compete for year-end buckles and awards, as well as a saddle for the coveted “Reiner of the Year”.

Get up-close and personal with the 2018 Rose Parade equestrian units at Equestfest, scheduled for Friday, Dec. 29, at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Presented by Wells Fargo, EquestFest gives the public a chance to watch beautiful horses and talented riders perform drills and dances and demonstrate trick riding and roping, as well as the chance to stroll through the stables, talk to riders and learn about the various tack and the many different breeds while enjoying the vendor court, displays, great music, food and drinks.

Tournament of Roses President Lance Tibbet is proud to announce 20 outstanding equestrian groups will ride in the 129th Rose Parade, presented by Honda this year with a theme of “Making a Difference.” The equestrian groups selected are (listed alphabetically): 1st Cavalry Division Horse Cavalry Detachment (Fort Hood, Texas); Broken Horn Ropers (Baldwin Park); Budweiser Clydesdales (St. Louis, Mo.); California Highway Patrol Mounted Patrol Unit (Sacramento); Long Beach Mounted Police, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Mounted Enforcement Detail; the Los Angeles Police Department Metropolitan Division Mounted Platoon, Honor Guard, Bagpipe & Drum Band; Los Hermanos Bañuelos Charro Team (Altadena); Mane Attraction Equestrian Drill Team (Riverside); Mini Therapy Horses (Calabasas, California); The New Buffalo Soldiers (Shadow Hills); the Norco Cowgirls & The Little Miss Norco Cowgirls Rodeo Drill Teams; Ramona – California’s Official Outdoor Play (Hemet); Scripps Miramar Ranch (San Diego); So Cal Mini Horse Sanctuary, Inc. (Hemet); Spirit of the West Riders (Leona Valley, California); United States Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard (Barstow); The Valley Center Vaqueros (Valley Center); The Valley Hunt Club (Pasadena); and the Wells Fargo Stagecoaches (Meeker, Okla.)

The Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center (HCPEC) is situated on 25 acres of beautiful, sea-breezed land in Orange County, just two miles from the beach. Home to nearly 400 horses, with multiple trainers and arenas, annual horse shows in several disciplines, a wedding venue, and more than 150 acres of public trails, the HCPEC is one of Southern California’s premier equestrian facilities. HCPEC offers facility rentals and full-service show management for your next event, offering park-like facilities, beautiful weather, ample spectator seating, easy freeway access, and a full-time staff to meet your needs. The wide variety of riding disciplines that HCPEC can accommodate include hunter-jumper, reining, dressage, gymkhana, extreme cowboy, and breed shows.

HCPEC has stall rentals and ample trailer parking, as well as bedding and feed available for sale to your exhibitors. Our nine arenas are watered and dragged twice daily, and we also offer on-line class registration.

To learn more about this first-class boarding facility in a premier Southern California locale, contact the HCPEC at (714) 848-6565 or boarders@hcpec.com, or visit www.hcpec.com for more details.

Whether you compete on your horse or not, you’ll find excellent events to attend in fall, and this month is proof!

In Norco, a new event for the equine industry presented by Thrifty Horse Consignment Shoppe will enliven the George Ingalls Equestrian Center Oct. 6-8, as the inaugural Norco Horse Affair comes to Horsetown USA. The entire venue will be teeming with demonstrations, clinics, entertainment, shopping, and an educational equine symposium. (See event program in this issue of the Horsetrader, pages 37-51!) Admission is only $15 per carload, or $5 per walk-in. Much of these proceeds with go to benefit several local area non-profit organizations. Purina Animal Nutrition will also be inviting Norco Horse Affair attendees to enter its drawing for a chance to win an all-expense paid trip for two to the Purina Nutrition Center as a 2018 Professional Horse VIP. This high-tech research facility located in Gray Summit, Mo., is a 1,200-acre working farm with separate units devoted to equine, dairy, swine, cattle and companion animal research. Caring for over 1,000 animals in every stage of development, Purina researchers seek vital new data in areas like digestive physiology, animal metabolism, and growth and development. Stop by the Purina Animal Nutrition booth in the California Horsetrader Breed Pavilion to register. Don’t forget — you can find the Norco Horse Affair Program on page 37 with the map, vendor list, daily schedules, clinician bios, and more! You won’t want to miss the All American Horse Challenge with Mary Rose Anderson (see schedule). You can also visit NorcoHorseAffair.com for more details.

American Endurance Ride Conference Fall Special

When you think of endurance riding, you may conjure up images of 100-mile rides across rocky terrain or multi-day rides across the high desert. In reality, endurance riding careers can begin with a relatively easy 10-mile introductory ride or a 25-mile limited distance ride—not so forbidding for those new to distance riding. The American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) is making those first steps to endurance riding a little easier with their 2017 Fall Special promotion. Beginning now, new members can join for the remainder of the 2017 ride season and all of the 2018 ride season, which runs through November 30, 2018, for the discounted price of $88.75. Additional adult family members are $57.50; those 17 or younger are $27.

California Peacekeepers is a Cowboy Mounted Shooting Club governed by the rules and regulations set forth by the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association, “CMSA”. The club offers sanctioned CMSA competitions at two Southern California venues: the Krogh Ranch in Warner Springs and Star Valley Arena in Valley Center. These arenas were chosen specifically for their premium arena footing. The Krogh Ranch offers a venue to facilitate two-day shoots, barbeque dinners, pancake breakfasts and evening entertainment such as cowboy poetry and live music.

California Peacekeepers was established specifically to help grow and facilitate the sport of Cowboy Mounted Shooting in the state, offering practices and clinics to improve your skills and increase your horse’s ability to be athletic on the course. California Peacekeepers competitions are professional, detailed oriented, fun and competitive. You can reach California Peacekeepers at (760) 805-6061 or visit their website at www.CaliforniaPeacekeepers.com.

If you’re in the mood to shop for the cutest clothes, jewelry, boots, and hats on the planet, then just don’t save the date, tear the Big Horse Feed and Mercantile ad out of this magazine and put it on the fridge. Friday and Saturday, June 23-24, marks Big Horse’s 19th Annual Anniversary Sale, and you’re in for some real deals. Hailed as the go-to event of the year, you’ll find savings in nearly every department and have the opportunity to talk directly with manufacturer reps of some of your favorite products, meet up with friends and have a great time. Home décor? Got it! English and western riding gear and helmets? Got it! Saddles and tack? Got it! Handbags and purses? Got it! And the fun just doesn’t stop there. The first 100 customers each day will receive a free gift — there will be hourly drawings for great prizes, and you can enter to win the grand prize drawing of a $200 gift card. As you’re heading out the door, don’t forget to grab the ad on the fridge! With it, you’ll receive a 30 percent discount on one of your favorite items with a $50 purchase (exclusions apply). See you at Big Horse for sizzling summer savings for you, your home, horse and hound!

Pat Parelli will be teaching a natural horsemanship clinic Southern California May 12-14 at the Ingalls Park Arena in Norco. This year celebrates 35 years of the Parelli Program, which teaches riders how to gain leadership with their horses, how to better communicate, and how to get the best results. Pat’s coaching focuses on safety, ethical treatment and effectiveness.

The Parelli program is for horses of all breeds — western, English, gaited horses or other types of riding. Pat is a master teacher who helps riders correctly develop a foundation so that horses accept additional training that leads toward specialization in a particular discipline. It’s the foundation to all disciplines and recreational riding. Pat helps people solve problems so that they can gain more enjoyment with their horses — and reduce accidents.

The Norco Colt Starting Challenge is set for Friday, Feb. 24 from 6-9 p.m. and will continue on Saturday, Feb. 25 from 6-10 p.m. at Ingalls Park in Norco. Tickets are just $15 to attend the Colt Starting Challenge, which focuses on Natural Horsemanship and utilizes a horse’s natural instincts. The techniques used are a far cry from what was done a generation ago and what many have seen regarding breaking horses on TV and in the movies. The competitions are the brainchild of trainer and horseman Russell Beatty. In the two-day challenges, trainers are matched via random draw to horses that have had limited handling — no saddle nor bridle ever on the animal. To close out the challenge, trainers take their horse through a variety of obstacles in order to show how far their animals have come in a short amount of time. Mark your calendars and enjoy this competition. If you would like to enter a horse or purchase tickets, contact Colt Starting Challenge USA at ColtStartingChallengeUSA.com or call (808) 269-3408.

Happy New Year! There’s nothing like opening up a new calendar and starting with a clean slate. You might have noticed some freshness when you opened this issue of the Horsetrader — the first of 2017. For one, we’ve redesigned some of the sections. The Fototrader pages — those popular horse-for-sale and trailer-for-sale color picture ads — have been relocated into the front of the magazine. This puts them on on the same pages as our other popular sale listings, our classifieds. We’ve changed the look and feel a little, too, to help readers slow down to check them out. We hope you like the changes…please let us know!