Winter 2019
Published by News Media Corporation | CALIFORNIA EDITION
WINTER 2019 CONTENTS NATRC now offers new Leisure Division............................3 Los Osos Valley Equine Farm...............................................4 Tim McGraw headlining 2019 Rodeo Salinas’....................6 California Rodeo Salinas reveals 2019 poster...................6 Hay cube feeding proves successful for Pioneer Ag customers............................................................7
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FROM THE COVER
Photo by: Phil Doyle Big Week Professional Bull Riding tickets are being offered early this year.
WINTER 2019 | Published by News Media Corporation
NATRC now offers new Leisure Division STAFF REPORT The nation’s premier competitive trail ride organization, the North American Trail Ride Conference, announces its newest competitive trail ride sanctioning option — the Leisure Division. Now riders can arrive in the morning, compete in the ride, and travel home the same day. The Leisure Division is the fourth division option in 1-day rides. It consists of 8-12 miles of trail with an average pace of 3-4.5 mph, has one pulse and respiration condition check and up to five judging observations. Unlike the other divisions — Open (O), Competitive Pleasure (CP), and Novice (N) — this division has a lower entry fee, does not require camping, has no stabling checks, and hoof or leg protection is unrestricted. A NATRC approved judge evaluates the equine and rider as a team. The
judge assigns placings, through 10th place, based on the combined equine and rider scores, thus rewarding their partnership. Equines must be at least 4 years old. Competitors can earn points toward regional year-end awards and accrue mileage credits toward chevrons and mileage milestone awards. Credits are 10 miles per completed ride. Angie Meroshnekoff, NATRC board president, stated that she expects this division will appeal to a variety of riders ranging from the seasoned equestrian to someone just starting in trail competition. She added, “Examples of these competitors are those with limited free time to condition and compete because of work or family responsibilities, those starting new horses in our sport, or those just wanting to ride their aged horses in competition again and visit with old NATRC friends and family.
EQUINE E N T H U S I A S T ™ EDITORIAL Brian Williams | Editor (805) 466-2585 ext. 1112 bwilliams@atascaderonews.com ADVERTISING SALES SAN LUIS OBISPO, SANTA BARBARA VENTURA COUNTIES: Sheri Potruch | Marketing Associate (805) 237-6060 ext. 1127 spotruch@pasoroblespress.com Adriana Novack | Marketing Associate (805) 466-2585 ext. 1115 anovack@atascaderonews.com
SANTA CLARA & SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES: Tina Chavez | Marketing Director (831) 761-7359 tchavez@register-pajaronian.com Jazmine Ancira | Marketing Associate (831) 761-7326 jancira@register-pajaronian.com MONTEREY COUNTY: Sheryl Bailey | Marketing Associate (831) 385-4880 sheryl@southcountynewspapers.com
EQUINE E N T H U S I A S T ™ News Media Corporation/California Edition
Published in conjunction with Paso Robles Press, Atascadero News, South County Newspapers and the Register-Pajaronian. Published by News Media Corporation | WINTER 2019
“And let’s not forget those who are bringing bright-eyed, energetic youngsters into our sport (I’m thinking parents and grandparents), or those who prefer shorter, slower rides with lots of natural trail challenges.” Junior riders must be at least 10 years old. Trail riding enthusiasts now have a choice of riding approximately 10, 20 or 40 miles in a 1-day ride in Leisure, CP/N or O divisions respectively, or 40 or 60 miles in a 2-day ride in CP/N or O, or 90 miles in Open in a 3-day ride. In 2019, NATRC is again offering free competing memberships to riders who have never before been members. Says Meroshnekoff, “Take pride in your ride. Come ride with us!”
The North American Trail Ride Conference has added a new competitive trail ride sanctioning option — the Leisure Division. Photo by Bill Wingle
Big Week 2019 tickets are on sale early STAFF REPORT SALINAS — Tickets for July 2019 events at the Salinas Sports Complex are now on sale. Tim McGraw is headlining the California Rodeo Salinas’ Big Week Kick Off Concert on Friday, July 12, at the Salinas Sports Complex. Presented by Taylor Farms, the concert will start the festivities for Big Week in Salinas. The week includes parades, a carnival and more, but the signature event is the California Rodeo Salinas from July 18 to 21 and the sellout Big Week Professional Bull Riding on July 17. Tickets are available online for all the events, including the Big Week Professional Bull Riding. This is the first time the California Rodeo Association is offering tickets this early for the bull riding event, and fans are encouraged to buy them while they are still available. The Salinas Sports Complex Box Office, 1034 N. Main St., will open full time for the 2019 season on a date to be determined in March. Visit www.carodeo.com for tickets and more details about each event.
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Los Osos Valley Equine Farm: LOVE-ing horses for half a century BY CAMAS FRANK OF EQUINE ENTHUSIAST
Going on 51 years now Michael and Pat Gorby have made a life, and a local name for their business, running a safe environment for a family ride and a boarding facility for horses, just off the trodden track in Los Osos Valley. Inspired to start the business in 1968 precisely because no such place existed in the area for Cal Poly students (that is California Polytechnic College San Luis Obispo) to board horses during their time at school, the Gorby’s have seen the property and the region through lot of changes. Seven times as many people live in the community of Los Osos, administered by San Luis Obispo County, as did in the 1960s. But more telling in terms of development is that the site of the couple’s former residence in Hazard Canyon, is now within the borders of the Montaña de Oro California State Park and the end of the road which connected the rural ranches in the area now ends in a Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant security zone. “How we ended up here is actually pretty
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simple,” Michael Gorby said. “This land became available so we bought it and started working.” That was after a series of moves with their steeds from the old stables behind the pig pens on the Cal Poly campus, to a barn near Laguna Lake and finally out to Hazard Canyon for a spell before landing at the Farm at 1869 Los Osos Valley Road. While locals abbreviate the address on the road to LOVR, and the initials of Los Osos Valley Equine Farm can be read as the LOVE Farm, on the internet it’s probably best to spell that out when looking for directions. Up a short dirt track from the main road the 52-acre Equine Farm is bounded by vegetable growers, hills and a County Oak Preserve. As recently as the 1990s there was more connection to the adjoining properties along the creek bed to the east, but whereas the rest of Los Osos out to the ocean rests on sandy soil, the farm is on more of an adobe base, which means pronounced erosion along the barrier at the creekbed. “It had mainly been garbanzo beans here,” Pat Gorby notes, adding that there wasn’t much beyond a shack and open fields when they
first started laying out areas for stables, and covered arenas. Before establishing business partnerships for a full suite of riding lessons and training, she noted they had mainly filled that original niche of boarding for the horses of Cal Poly students. Through the years their customer base evolved as their ability to host events matured,and live developed a rhythm of its own to sync up with the needs of the local horse set. “After 3 p.m. the whole place will come alive with kid learning to ride,” she adds, noting that the morning after one of California’s rare thunder storms had been a little hectic, “we’ve got a few folks up from the Los Angeles area and they’re really not used to weather. We’re actually in the same climate zone as Eureka [Calif.] right here.” Making the rounds himself and carrying gear to a stable where a feisty black beauty descended from Spanish Warhorses waited for his trail ride, Michael Gorby said, “You know the horses and dirt go hand in hand. It’s a little like giving your dog a bath, they roll in the grass right away.” Now 74, he still exercises several of the boarded horses per-day, and while pulling on WINTER 2019 | Published by News Media Corporation
riding boots, mused about the niche they’ve occupied in the community. “You know what we built everything for wouldn’t even cover the permitting process for someone to start up now,” he explained, while ticking off the changes on the site over years, a major difference being the transition of the equine oriented industries from a fact of rural life to more hobby fulfillment. “We try to have the capability to support the rider from beginning all the way through competition caliber….but it’s really the difference between the lifestyle stuff, wearing a cowboy hat, and real horsemanship. It should be about the animals.” He doesn’t teach beginning horsemanship as much himself anymore, he adds because of the patience required, he likes to explain technique and detail behind why something is done the way it is. Dressage instruction clients are more receptive to that approach. The Gorby’s don’t plan on going anywhere for the immediate future, but when asked about plans for the Farm, Michael
said, “We’d like to keep it an equestrian facility forever...if we can, he said, after explaining that part of their longevity on the site has been adapting to the needs of surrounding farmers, being mindful of dust and regulations about riding near fields and in return seeing respect from their neighbors regarding spraying and other operations that might impact the animals. The difference between living a life around the animals and simple going along with what’s fashionable is perhaps learned from the horses themselves over time. “Horses are a lot smarter than we give them credit for, they’ve had to be,” Michael Gorby said, “Something you learn is like the horse, ‘don’t look back because whatever is chasing you will catch up.’” A full list of services, boarding and lesson prices is available on the newly developed website: losososvalleyequinefarm.com, or call: 805-528-0559 to arrange a visit.
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Horsemen’s Association prepares for upcoming show Christina Bernal of Murrieta gives her thoroughbred horse, Fred, a shower at the horse arena at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in preparation for the 30th annual California State Horsemen’s Association Show of Champions in October. Founded in 1942, the CSHA implements its programs in 18 geographic regions within three areas throughout California. The association’s next show will be held Jan. 25-27 at the Hotel Mission de Oro in Santa Nella. For information, visit
Contributed Photo Tim McGraw
californiastatehorsemen.org.
Photo by: Tarmo Hannula
als 2019 e v re s a n li a S o e d o R California r commemorative poste SALINAS — Brent Eastman is starting his second year as the president of the California Rodeo and once again selected local artist John Cerney to paint a mural that developed into the 2019 commemorative poster. The president guides the annual poster process for these collector’s items that celebrate each year of the California Rodeo Salinas. The new poster features
Painting by local artist John Cerney inspired poster for 2nd year
longtime California Rodeo Salinas bullfighter and now barrelman Andy Burelle tipping his hat in a welcoming gesture. Burelle said, “I am honored to be featured on this year’s poster. The California Rodeo Salinas committee feels like family to me because I have been coming here for almost 20 years to either compete as a bullfighter or to protect the other bullfighters.” The colorful image is also a larger-than-life mural that now lives on a barn behind the rodeo arena greeting guests year round, lending a fun, western feel to the grounds. Cerney was born in Carmel and grew up in Salinas. He worked in the produce industry before studying art at the College of San Mateo and then California State University, Long Beach. He became self-employed as an artist in 1985 and is the owner of John Cerney Murals in Salinas. His work can best be described as “giant cutout art,” ordinarily viewed from the comfort of your automobile. He would often convince farmers to let him use their barns as canvases and that evolved into cut-out paintings. Cerney started working in giant scale in 1995, realizing that in order for the viewer to “take in” the figures from a quick moving car, they had to be more monumental in size. His projects are now located throughout the Midwest and Western United States and have been featured in numerous magazines, including National Geographic and Sunset. The posters are available for purchase for $15 at the California Rodeo Salinas Office, 1034 N. Main St., Salinas, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., except for Fridays when the office is closed from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. for lunch. They can also be purchased online by clicking on About Us and Store (www.carodeo.com/p/about-us/store/390). They will also be available for purchase at the next California Rodeo Salinas on July 18-21, 2019.
Superstar Tim McGraw headlining 2019 Tickets for July 12 concert now on sale SALINAS — Tim McGraw is headlining the 2019 California Rodeo Salinas’ Kick Off Concert on Friday, July 12, at the Salinas Sports Complex. McGraw has sold more than 50 million records worldwide and dominated the singles charts with a stunning 43 No. 1 singles. He is the most played country artist since his debut in 1992, with two singles spending over 10 weeks at No. 1 (“Live Like You Were Dying” and the genre-breaking “Over and Over”). His multi-week No. 1 single “Humble and Kind” from 2015’s “Damn Country Music” won the Grammy for Best Country song, spawned a New York Times Best Seller book and won a coveted Clio Award. McGraw recently released two new songs “NEON CHURCH” and “Thought About You,” his first new solo music in two years. Produced by the California Rodeo Salinas and David Drew Productions, the Kick Off Concert is presented by Taylor Farms. Tickets are now on sale online. The Salinas Sports Complex Box Office, 1034 N. Main St., opens for the 2019 season on a date to be determined in March. “The California Rodeo Salinas and David Drew Productions are excited about the Tim McGraw concert and we appreciate all the sponsors who contribute to the show, allowing top notch entertainment to perform in Salinas and enhance Big Week each year,” said Jim Slaten, general manager of the Salinas Sports Complex. Visit www.carodeo.com/events/2018/ timmcgrawconcert for updated information as the event nears. Opening acts will be announced in the near future.
-Staff Report
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WINTER 2019 | Published by News Media Corporation
Hay cube feeding proves successful for Pioneer Ag customers CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE
Don and Jan Lane were married in 1969 and spent the better part of the next thirty-three years deeply involved in the cattle business, based in Northern San Luis Obispo County. In the summer of 2002 they founded a new company, Pioneer Ag Resources, with the goal of supplying horse and livestock owners with hay cubes in bulk tote bags. Don was having some trouble keeping weight on an old rope horse that had always been a hard keeper. A close friend suggested that he might try feeding hay cubes. “I can’t tell you exactly why, just try it and you’ll see the difference,” his friend told him. Don made a trip to Buttonwillow, loaded his pick-up with 50-pound bags of hay cubes and started the old horse on a diet of alfalfa cubes and oat hay. Within a week or two he could see a change in the horse. The old horse filled out, slicked off and was romping around his corral like a two year old. The results were amazing so he switched all of their horses over to hay cubes. On the next load he switched to a blended alfalfa and oat hay cube and quit feeding baled hay all together. That was 18 years ago and he has never fed baled hay since. Just as his friend had suggested, the benefits of feeding hay cubes were obvious. The daily feed consumption of the horses dropped from about 24 pounds of hay per day to 16 pounds of hay cubes. They picked up in weight, slicked off and lost their hay bellies. Even more obvious was the lack of wasted and tromped on hay in the bottom of the stalls. The hay storage area of the barn stayed neat and clean and the mice problem virtually disappeared. The quality of the hay cubes was always consistent from one purchase to the next. But there were several problems to be solved. The most apparent was that Don had to make a regular trip to the valley and load 50-pound bags in his pick-up, then drive home and unload them. Once the cube bags were fed out, then the empties had to be disposed of. There had to be a better way. So he built a trailer that would pick up a 1,250-pound tote bag of cubes and place it on the trailer, drive to a destination and set it off. The empty tote bags were recycled back to the manufacturer and where they were refilled. To help pay for his time and the cost of the trailer, Don started selling a few of these large tote bags full of hay cubes. He and Jan soon found out that many of the reputable breeders and trainers around the state and even the rest of the country were already hooked on hay cubes and now alas, Don had developed a system that made hay cubes in large bulk bags available to everyone with a single horse or 30 horses, and at an economical price. And so, as they say, a new business was born, Pioneer Ag Resources. The business kept expanding and soon a truck and trailer loaded with those big bags
of fresh hay cubes was arriving at their location on a weekly basis. A few years later they expanded into the shavings and bedding business which combined well with their now established hay cube business. In 2011 Shafter Hay and Cube announced that they were closing the doors on their hay cubing operation so Don started looking for a new manufacturing partner. The change turned out very well because Don discovered the Harlan Feed Company in Woodland, a family-owned farming and hay cubing operation. Their cubes have proved to be a superior product over their former product and other hay cubes being sold in the area. The Harlan Family makes their hay cubes mostly from their home grown hay where they have total control over the growing and cubing process. The Harlan cubes are softer, more palatable and more consistent in quality than the other competitive brands. Rich Shiffer joined the Pioneer Ag Team in May of 2012, and has taken charge of handling the deliveries of Pioneer Ag products throughout San Luis Obispo and Southern Monterey Counties. Rich and his wife Shannon live in Atascadero with their children, Haley, an accomplished barrel racer and Garrett, a crack shot with a rifle or shot gun, and are very active in the North County horse community. Last spring, Pioneer Ag spread its wings and expanded their business into Santa Barbara and Northern Ventura Counties where Casey and Nichole Branquinho have become the exclusive hay cube distributors for Pioneer Ag in that region. Casey and Nichol live in Los Alamos, California where they are raising their children Trinity, Taylor, Blake and Betty in the family ranching business and all the kids are rodeo contestants at the high school, junior high and junior rodeo levels. Casey is also a professional horse trainer and still competes in a few rodeos locally. Rodeo at the Branquinho’s is a family affair. Today Pioneer Ag Resources covers the entire Central Coast from King City to Ventura. If you ask Don why this business has done so well he will give credit to the quality and the competitive economics of the product they sell but more importantly the performance results that they and their customers get from their horses. Don can be quoted as saying, “I had bought and sold cattle for many years and I did it because I loved the cattle business. Now I am in the hay cube business and I can honestly say that I love it because we are selling a quality product that produces the kind of results that all horse owners are looking for.” For more information on Pioneer Ag Resources, go to their website at PioneerAg.com
Published by News Media Corporation | WINTER 2019
Don and Jan Lane founded Pioneer Ag Resources in the summer of 2002.
Casey and NIchole | Last spring, Pioneer Ag spread its wings and expanded
their business into Santa Barbara and Northern Ventura Counties where Casey and Nichole Branquinho have become the exclusive hay cube distributors for Pioneer Ag in that region.
Rich and Shannon Shiffer, of Atascadero, joined the Pioneer Ag Team in May of 2012, and have taken charge of handling the deliveries of Pioneer Ag products throughout San Luis Obispo and Southern Monterey Counties.
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WINTER 2019 | Published by News Media Corporation