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Former RCHA board members attending were (from left) Jerilyn Kapus, Amber Gentry, Dennis Hibberts, Kerrie Tuley and Kent Tuley. (RCHA photo)

Rancho California Horsemen’s Association celebrates its success

Special to the Horsetrader

TEMECULA — Rancho California Horsemen’s Association recently celebrated 55 years as the premier equestrian organization in the Temecula Valley.

A wonderful BBQ dinner catered by South Fork and sponsored by Darrell and Brenda Cowan, a silent auction sponsored by Temecula Valley Rural Lifestyles, and line dancing led by Nita Bowers were highlights of the evening which also included the awarding of an RCHA-sponsored Scholarship at Green Acres Interactive Therapy (GAIT) to Kaylee Long so she can pursue her love of riding, and the annual Friend of RCHA Award to Lorraine Harrington for her support of the equestrian lifestyle in Temecula Valley.

The March 27 dedication of the new KenTina Trail in Valle de los Caballos in Temecula attracted local supporters from all ages and disciplines. (Photo courtesy TVRL).

Newest leg of Wine Country Trails gets well-attended ribbon-cutting

Special to the Horsetrader

TEMECULA — Temecula Valley Rural Lifestyles, Inc., a non-profit organization committed to preserving and enhancing equestrian lifestyle in their special Riverside County region, hosted a dedication ceremony March 27 for the newest segment of the Wine Country Trails Network, the KenTina Trail.

Family, friends and equestrians on horseback gathered along Los Caballos Road to commemorate the naming of the trail for Galway Downs owners Ken and Tina Smith, two leading equestrian supporters. The Smiths, who acquired Galway Downs in 2010, earned naming rights to the trail by virtue of the winning bid in last year’s TVRL Fundraiser Gala auction.

Happy Trail!

- March 7th, 2024
Legendary horsewoman Pat Ommert of Temecula cuts the ceremonial ribbon to open the Pat Ommert Trail, flanked by (from left) Riverside County COO Juan Perez, County Supervisor Chuck Washington, County staff member Phayvanh Nanthavongdouangsy, and emcee Mark Madsen. (Photo courtesy Supervisor Chuck Washington)

After a long ride to completion, Temecula trail advocates celebrate

From Horsetrader staff reports

TEMECULA — Travelers along DePortola Road aren’t accustomed to big commotions on a Thursday morning, but there it was on Feb. 22: dozens of observers, several dignitaries, a mounted posse, even media.

It was a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Pat Ommert Trail. After 15 years of dedicated work, the stars had finally aligned and the 2.3-mile trail through Valle de los Caballos, linking Anza Road to the vineyards, would officially open.

The brightest star, legendary horsewoman and lifelong horse advocate Pat Ommert, arrived promptly at 11 a.m. — pulled at age 94 by a team of draft horses instead of Roman Riding them as she gracefully did for decades. When she cut the ribbon, flanked by Riverside County officials including Supervisor Chuck Washington, about five dozen supporters, sponsors and trail users cheered.


Leader of the Pack

- March 9th, 2023
Rock Creek Pack Station riders enjoy a “trip of a lifetime” — sometimes again and again. Courtesy photo.

For decades, Craig London, DVM of Rock Creek Pack Station has shared Sierra wilderness with folks on horseback

HORSETRADER: Craig, where did your journey into Sierra wilderness trips begin?
CRAIG: My parents, Herbert and Marge London, bought Rock Creek Pack Station in 1947. My dad was an executive for American Airlines, and when he left L.A., he had been sort of head of flight operations,and he decided he wanted to be a packer. He wanted to go to Bishop.
So, he just had a passion for the outdoors — the wilderness and simple lifestyle — and he never regretted it.

Trails are Common Ground

- November 2nd, 2021

ELCR joins coalition launching nationwide trail etiquette campaign

Courtesy of ELCR.org

Horses and bikes finding Common Ground on the trails. (ELCR.org photo)

Any recreational trail user will tell you there are more people on the trails than ever before. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, automated counters at trail systems around the country recorded four times as many users compared to the same time frame in 2019.

CLOSE to HOME

- April 30th, 2021

Rancho Cucamonga

Once a rural area known for grapevines and agriculture, Rancho Cucamonga is located about 40 miles east of Los Angeles. Alta Loma is a subsection of Rancho Cucamonga that is home to most of the area’s equestrian-zoned properties as well as several large boarding/training facilities. Natalie Beechler, president of the Alta Loma Riding Club, submitted this account to “Close To Home” — sharing her community’s challenges and the tactics required to preserve the area’s horse heritage.


I want to share some stories of what has been our strategies in our quest to maintain an area that is overrun with developers attempting to rezone our historically preserved equestrian overlay that the founders of the city put into place many decades ago.

Where do our trails lead?

- March 31st, 2021

Equestrians, working together and allied with supportive partners, make a difference in perpetuating riding trails. Here are some tips — and some easy-to-access online resources from ELCR.org

By Denise O’Meara / for Equine Land Conservation Resource

Public riding trails like this one in San Marcos are a treasure worthy of protecting for the next generation. (Horsetrader photo)

Here’s a question that you may ask yourself every time that you load up your horses to trailer to the nearest equestrian accessible trail — wouldn’t it be nice to ride out my back gate, get on a local trail and head out to the park, the woods, the shore or anywhere that didn’t involve a fill-up or two? Some of you are very lucky and have that situation. The vast majority of us are not.

Community Planning — Are You In or Are You Out?

Urban and suburban community members need to see and understand horses and their riders. Unless they learn how joyful and useful horses are to humans, and how they can interact safely with non-equestrians, these folks can help deny horseback access to trails and other equine facilities.

ELCR Vision

A future in which horse lands have been conserved so that America’s equine heritage lives on and the emotional, physical and economic benefits of mankind’s bond with the horse remain accessible to all.

The Issues

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the U.S. is losing 6,000 acres of open land every day. Large open spaces and contiguous tracts of land are critical to providing the space we need to support our nation’s equestrian heritage and economy. With the current rate of loss we may not have enough land to support our horses and equestrian-related activities in as little as 15 years.

Upcoming monthly ELCR Topics in California Horsetrader

  1. Planning for horses in your community
  2. Conservation tools for horse lands
  3. Equine access to public lands
  4. Equine access to private lands
  5. Best management practices and the benefits of horses in communities

Access the organization’s information, resources and tools that help horse people take action: http://elcr.org

ELCR Impact:

Since 2007, ELCR has assisted in the protection of more than 200,000 acres of land and more than 1,200 miles of trails. American Horse Publications and Pfizer selected ELCR as the 2012 Equine Industry Vision Award recipient.

City of L.A. sought input from its equine advisory council when L.A. Zoo planned expansion near Griffith Park trails.

Special to the Horsetrader

Planners of a zoo expansion next to popular trails in Griffith Park were receptive of recent equestrian input.

LOS ANGELES—When the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department recently wanted a horse person’s perspective on a Los Angeles Zoo expansion plan in Griffith Park, it turned to a familiar voice—Lynn Brown.

Brown’s resume reads like a Who’s Who in equestrian advocacy, having served as National Trail Coordinator for Equestrian Trails, Inc. for 20 years and more recently as a 10-year Vice President of the L.A. Equine Advisory Committee. If you aren’t familiar with the LAEAC but you are a civic-minded equestrian, you might become familiar with it. It’s a model for effective representation in City Hall for horsepeople, created by L.A. City Council in 2009. It was a historic first, as equestrians had never had an official voice to the city. Each city councilperson appoints one member to sit on the LAEAC, which reports directly back to council on the issues.

Stephanie Abronson, Monte Nido
When I had the opportunity to ride in the Mammoth Lakes area with a close friend, I jumped at the chance. Debbie DiMascio and her Quarter Horse, Jake, joined me and Polina, my Welsh Cob mare, to find the Red Cones trail. A super experienced parklands Mounted Volunteer Patrol member, Debbie and Jake were the ideal riding partners. Two different rides were planned, both in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in the Inyo National Forest. First was to find the Red Cones. Debbie hadn’t yet been there.

Ever one to chat up any person I met along the trail, I always would ask directions or tips, expecting that generally they were more experienced than I. As Debbie and I began a descent to find the mid-slope trail to the Cones we had a spectacular view that opened up stretching a long way across the San Joaquin River to Yosemite. The view was due to a previous forest fire that the previous winters had strewn the burnt pines and firs about like giant pick-up sticks. As we turned onto the correct mid-slope, the Red Cones soon came into view.

Our next excursion was a lovely loop ride for lunch at McCloud Lake. I think that the photo tells the whole story.