O.C. fairgrounds’ the Ranch opens gates to public in debut during Discovery Day
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After more than a year of planning and preparation — and following an exodus of horse trainer tenants and their equines — a new Ranch Community Center at the Orange County fairgrounds this week opened its doors to the visiting public.
Fairground officials debuted the facility in a Discovery Day event Wednesday, inviting more than 500 youth to the Costa Mesa site to learn about the care, keeping and use of horses in Orange County’s past and present.
“This is a vision the board had; I shared that vision, and the staff got behind it,” said Michele Richards, chief executive, who welcomed guests to the center. “It’s the newest expansion of agricultural education programs at the OC Fair & Event Center.”
Despite a dearth of regular equine occupants (only five, including two that are privately boarded, reside at the roughly 144-stall center) the day’s event featured 21 horses that children can visit with, touch and learn more about.
Members of the California State Guard’s 26th Cavalry Support Regiment led demonstrations on the use and history of horses in military operations, while six deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Mounted Enforcement Unit were stationed, hip to hip, at the Ranch’s western edge.
Other horses, on loan from other locations in Orange County, included two belonging to a fairgrounds volunteer who illustrated how OCFEC, serving as California’s 32nd District Agricultural Assn., is equipped to provide large-animal evacuation services in an emergency or disaster.
Handlers of three resident horses from San Juan Capistrano-based nonprofit Walk Intuit discussed equine-assisted therapy lessons and programs being offered at the Ranch, while representatives from Tanaka Farms’ Barnyard program in Irvine introduced 27-year-old rescued miniature horses, Dolly Madison and Lil’ Debbie.
“Their owner died and so we took them in. They’re just lovely little sassafrases, two old ladies gossiping all day,” joked Shelmarie Main, creator of the Barnyard’s programs.
Youths toddled through educational exhibits from Knott’s Berry Farm 4-H and Hapa Honey Farm, engaging in activities from veterinary tech students of Anaheim’s Platt College and interacting with bunnies, domesticated chickens, a donkey and a llama from the fairgrounds’ own animal landscaping team.
For kids who may have been looking to saddle up, Discovery Day at the Ranch offered a stick-horse rodeo, where kids could gallop and practice jumps, and saddles mounted onto bales of hay that provided a ranch-themed photo opp.
Riding lessons, which once flourished at the fairgrounds’ former Equestrian Center, could soon rebound, now that OFCEC signed a contract with its first trainer, Sara Zomo, owner of San Juan Capistrano’s Zequestrian Riding Academy, who recently began boarding two horses at the facility.
Zomo, who brought out horses Rosie Posey and Princess to meet the kids, said she’s looking to meet the needs of clientele in the area and is starting off with those two horses but may bring more.
“The purpose for us expanding is there is a need for fresh blood in the sport, and not a lot of people teach kids,” she said. “So, we’re so excited to be here as a second location and really excited to serve the community.”
Kids, parents and teachers who attended Wednesday’s Discovery Day were equally excited to check out the Ranch and see a part of the fairgrounds they hadn’t really explored before.
“I think this might have been my best field trip yet,” said Natalie Schild, a kindergarten teacher at Coto de Caza’s Wagon Wheel Elementary School, who’s taken students to nearby Centennial Farm but had never stepped foot in the Equestrian Center before Wednesday.
“We never knew it was available for field trips,” she continued. “There was no limit on volunteers, so we gave it a try — it was a great experience.”
Fellow Wagon Wheel kindergartner Dalante Dunklin Jr, 6, happened to be on his first field trip and pointed out a bunny-petting station and being able to touch horses as highlights of the visit. Classmate Malia Nevarez, also 6, agreed petting the horses was “amazing.”
“Usually we go to Centennial Farm, but this is kind of more free flowing,” said their teacher, Kim Nakamoto. “This is really fun. It’s interactive, and the kids were really looking forward to that.”
Richards, who plans to retire on May 30 after 23 years at the fairgrounds, said she couldn’t be more pleased with the Ranch’s debut.
“This is exactly what we envisioned,” she said. “I know it’s just the beginning, and I honestly can’t wait to come back in a year and see how it’s grown.”
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