Ragtime’s Eviction Overruled

A Thousands Oaks woman who keeps a miniature horse in her rented suburban home won a court battle Thursday when a judge dismissed a criminal case city officials had filed against her for alleged zoning violations.

Ventura Municipal Court Judge Herbert Curtiss III ruled that the Thousand Oaks zoning code regarding horses was poorly worded and not enforceable.

But even as horse owner Patty Fairchild celebrated her victory, city officials said they would appeal or rewrite the law to make Fairchild move the 27-inch-high stallion from the tract neighborhood.

“The fear is if you allow it in this case, you have to allow it in all cases, and that would cause a mess,” said Shawn Mason, assistant city attorney of Thousand Oaks.

Mason said some neighbors complain that the horse smells. Others say it doesn’t. Rita Guild, who lives next door to Fairchild, said that she has not noticed any odors, and that the horse causes no problem.

The court hearing was the latest step in a five-month battle between Thousand Oaks officials and Fairchild over the brown-and-white horse named Ragtime. City officials contend that Ragtime, who is about two-thirds the size of a Great Dane, is a farm animal and thus cannot be kept in a residential community with small homes.

The ordinance dealing with horses prohibits keeping two of the animals on lots smaller than 20,000 square feet. But as Fairchild’s attorney argued, the ordinance does not mention any restrictions on keeping a single horse.

As a result, attorney Gloria Allred said, “There is no ordinance that prohibits the keeping of one miniature horse in Thousand Oaks.”

Fairchild greeted the judge’s decision with relief.

“I was just elated, overwhelmed . . . It’s not easy thinking you’re going to lose a member of your family,” she said.

Fairchild maintains that Ragtime is a domestic pet much like a dog and should be treated the same way.

In May, the Thousand Oaks City Council voted not to exempt Ragtime from the zoning law. In June, they issued a citation ordering Fairchild to remove the horse. She refused and was arraigned in late June on a charge of keeping a horse on property not zoned for such animals.

Allred spoke to neighbors and reporters Thursday afternoon at Fairchild’s house while Ragtime held court in the living room. She criticized Thousands Oaks officials for “having nothing better to do with taxpayers’ money” than go after an animal lover.