SAN MARCOS — If you drove past the Walnut Grove Equestrian Park arena on a recent Saturday about lunchtime, you may have seen the mayhem.

There were loud protesters shoving signs at 15 people on horseback, including some kids. There were smoke bombs, loud music, and some large, strange-looking beings.

But all was OK. The riders also had complete control — with the help of Mo Parga.

Parga, a San Diego native who retired last month after nearly 33 years in the San Diego Police Department, was one of the clinicians at the City of San Marcos Day of the Horse May 20 in one of the county’s only municipal equestrian facilities. For years, Parga headed the now-disbanded mounted unit with the SDPD, but her passion for horses, community and volunteerism has spawned a new chapter — helping to form, train and coach volunteer patrols for local community trails.

“I have a love for the volunteers, and if I can help promote more volunteer mounted trail groups, I’ll be happy,” says Parga, who lives in El Cajon with her husband, a retired narcotics sergeant on the SDPD, and their horses. “The trail volunteers are good PR and eyes and ears for the rangers — not enforcement. San Marcos is going to have some eyes and ears for the rangers on the horses.”

The Los Angeles Equestrian Center is honored to host the EQUUS Film Festival LA, June 15-17, 2018. The EQUUS Film Festival was created to highlight and award the diverse and creative efforts of those who artistically pay homage to the horse. The festival empowers storytellers to show the rich history and diverse tapestry of horses in human culture through equestrian content.  We have feature films, documentaries, shorts, music videos, commercials, training educational materials, art and literature. As home to the storytellers of the horse world, the EQUUS Film Festival, is the first event of its kind dedicated to equestrian-themed film, fine art and authors. The annual EQUUS Film Festival Awards Event showcases the EQUUS Panels, EQUUS Pop-Up artist, filmmaker and literary gallery, FREE Saturday family films and fun fest, tours of local horse stables, a VIP Party, and the WININE Award Ceremony, are all part of the festival event program. Founded in 2013, the EQUUS Film Festival 2017 presented over 80 films and over 60 WINNIE Awards including Equestrian Art Film, Director, Documentary, Commercial, International, Music Video, People’s Choice and Best of Festival.

TEMECULA — Nicolas Barthelemy relocated his training barn early this year to Moorpark, but once place you can still find the talented trainer is atop the standings at the end of the day.

Barthelemy was one of the stars of the 2018 Southern California Reined Cow Horse Association’s Jimmy Flores, Sr. Spectacular, held May 18-20 at Casner’s Ranch.

Barthelemy, riding Manuel Rojo’s WRS Shiney Diamond (WR This Cats Smart x Shiney Miss Hickory), outscored the field in the $1,000-added Open Hackamore Spectacular. In another prestigious aged-event class at the Jimmy Flores, Sr. Memorial, the $1,000-added Open Bridle Spectacular, Barthelemy rode Joel Jewett’s Im Smooth N Smart (Smooth As A Cat x Vandalena) to the reserve title behind Jason Grimshaw on Lauren Boychuk’s Mister OMG (One Time Pepto x Sallie B Badge). Barthelemy and Im Smooth N Smart also won the Open Bridle class.

DEL MAR — The $60,000 Grand Prix of California was one of those rare classes where the best score in the first round could not be matched, so the ribbons were awarded without a jump-off. Carly Anthony and her mount Chacco, owned by Neil Jones Equestrian Inc, finished with one time fault for the win. Richard Spooner and Rancho Corazon LLC’s Quirado RC were the only other pair to keep all rails in the cups, and finished in second place with three on the clock.

Formulated by the internationally-acclaimed Leopoldo Palacios of Venezuela, the course took advantage of the Showpark Grand Prix Field’s size while keeping a tight time allowed of 83 seconds. Riders faced two tricky lines up the diagonals, the first a two-stride combination to a delicate vertical and the second a wide oxer leading into two consecutive one-strides, which when ridden carefully would cost time on the clock.

ELK GROVE — Brookside Show Park in Elk Grove, California, is having a record year with great shows, terrific exhibitors, and a lot of fun enjoying planned activities each evening after showing days are over. The Rein for the Roses show, held May 3-6, celebrated another successful venue for west coast reiners. It was the second Affiliate show for the West Coast Reining Horse Association, where exhibitors earn points towards WCRHA yearend awards. The footing was pristine with new sand in the show ring as well as in the large schooling pen. Thad Carr and Drag Time worked tirelessly to ensure that the ground would be ready for riding and sliding.

A friend called and needed help with a Peruvian Paso. Platino is a 10-year-old Peruvian gifted with a beautiful natural gait. However, his speed was uncontrollable. Lunging, working him off-line in the round pen, and galloping in the arena for extended periods of time only escalated his level of energy. He would walk alongside the handler while being led, but once a rider was seated, the race was on. Very little leg pressure was used to eliminate any possible cause for his need for speed, and the owner had had him thoroughly examined by a vet to rule out pain as the catalyst.

Platino arrived, and we headed for the round pen. I was aware that, physically, he was confirmed sound and fit, including a ruling out of gastric ulcers that have become so prevalent. Physically, he checked out. I moved him around a little using halter and lead rope to determine his emotional state. I didn’t find him to be overreactive, fearful or aggressive; quite the contrary, he was a gentleman. The next component that needed to be revisited was their training regimen. Since the current program wasn’t adding up to a successful outcome, a change was required in order to produce a different result.

Once your horse is sidepassing along the fence really well, move him out to the middle of the arena and give it a try. Remember again to keep his body at least straight. Your goal will be to sidepass him so that his head and hip are actually curled toward the direction he is going, which requires a lot of shoulder and hip control—so you need to be really conscientious about his head and neck alignment.