PASO ROBLES — From the new to the seasoned, trainer Phillip Ralls proved to be best at the 2014 Protect The Harvest / Lucas Oil Snaffle Bit Futurity and World’s Richest Stock Horse event Aug. 19-24 at the Mid-State Fairgrounds.

Ralls, who won last year’s World’s Richest Stock Horse event on Dom Dualuise, repeated the feat on Christian Larson’s 7-year-old gelding again this year before concluding the week with an Open Futurity championship aboard Call Me Mitch, Estelle Roitblatt’s son of Metallic Cat.

“To come back and win again was even better — the World’s Richest to me was always a big one,” said Ralls, 33, whose father, Ron Ralls, won the first World’s Richest Stock Horse event in 2006 in Fresno. “I was there helping my dad the first year they had it, and he ended up winning it. It was kind of always on my bucket list, to have a horse good enough to someday win.”

LAKE VIEW TERRACE — If you love California, you will appreciate Lake View Terrace. In the wintertime, the snow covered ridges of the San Gabriel Mountains stand as a backdrop. In the spring, wildflowers color the foothill slopes. On summer evenings, the smell of sage rises up from the creek beds. And in the fall, a crisp wind blows down from the hills.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Blenheim EquiSports once again hosted the much-anticipated, prestigious ASPCA Maclay Regionals Region 8, West at the Blenheim Fall Tournament.

Set in the indoor arena on a warm Saturday evening, the class featured 36 junior riders who had qualified throughout the year, each with the hopes of advancing to the competitive Finals held at the National Horse Show in Lexington, Ky., on Nov. 2.

Esteemed judges George Morris and Scott Fitton were present to evaluate the young riders as they tackled veteran course designer Skip Bailey’s intricate track layout. Using the entirety of the indoor ring, the course featured multiple challenges, including a curved hay bale jump used twice throughout the course; a shallow serpentine line requiring pace and adjustability; several tricky bending lines and sharp rollbacks, and two double combinations.

The Camp Pendleton Historical Society faced an all-day invasion at the historic Las Flores Adobe Sept. 13 for a fund-raiser for SSgt. Reckless at the seaside U.S. Marine Base. Both old and young fans of the Korean Warhorse came by for the festivities, food and history — plus a chance to receive a signed copy of Sgt. Reckless, America’s War Horse by author Robin Hutton.

California’s two major regional affiliates of the National Reined Cow Horse Association kick into high gear in October with their respective line-ups of events.

A fearful horse can chip away at a rider’s confidence. Similarly, a fearful rider can make a horse fearful , so there lies the potential for a never-ending cycle. The more fearful the horse, the more fearful the rider becomes – and vice versa.

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Last issue, Les showed us in detail what turnarounds should look like; here’s what to do if they don’t.

If the horse keeps trying to go forward once you’ve asked him to start the turnaround, just keep him in the proper bend and keep pushing his pivot foot up underneath him with your legs. He’ll eventually figure out that stepping into the turnaround is the easiest response to the cues that you’re giving him.

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Once you have decided on teaching your horse to pull a cart, carriage or wagon, what do you use to pull it with? A harness of course!

Nine riders and a good turnout of spectators brought to life Bob and Dana Avila’s new ranch Sept. 6-7 during a boxing clinic put on by Avila and Ted Robinson.

CAEN, France — On a day when luck often eluded the Americans over Frédéric Cottier’s 13-obstacle track, the team of world-class riders, bookended by two championship stalwarts, persevered to finish on total of 16.72 and win the Team Bronze at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

The U.S. returned home from the WEG, held in Normandy, France, from Sept. 2-7, with seven total medals (two Gold, two Silver, and three Bronze). They finished fourth in the world count, behind Great Britain (seven Gold, 15 total), Netherlands (six, 18) and Germany (five, 15).