In champions’ shadows

For the last six weeks, this desolate desert hideaway known for its date trees and triple-digit summers has been awash with Hollywood celebrities, Olympic-caliber athletes and software executives in town for one of the country’s premier equestrian events.

Along with pampered show horses, some worth millions, this cousin of the sport of kings relies on hundreds of stable hands, many of them Mexican immigrants who work up to 16-hour days in the harsh desert climate and some who sleep among the horses in trailers or stables.

At this year’s series of shows, which ends today, two stable hands suffocated while sleeping in a dusty horse trailer Feb. 23, succumbing to fumes from a gasoline generator powering a space heater they had to ward off the chill of 40-degree nights.

The deaths of Jorge Rodriguez-Ramirez, 47, and Armando Sanchez-Gallardo, 21, highlighted the vast divide between the worlds of those toiling in the stables and the wealthy owners and riders who depend on their labor. Unlike racetracks, where workers are protected by new labor, health and welfare laws, horse shows remain mostly unregulated.

“I know the grooms work their butts off, but to be honest, I don’t even know where they go at night,” said longtime rider Jenna Campbell, 28, of Moorpark, who employs caretakers for her horse, Oceanus, but had not heard of the grooms’ deaths at the show series, presented by Horse Shows in the Sun Inc.

While the deaths are still under investigation, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department officials consider them to be accidental. Neither the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health nor state labor officials are investigating the deaths or workplace conditions, because the two were not on the job when they died.

“It was terrible,” said a nephew of one of the men, who discovered the bodies and also requested anonymity. “My uncle shouldn’t have died that way.”

Officials with the U.S. Equestrian Federation, which governs the sport, and Horse Shows in the Sun called the deaths tragic -- but disavowed any responsibility.

The topic of the welfare of stable hands at shows has never been an issue, according to Horse Shows spokesman John Eickman.

“We truly do see it as an isolated accident. Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens all around the country when people go in and fire up a combustion-type heater without prior ventilation,” he said.

In the week following the deaths, the topics of conversation among riders, fans and owners were about the challenging jumping courses and two injured horses that had to be euthanized. Few had heard of the grooms’ deaths.

Many grooms said they had space at night in shared motel rooms or recreational vehicles but said that dozens sleep in stalls and horse trailers.

The workers generally hail from small Mexican farm towns such as Calvillo in Aguascalientes, Ejutla in Jalisco and throughout the state of Zacatecas.

In a cash business, they said, they are often paid a flat rate of $100 to $150 a day. Even for those in the country legally, there is no promise of overtime pay or compensation if they are injured, they said. For those here illegally, there is no safety net.

The horse show circuit runs from February to November, and the immigrant laborers follow the shows across the state and often, across the country.

Javier Gamdara, 40, a stable hand based in Seattle, said he has been in the business for more than 12 years and had seen Rodriguez-Ramirez, a father of three young children, and Sanchez-Gallardo on the circuit for the last year or two.

As he walked a horse named Skyline from the bathing area back to the stable, he lamented that no one paid attention to the two men’s lack of lodging.

“Their situation is not uncommon, but the older man was from my hometown. I should have brought him and the other to the tack room” -- a small, private space in the barn where supplies are kept, Gamdara said in Spanish. “They could have slept there. I would have let them.”

Another groom, who asked to be identified only as Tony, said the deaths angered him. “We don’t care about TV. We just want a bed, food and hot water,” he said in Spanish. “These are just basic things that humans need.”

Unless an employer provides lodging, it’s hard to find or afford, especially if you don’t have a car, he said. Near Thermal, many hotels along Interstate 10 charge more than $150 a night for a room.

Still, not all of the grooms objected to the conditions.

Jose Rodriguez, 39, a former bull rider and rodeo performer from Ejutla, works as a head groom. “I’ve been doing this for more than 10 years, and I never once had a motel room until recently,” he said. “But back at home this work means I have a home, 300 acres and a happy wife and family.”

Meanwhile, the rugged individualism of workers such as Rodriguez helps to power a U.S. equine industry that includes 3.6 million participants and 2 million horses. Horse Shows is the largest producer of hunter-jumper horse shows in the world, with sites in Arizona, California, Florida, New York and Virginia.

The desert oasis attracts professional athletes and amateur participants from throughout the West, Midwest, Canada and Mexico, including the children of actors Michelle Pfeifer, Alfre Woodard and Tom Selleck.

Each week’s competitions typically begin with a focus on top-level athletes seeking to qualify for the World Cup or a piece of $1 million in prize money. Then the events gradually transition to include more amateurs and young riders at week’s end.

Between their rounds, riders and horse owners -- along with their fluffy corgis, Jack Russell terriers and Chihuahuas -- eat at VIP buffets and lounge in shaded, private areas outside the barns, where workers have placed fresh sod to create a comfortable garden setting.

The horse owners pay about $30,000 in entry fees, labor and feed for each horse shown all six weeks, trainers calculate.

After Rodriguez-Ramirez’s and Sanchez-Gallardo’s deaths, Horse Shows chose not to advise exhibitors to avoid allowing stable hands to sleep in similar conditions. Eickman said it would be presumptuous to think that other trainers or owners would be leaving their grooms in such quarters.

Eickman said Horse Shows also chose not to speak to the owners of the trailer where the two men died to learn how the men came to sleep there. “We believe the police did an excellent investigation,” he said.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said his department did not determine why they were in the trailer and did not investigate the deaths as work-related, noting that the two men were seen drinking the night before they were discovered dead. There was no indication that any laws were broken, he said.

The owners of the trailer, Bruce and Sharon Telford of Tofield, Canada, stated in an e-mail to The Times: “Our family has been devastated by this tragic accident, and out of respect for the families we do not feel it is appropriate for us to provide further comment at this time,” the couple wrote.

A spokesman for Riverside County, which leases the property to Horse Shows in a 10-year, $2.5-million agreement, said county regulations do not prohibit grooms from sleeping in stalls and trailers.

The U.S. Equestrian Federation, which governs events such as Horse Shows’ where professional athletes compete for the World Cup and other international qualifications, cites its primary mission as “ensuring the safety and well-being of horses” and has not addressed the welfare of grooms, CEO John Long said.

“I’ve never heard the topic come up in the equestrian world,” Long said. “There was a time when people involved in racing saw some of the conditions of some of the grooms and valets and said it was time to do something, but the situation is different in the equestrian world.”

California lawmakers and labor authorities cracked down on racetracks after a story in The Times in 2000 that chronicled poor conditions for racetrack grooms. As a result, grooms were licensed and the industry was required to provide safe, clean housing -- which undergoes annual inspections -- at no cost. The industry also improved health and retirement benefits.

Horse shows were not included in the reforms, and some of the workers at those events don’t expect the participants to call for change.

“The owners just want their kids happy,” said Gamdara, the groom in Thermal. “As long as the kids are happy, we are no trouble to them.”

garrett.therolf@latimes.com