Horse Heaven : Equestrian Sports Gaining Popularity in Open Spaces of South County

Gina Gutman says she would prefer to board her two horses closer to her Long Beach home, but an El Toro stable is as close as she can get since her former stable in Huntington Beach announced plans to close. “It’s a lot of work--I come here four or five times a week--but it’s my fun, too,” she said. “Some people have other hobbies. Horses are mine.”

Gutman’s is not an isolated case. Urbanization is crowding horses out of north and central Orange County. Increasingly, they are finding new homes in the relatively open spaces of the south county.

The southward movement is accompanied by two other developments which, enthusiasts say, could combine to entrench a horse-oriented life style in much of the south county, despite plans for massive growth.

They are:

- A booming interest in show horses, an expensive hobby that nevertheless is gaining popularity among affluent, south county horse owners.

- Plans for a 300-mile, countywide trail system, about two-thirds of which will be in the south county.

There is no accurate count of the horse population in the south county, though most of those interviewed said they believed the number is growing with exiles like Gina Gutman’s horses.

Stables in Anaheim, Santa Ana and Huntington Beach have closed or announced plans to do so in the last year. The closing of a major facility at Crystal Cove, on the coast between Laguna Beach and Corona del Mar, was another blow to horse enthusiasts.

Though the horse population isn’t certain, one thing is: the south county’s larger stables are growing because of a need for space, demand for horse and rider training and the growing popularity locally of horse-related pursuits as a social activity.

“More and more people are looking for places to keep horses, and a lot of people like to come here to enjoy the social environment,” said Leslie Thomson, a trainer at the 160-horse Serrano Creek Ranch in El Toro.

But for many, grooming themselves and their horses for show competition is the draw.

“From what I’ve seen, the interest down here is very show-horse oriented,” said Jill-Marie Jones, editor of the 50,000-circulation Horse Illustrated Magazine, based in San Juan Capistrano.

Two neighboring San Juan Capistrano stables are examples of that interest.

At Sycamore Trails Stables, which recently won approval to add 160 stalls to its existing 260, 10 trainers offer lessons in Western and English saddle riding, hunting and jumping, team roping and dressage, a discipline popularized in last summer’s Olympics that involves subtle signals by the riders to their horses.

Several hundred yards away, the Rancho Sierra Vista Equestrian Center boards 180 horses and has seven on-site trainers. The two stables host dozens of local horse shows every year.

“Fine Points”

Ron Hanson, Sycamore Trails owner-manager, said the growth of competitions is the result of “a lot of people becoming interested in improving themselves and their relationship to their animals. They want to learn the fine points of equestrian sport and not just trail riding.”

Most trainers are independent of the stables where they work; the stables are compensated by the boarding fees paid by the trainer’s clients. In the south county, many trainers are well-known in the horse world.

Cathy Blazer, a 24-year-old trainer at Rancho Sierra Vista who specializes in Western-style riding, has teamed with her father, Don, a fixture in local horse circles, in a business that stretches into racing.

Her fees range from $15 for a 45-minute session, which most clients take twice a week, to $240 for a complete monthly care plan that includes basic training for horses not yet ready for riders. More experienced trainers can earn much more.

“The people that are moving to this area have so much money they can afford this,” she said, “and it’s really good for the kids. It’s fun and it keeps them out of trouble.”

Money is indeed a prerequisite for horse ownership, especially when it involves grooming for competition.

A horse for trail-riding purposes can be had for as little as $1,000, but Jones said the price can be 10 to 15 times as much “for a horse that’s going to win at the local shows.” A national contender can command up to $50,000, she said.

Additional Expenses

Purchase price often is the smallest part of a horse’s total cost. Most south county stable space costs between $130 and $180 a month, including feed, and prices are rising. New shoes cost $40 to $65 and are required about every six weeks. Then there are food supplements, shots and other veterinary treatment, grooming aids and training fees, and in some cases insurance. Competition means entry fees and, in some cases, fees to bring the horse’s trainer to the show.

When it’s added up, horse ownership can be as expensive as a mortgage.

But interest in show horses apparently is not replacing enthusiasm for simple trail riding.

Jerry Harris, co-owner and manager of Rancho Sierra Vista with his wife, Patty, said “there are still a lot of backyard horses out there. . . . I don’t think they are diminishing, I just think other disciplines are growing at a faster rate.”

San Juan Capistrano resident Ilse Byrnes, chairwoman of the city’s Equestrian Commission and a recent gubernatorial appointee to the California State Trails Committee, agreed that “trail riders are not diminishing, they’re just a quiet group.”

Trail riders have not, in fact, been very quiet. People like Byrnes have made sure that horses get due consideration at both the state and local levels. One group finished work late last year on a countywide plan for riding and hiking trails that the Board of Supervisors adopted in December. Of its nearly 300 miles, more than 200 will be located in south county.

Population Boom Predicted

South county is scheduled to explode with new development in the next 15 years. Projected construction of 100,000 new housing units and industrial facilities are expected to boost the area’s population by 70%.

But Byrnes and others don’t think that will mean the horses will be crowded out.

Byrnes points to the trail system, provisions for open space that are part of south county development approvals and attitudes in cities such as San Juan Capistrano, which specifies in its general plan that horses are an integral part of the city’s life style.

The area’s ties to horses have been strengthened by the new Coto de Caza community near Trabuco Canyon, where private equestrian facilities are reputed to be among the county’s finest. The Coto de Caza facilities hosted the equestrian events--and three of the other four segments--of the modern pentathlon competition at last summer’s Olympics.

“Follow the Plan”

Coto de Caza resident John Cronin, co-owner of Serrano Creek Ranch and founding president of the 5-year-old Orange County Horsemen’s Assn., said horses will remain in the south county “if we just follow the plan that the Board of Supervisors adopted over the next 10 to 20 years.”

If nothing else, said Hanson, the current growth of interest and the area’s horse-oriented history will help entrench the equestrian community.

“It’s a good thing to develop a strong equestrian community, with strong ties to the horse, strong trails and good boarding operations,” he said. “It’s one way to not get pushed out by development.”

And, added Cathy Blazer, “there are so many people down here involved with horses that it’s going to help keep things that way.”